Buhari, Osinbajo, Saraki, Dogara Enter Closed Door Meeting In Presidential Villa

President Muhammadu Buhari has been locked in a meeting behind closed doors with President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and some other principal officers of the National Assembly minus the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who was conspicuously absent.

Saraki and Dogora jointly led the leadership of the National Assembly to the meeting with the President. This is the first time both Buhari and Saraki will be meeting after the Independence Day celebration‎ held in the Presidential Villa on October 1, where both leaders sat side by side and shared a joke. State House correspondents were barred from covering the meeting which was held inside the First Lady’s Conference Hall inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Those in attendance from the Senate were the Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume; the Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah; Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio and Minority Whip, Philip Aduda.

From the House of Representatives were the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; and House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila. They all arrived the venue in a convoy at about 8.45pm local time while the meeting started at about 9.15pm when Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and some top government officials arrived at the venue.

Saraki who is currently being prosecuted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of assets emerged the President of the Senate against the party’s choice of Ahmed Lawan. Since the elections in the Senate, Saraki has been having a running battle with a section of the leadership of his party All Progressives Congress (APC).

Although the agenda of the meeting was not known and was still ongoing as at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that it was one of the steps being taken to resolve the crisis and reconcile Saraki with the leadership of the party.

It will be recalled that Dogara had on Monday evening met with Buhari on the Saraki issue. The Speaker met with the President following a resolution by the House that he should intervene in the crisis. The meeting might also be aimed at securing smooth passage for ministerial nominees whose names were sent to the Senate by the President last week. Another issue that could have been on the front burner during the meeting is the plan by the President to send a supplementary budget to the National Assembly.