The Code of Conduct Bureau has said there is evidence that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, while governor of Kwara State between 1999 and 2007, obtained huge bank loans and paid back the loans with funds belonging to the state.
Bukola Saraki
The bureau alleged that Saraki used the bank loans running into billions of naira to acquire landed assets in Lagos, Abuja and London.
The Bureau said it gathered the information from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which conducted investigations into various petitions written against the Senate President between 2010 and 2012.
The CCB’s position is contained in a counter-affidavit deposed to by one of its operatives, Peter Danladi, in opposition to a fresh motion filed by Saraki to challenge the validity of the 13 counts of false assets declaration instituted against him before the tribunal.
Danladi stated, “That I was informed by Mr. Yahaya Bello, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in our office on March 14, 2016 at about 11am and I verily believe him that:
“The EFCC received various petitions against the defendant/applicant between 2010 and 2012 alleging acts of corruption, theft, money laundering etc.
“The EFCC conducted its investigation of the various petitions and made findings which showed that the defendant/applicant abused his office while he was Governor of Kwara State and was involved in various acts of corruption as the governor of the state.
“The defendant/applicant borrowed huge sums of money running into billions from commercial banks, particularly Guarantee Trust Bank and used the proceeds of the loan to acquire several landed properties in Lagos, Abuja and London while he was Governor of Kwara State.
“As against the defendant using his own legitimate income to defray the loan, he took public funds running into billions from Kwara State Government and lodged same in several tranches and in cash into his GTB account in GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State.
“The defendant/applicant’s account officer in GTB confirmed that the defendant/applicant gave him several cash in government house to lodge into the account and in some occasions, the defendant sent his aides from government house to give him the cash for lodgment into his account.
“When EFCC submitted its report to its legal department and the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice formed the opinion that the offences revealed from the investigation, particularly as they relate to the properties acquired by the defendant/applicant while he was Governor of Kwara State and various monies sent into his various accounts outside Nigeria can be better investigated and prosecuted through the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal.
“The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation then sent the findings and the evidence gathered during investigation by the EFCC as a complaint to the Code of Conduct Bureau for investigation and that the operative of EFCC would collaborate with the officers of the bureau for effective investigations.”
Senate President Bukola Saraki has expressed the determination of the National Assembly to make the details of its annual budget available to members of the public next week.
Bukola Saraki
Saraki said the development would be a departure from the tradition of having one line item budget by the federal parliament.
The Senate President, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Muhammed Isa, on Sunday, stated this while hosting a team of editors from the London-based The Economist newspaper
He said, “For the first time, we promised Nigerians to give out our budget breakdown. The committee will make its report available by next week. We are resolved to break the tradition of one line item.”
He also pledged to support the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s fight against corruption.
“Under my watch, the Senate will never cover corruption except if the information didn’t come to us,” he added.
Saraki stated that the Senate was ready to partner Buhari to ensure the success of the anti-corruption war.
The Senate, he added, had already demonstrated such commitment through its interventions in many alleged corrupt transactions such as its swift investigation and adoption of a report on the management of the Treasury Single Account that saved the nation about N7bn.
He added that the upper chamber exposed the inconsistencies in the 2016 budget.
The action, he said, was a departure from the past where such reports were either watered down or not presented for debate and adoption.
He cited the report he presented to the seventh Senate on the over N1tn fuel subsidy scam that never saw the light of the day, as an example.
Saraki noted that party differences existed between the senators, citing the example of the leadership tussle in the chamber. He, however, pledged that, national interest and the desire of each senator to fulfil the promises made to Nigerians had become the guiding principle of the lawmakers.
On the economy, he said the Senate had embarked on a series of legislative interventions to create a conducive environment for the private sector.
He stated, “It is only when the private sector thrives that the issue of unemployment will be addressed and the nation’s GDP will increase.”
As Nigerians await both the resumption of plenary at the senate next week and the full commencement of the trial of Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, any moment from now, SUNDAY ABORISADE reports that uneasy calm pervades the atmosphere at the upper chamber of the nation’s federal parliament.
Bukola Saraki
The Supreme Court verdict of last week Friday which gave a nod to the trial of Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, for allegedly declaring on oath, assets he had yet to acquire as of the time he was sworn-in as the Governor of Kwara State in 2003, has heightened tension and anxiety among members of the red chamber.
The development took everyone by surprise, coming especially at a time when all hands seemed to be on the deck at the upper chamber with all the 65 committees chaired by both loyalists of the senate president and those who are opposed to his leadership, have started carrying on legislative activities in an atmosphere of peace and harmony, putting behind them the leadership crisis that rocked the chamber at inauguration.
Indications that Saraki had fully established himself among his colleagues manifested when no fewer than 83 out of the 109 senators passed a vote of confidence in him in July last year following his prosecution at the CCT.
Some of his loyalists across the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in the chamber openly mobilised themselves to the court in solidarity and pledged their loyalty.
The Anti-Saraki senators, under the aegis of the Senate Unity Forum, cried foul at the decision of Saraki to continue to preside over the chamber instead of resigning his position on moral grounds having been docked by the tribunal for alleged criminal act.
