Senators supporting President Muhammadu Buhari in the upper chamber of National Assembly under the umbrella of the Parliamentary Support Group (PSG), have threatened to challenge the leadership of the Senate over the directive that the group should be disbanded and suspension of one of its members.
They pointed out that the disbandment could only stand if similar groups were in the senate were disbanded.
Members of the group’s strategic committee, who met yesterday in Abuja, said they would request that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, disband groups like the Like Minds, Northern Senators Forum (NSF) and others.
The group, which promised to stand by its member, Senator Ovie Omo- Agege who was suspended last week, said it has scheduled a meeting for next Wednesday to consider a six-point plan already drawn out to respond to the development.
A member of the Strategic Committee, who spoke with newsmen, said the senate did not have the power to ban the group as freedom of association is guaranteed in Nigeria’s Constitution.
The committee member said: “We are not going to disband it because the Senate did not form it for us. The freedom of association is guaranteed in our Constitution, the freedom of speech is also guaranteed. It is a matter of interest.
“If not for groups like this, the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, won’t have emerged as our president. When we formed the Like Minds Group, we disrespected the directive of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to elect him as the Senate president.
“We have resolved to ask the Senate leadership to let us start by disbanding the Like Minds Group, the Northern Senators Forum and other groups in order to create a level-playing ground for all. Look, the Northern Senators Forum is even more discriminatory than PSG”.
The directive to disband the group was issued last week by the senate President last week while in a debate over the report that led to the suspension of the secretary of the group, Ovie Omo-Agege.