APC Crisis Deepens: 'Don't Recognise Me As Senate President,' Saraki Dares Tinubu Ten Months After

In the mood of reacting to letters and making stands known on several burning issues revolving round the emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the Senate President, mainly on a comment made by the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in June 2015, that he won't recognise Saraki as the Senate President, Sen. Saraki had given Tinubu the go-ahead to satisfy himself.
Saraki, who has refuted claims that he masterminded and formed alliance with senators from the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to emerge as Senate President, maintained that, after ten months of persecution from "enemies within" and unlimited intraparty leadership crisis, he owes nobody an apology over his emergence as the president of the senate.
Speaking on Saturday in Ilorin, his homestead and Kwara State capital, Sen. Saraki explained that the emergence of Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President was never a deal between him and the PDP as being speculated by his persecutors who were fond of demanding his (Saraki) resignation.
He said the DSP victory which swung in the direction of the opposition (PDP), was as a result of negligence on the part of senators from the APC who chose to abscond and attend a meeting elsewhere with unknown forces under the guise of party leadership on the inauguration day.
It will be recalled that the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu made an open statement on June 10, 2015 that he won't recognise Senator Bukola Saraki as the Senate President, and that has escalated to plethora intraparty crisis within the last ten months.
Tinubu, in his reaction to the arrangement that produced Saraki as the President of the Senate last year said, "I will never recognise such a kangaroo arrangement that produced Bukola as the Senate President."
He added that, "Or how do you want me to recognise a man who deliberately defied his own party because of his personal interest? It is not done anywhere."
Reacting to these claims, Sen. Saraki said he had exercised much patience and tolerance to let the aspersions and opprobrium from Asiwaju Bola Tinubu go down to dustbin of history and channel better ways of reconciliation, but seemed Tinubu was up to something.
"Nigerians can bear me witness if I've ever reacted on these series of cheap blackmails and severe destructive criticisms for the past ten months of being in the public domain. I chose not to be disrespectful.
"Based on that among others, I've gone through hell of persecution called prosecution. I migrate from one case to another on daily basis courtesy of the political party I'm representing as the Senate President," Saraki lamented.
He said his emergence as the president of the senate suppose to be appreciated by everyone within the party and not to be regarded as unworthy and undeserved by some selected few.
Saraki later admonished the national leader of the party, Tinubu, to allow peace to reign in the party, saying he sees Tinubu's interests and signals in the overall crisis rocking the APC since his (Saraki) emergence as the senate president.
"No one gains anything meaningful in self- destruction; not even where you've invested much in politics. But if Asiwaju Bola Tinubu chooses to press harder on my emergence, I give him the pass to disregard my leadership of the house," Saraki dared the lion of the bourdillon.