An attempt by the spokesperson for the SUF, Senator Kabir Marafa, to raise a point of order on the floor on the issue was frustrated by Saraki, who used the gavel to rule him out of order on the grounds that any matter pending before a court of law could not be subjected to a debate on the floor.
Saraki’s Like Minds Senators thereafter appeared to be winning the game of supremacy between them and the SUF, as most of the arrow heads of the “Ahmad Lawan for Senate President” group were appointed as chairmen of “juicy committees”, a development which drastically reduced their attacks and opposition to Saraki’s senate presidency.
The last straw which seemed to have broken the camel’s back, however, was during the screening of the ministerial nominees contained in two separate list forwarded to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari. Both the like minds senators and their colleagues in the SUF closed ranks and worked closely to ensure that all the candidates were cleared despite opposition from the PDP senators against some cases.
Saraki consolidated the stability of the chamber which he achieved during the ministerial nominees’ screening exercise when all the SUF members he appointed into key committees as either chairmen or members gladly grabbed the posts with the exception of Marafa who turned down the chairmanship of the committee on National Identity and National Population allocated to him.
Many observers therefore saw the verdict of the Supreme Court as an anticlimax coming at a time when membership of the SUF had suffered a great depletion with only a handful of them appeared to still be showing strong commitment to the struggle as others had started identifying with the Saraki’s leadership.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the SUF had stopped holding regular meetings for a very long time before the apex court ruling which gave the members a ray of hope that their ambition might be realised after all if Saraki should lose his case at the court.
Further checks also revealed that the SUF had now regrouped and are perfecting strategies to draw local and international attention to the implication of Saraki still presiding over the affairs of the senate while facing criminal prosecution.
Some members of the group confided in our correspondent that they would not create any scene on the floor because the issue of removing Saraki as the senate president would be an uphill task since majority of the senators were of the view that the man is presumed innocent until otherwise decided by a competent court of law.
However, Marafa, who spoke with our correspondent after the verdict of the apex court last Friday, demanded the immediate resignation of the senate president to enable him to concentrate on his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
He nevertheless explained that Saraki was free to return as a presiding officer after his case at the CCT. Marafa noted that the image of the Senate and the entire senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would continue to be battered in the public view if Saraki continues to preside over the affairs of the red chamber while answering criminal charges at the courts.
Marafa said, “We really pity the Senator Bukola Saraki, but I think this issue has dragged for too long. We have indulged him thus far because we believe that he is presumed innocent until otherwise decided by a competent court of law.
“Now that the Supreme Court has decided that he has a case to answer, I think that the best thing for Senator Saraki is to resign in order to face his trial.
“He could, however, return and contest as a presiding officer in the chamber if he is declared innocent by the court, but at the moment, the leadership of the senate should ask him to step aside.
“At the moment, the image of the senate does not worth anything in the eyes of Nigerians because of the attitude of its president, who ordinarily should have resigned in a sane clime.
“However, if the senate president refuses to resign and neither the leadership nor the entire senate mount any pressure on him to do so, then we will call on Nigerians to recall all their representatives in the senate because we have failed in our responsibilities.
“We have tried for him enough. We can no longer wait and watch someone who is answering criminal cases in court come out of the dock always to preside over the affairs of the senate.”
However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who moved the motion which led to the vote of confidence passed in Saraki last year, said that calls for Saraki’s resignation at this stage was uncalled for.
Anyanwu, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, told our correspondent that the issue of factions among members of the senate ended when over 80 senators across the two main political parties in the red chamber passed a vote of confidence in the senate president.
Likewise, some senators across the two main political parties in the upper chamber expressed divergent opinions on the calls for the resignation of Saraki.
A good number of the lawmakers believed that Saraki should have resigned while others asked him to stay on until his fate would have been decided by the CCT.
For instance, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Senator Robert Boroffice, said he would have resigned if he were in Saraki’s shoes in order to save the image and integrity of the senate.
He said, “My position is not personal. I have nothing personal against the senate president but what I am saying is that if the matter had happened in advanced countries and if I was in his shoes at the moment, I would have resigned”
Boroffice, however, urged his colleagues to approach the matter with caution by allowing justice to take its course, adding that the country could not afford any major crisis in the senate.
But the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, said calls for Saraki’s resignation were unnecessary.
He said, “Let me be quoted unequivocally that the senate president enjoys a stronger support in the National Assembly. Whoever, in his or her dream, thinks there is a way to call for his resignation should understand that such dream can never come true by blackmail but the channel of the Senate Chamber.
“We shall continue to respect the rule of law and the constitution of our country. On the heels of these, we are very hopeful that the senate president would come out of these politically-motivated controversies innocent and victorious.”
Ibrahim said his interaction with senators indicated that their solidarity with Saraki remains stronger than ever.
He said, “We cannot deny to have heard of some renewed hallucinations in the media trailing the ruling by the Supreme Court. Let me state in clearer terms, immediately, that our colleagues remain firm in their support for the Senate President.
“From what we have experienced in the 8th Senate particularly the leadership and the concord pattern it has drawn among its members, it is not hidden from Nigerians that Saraki is loved beyond imaginations.
