Female Permanent Secretary's Action to Cause Fight Between Saraki and Buhari

 There are indications of an imminent clash between the Presidency and the Senate over an alleged attempt by the Presidency to rubbish the senate president, Bukola Saraki.

Pro-Saraki senators are accusing the Presidency of instigating the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastacia Nwaobia, not to honour an invitation by the upper chamber.

Mrs. Nwaobia had communicated to the Senate that she could not honour its invitation without an approval by her supervisors to do so but the Saraki loyalists said the Senate had the constitutional power to invite her and that her refusal constituted an affront to the legitimacy of Saraki.

The Saraki loyalists’ belief apparently rested on the alleged ‘non-acceptance’ of his presidency by the All Progressives Congress leadership and President Muhammadu Buhari.

“It will not augur well for our democracy if the Presidency will not allow civil servants to do their jobs. We should not carry the crisis in the APC to the Senate,” a pro-Saraki senator told Punch.

Both Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara, had spurned the party’s directive on who to lead the National Assembly and had ridden on the back of an alleged alliance with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party members to clinch the leadership posts in both chambers.

The Saraki group said the ‘offending’ permanent secretary failed to honour the Senate’s invitation because she did not get clearance from the Presidency.

Investigations revealed that as of Friday the permanent secretary had yet to neither appear before the Senate leadership nor respond to the letters from the National Assembly management.

It was learnt that senators loyal to the Senate President were angry that the Presidency could encourage the civil servants to disobey the Senate.

But a source in the ministry confided in our correspondent that, based on civil service procedures, it would be wrong for the permanent secretary to honour the invitation without first getting the approval of the Head of Service of the Federation.

The source said since the permanent secretary reports directly to the HoS and not the Senate, it would amount to a breach of protocol for her to appear before the lawmakers without getting his consent.