The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, on Wednesday alleged that there were plots to oust him.
Mark, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said his opponents in the Senate were planning to misinform Nigerians that he renovated his official residence with N400m.
He accused a senator from the North-Central as the arrowhead of the plot.
Mark, who had also on Tuesday advised that the fate of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh, should be determined by the House, however, claimed that his residence was last renovated in February 2006.
The statement reads, �There are unabating clandestine meetings being convened by an aggrieved senator allegedly working on the media to cast aspersions on his (Mark�s) leadership.
�Information at his disposal indicates that the aggrieved senator has been holding secret meetings in Abuja, Jos, Plateau State, and Makurdi, Benue State trying to garner support of politicians and the media to pull him down.
�We have challenged anyone with proof of such renovation or contract to come forward with evidence or shut up forever.
�For the avoidance of doubt, the last renovation of the Apo mansion was carried out by the authorities of the Federal Capital Development Authority administration on February 10, 2006. The records are verifiable.
�The masquerading opponent also insinuated that the President of the Senate is victimising those who opposed his election, especially in the appointment of standing committees and allotment of offices in the new Senate building.�
The statement added that the events of June 5, in the Senate which led to the election of its principal officers, had been put behind and that the chamber was moving on as one united family.
It explained that the appointment into committees was evenly distributed along zonal basis and in accordance with the standing rules of the Senate.
On the allocation of offices in the new building, Mark said, �We make bold to state that all senators now have good office accommodation to operate whether in the new or old building. The Senate Services Committee reasonably distributed the allocation according to available spaces besides those of the principal officers.
�So, except to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it, there is no basis for insinuating victimisation. As the President of the Senate, I have consistently reiterated my unwavering commitment to serve my fatherland, no matter the odds.�
At the 2007 NEWSWORLD forum in Abuja on Wednesday, Mark spoke on the travails of Etteh and advised against passing a hasty judgment.
He said, �I believe in justice, fairness and equity. Let�s not judge anybody ahead of time. The House has started a process. Why do we want to pass judgment even before the House comes up with the final result?
�Today, it is Patricia Etteh, tomorrow it could be you; the next day, it could be another person or anybody else. Allow justice to take its proper course. Once they come out with their results, it is democracy; we will accept whatever they come out with.
�An unstable National Assembly is not good for us; we should finish with this and put it behind us.�
Mark , who also promised that the Freedom of Information Bill would soon be passed, said his strategy for remaining in office as the President of the Senate would be concentration.
The Benue State-born politician said, �I�ve decided that, to me, banana peel (skin) simply doesn�t exist. If I do what I am supposed to do, it (banana peel skin) will not be there.
�If I do a wrong thing, then I will be encouraging the banana peel (skin). It means I have invited it and I am not going to invite it.
�There is so much work for us to do that when we begin to focus on the negative side, then we are missing the point. True, there is so much. If I take the media for instance, they are worried about the Freedom of Information Bill, they want it out.
�If I am going to get it (FOI bill) out, I need to concentrate so much. I have so much to do that I will not bother about what is going to invite banana peel (skin). If events do not change in four years, then we would have failed.