Strong indications emerged early yesterday of a hardening of position by senators who formed a Group of 77 drawn from various parties and camps to protect what they have dubbed as the integrity of the Senate.
Meanwhile, the new G77 which had its maiden meeting on Thursday night has launched moves to extricate the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from the control of the presidency in the light of claims by the senators that it had become a tool of the administration.
The G77 comprising mostly of new senators it was gathered, also up in arms against older senators who they claim have monopolised the juicy committees of the Senate to the detriment of the newer ones.
The meeting monitored by Saturday Vanguard commenced shortly after 7.00 p.m. on Thursday and ended just before midnight following which some senators also broke up into groups.
According to Vanguard, 36 senators were physically present at the meeting which inside sources disclosed has a membership roll of 77, almost all of them new senators. Remarkably, the group is also putting forward itself as a bulwark for the embattled Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki with members vowing to defend him against what they alleged as the persecution of the executive branch of government.
Senators in the group resolved to push forward an amendment bill to the law establishing the EFCC to among other things remove the president’s right as appointing power and transfer same to the National Judicial Council, NJC.
