ISSUES concerning appointments by President Bola Tinubu into strategic government agencies, coupled with funds accruing from the removal of sub- sidy from petrol may have largely triggered the touted plot to remove the president of the Senate, Senator God- swill Akpabio, the Nigerian Tribune gathered on Monday.
The claim that the move against him, according to sources, was because of the perceived membership of the standing committees of
triggered alleged impeachment move the Senate was said to be an afterthought by those behind the plan.
At least three other interest groups are also said to be up in arms against the president of the Senate following some decisions taken over matters concerning the economy.
The media was abuzz with reports about the move by some senators against Ak- pabio alleging lopsided distribution of what they called juicy committees to his allies in the Senate who worked to guarantee his emergence as the president of the Senate.
Members of the aggrieved caucus in the upper chamber were reportedly worried that the president of the Senate could not take President Tinubu to task on the perceived tilt in favour of the South-West, of appointments of the key managers of the economy and the fi- nancial sector.
According to sources, the belief of the group members, who are said to com- prise some senators from the North, is that Akpabio was not keen to deal with some powerful interest groups, particularly petrol importers and electricity distribution companies on some proposed financial deals concerning the 40 percent electricity tariff hike and payment of outstanding money to fuel importers.
The feeling among his allies is that those forces that contested against him over the Senate leadership might have latched on his perceived failure to resist President Tinubu on the skewed appointments in favour of the Yoruba, particularly in the financial sector.
Incidentally, among the said arrowheads of the plan against the former two-term Akwa Ibom State governor are said to include a former governor from one of the states in the South-South and a couple of others from the North.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) senator representing Adamawa North, Senator Elisha Abbo, who spoke in an interview on developments in the Senate in recent times, alleged that Akpabio was marginalising those who contested against him and their supporters in the allocation of the committee positions.
A source, who craved to remain anonymous, identified such appointments to include those made in respect of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Reve- nue Service and the Nigerian Customs Service.
The control of the agencies is besides the appointment of ministers of Yoruba extrac- tion in the financial sector and the blue economy.
“The main issue is our fear that Akpabio cannot check these skewed appointments in favour the South-West of the financial system that is going on now. Yes, the reason why you can see that northerners are mostly involved is that most of those being removed and replaced with Yoruba are northerners,” the source stated.
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