“Not just that, his leadership remains the centre of unity in the senate. It must be noted that the rapid feats of the present legislature is not disconnected from the innovative ideas introduced by Saraki which has always received a warm welcome and support from the well-meaning members of the eight Senate.
“As a member of the Senate and a true Nigerian, I’m no way surprised to see comments accredited to Senator Kabir Marafa of the ‘defunct’ Unity Forum. To me, those agitations reflect nothing but the mirage on the path of a man who is been taken for a jester on the floor of the eighth Senate.”
Other senators who spoke with our correspondent on the issue though on the condition of anonymity, expressed different opinions on the calls for his resignation.
For instance, a senator from the South-East said Saraki should be allowed to continue with his work since the case against him was a mere allegation while another from the North-East said he should step aside for now.
The incident, however, generated increased public discourse early in the week as both the SUF members and their colleagues in Saraki’s camp held separate meetings to strategise over the new development.
The senators rose from their meetings and threatened a showdown at the resumption of plenary next Tuesday if the issue of resignation was raised by any senator or group of senators.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the trouble started when some pro-Saraki senators held a meeting on Sunday evening and decided to issue a statement declaring the full support of the upper chamber for the embattled senate president.
The pro-Saraki senators incurred the wrath of their colleagues in the SUF, when the statement, signed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, indicated that it was the position of the entire members of the red chamber.
But a ranking senator from the South-West, who is also a strong member of the SUF, told our correspondent on the condition of anonymity that the press release did not represent the opinion of the senate.
The senator, who said the South West caucus would react officially at the appropriate time on the issue, accused the senate spokesperson of abuse of office as he was only expected to make public, the resolution of the senate taken at plenary by either simple majority or two-third majority.
The spokesperson for the SUF, Senator Kabir Marafa, expressed shock at the contents of the press statement.
He said, “In as much as I want the whole world to know that members of the SUF do not have any personal problem with the senate president, we believe that as lawmakers, we should respect the law. I am not aware of any meeting of senators where that decision was taken and we are not part of it.”
Another member of the SUF from the North-Central said the group would make its position known at the appropriate time.
He said, “We will definitely pass our message across to the senate using the normal channels. We will not join issues with anyone on the pages of newspapers.”
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, on Saturday asked the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to resign his position in order to preserve the integrity of the National Assembly.
Femi Falana
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in an interview with our correspondent, said the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court would add value to the battle against corruption.
Citing an instance involving a former Senate President, the late Chuba Okadigbo, Falana asked Saraki to resign having undertaken to prove his innocence before the CCT.
He said, “Having undertaken to prove his innocence at the Code of Conduct Trubunal Senator Saraki should resign as senate president so as to preserve the integrity of the National Assembly.
“When Senators Chuba Okadigbo and Adolphus Wabara were indicted they were made to step down as senate presidents.”
This comes amid indications that senators opposed to the Senate President under the aegis of the Senate Unity Forum, had regrouped to force Saraki out of the seat.
The Supreme Court had on Friday dismissed the appeal by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, challenging the validity of his trial on charges of assets declaration preferred against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
A seven-man panel of the apex court presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, unanimously ruled that Saraki’s appeal against the jurisdiction of the trial and competence of the charges lacked merit.
Justice Wallter Onnoghen, who read the lead judgment, held that contrary to Saraki’s contention, the Danladi Umar-led Code of Conduct Tribunal was validly constituted by two members.
Justice Onnoghen also held that the tribunal was by the provisions of its enabling laws and the Constitution conferred with the quasi-criminal jurisdiction and thus could validly issue bench warrant.
He thus held that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 was applicable to the proceedings of the tribunal.
Saraki, who said the Supreme Court judgment was disappointing, however, said he would have his day in court and that “at the end of the day, truth will prevail and justice will be served.”
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the senate president, Bukola Saraki, against his trial for alleged corruption.
Bukola Saraki
Mr. Saraki is facing a 13-count charge of alleged asset declaration fraud.
The Code of Conduct Bureau said Mr. Saraki committed the offence, and maintained a foreign account, when he was governor of Kwara State.
The senate president said the charges were politically motivated, and challenged the powers and composition of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to hear the case.
He also asked the Court of Appeal to quash the charges.
Mr. Saraki later appealed to the Supreme Court after losing at the Court of Appeal.
In its ruling Friday, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Appeal Court.
The highest court dismissed the appeal of Mr. Saraki against the composition of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the powers of the tribunal, effectively ordering him to stand trial.
Though the 2016 budget proposal may have been found, but the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki confirmed on Wednesday that the upper chamber empannelled a high powered Senate search team to figh out the missing fiscal document.
Bukola Saraki
The cat of the missing document was let out of the bag by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, (Abia South) who came under Senate Standing Order 42.
Order 42 deals with Matter of urgent national importance which the Senate is bound to consider if the Senate President allows it.
Abaribe told the Senate that the grievous issue of the “missing and disappearance of the 2016 budget proposal” was widely reported in the media Tuesday.
He added that most of them had been inundated with questions by their constituents about the whereabouts of the budget proposal.
Abaribe said that their constituents who genuinely believed and saw the budget as the life wire of the country wanted to know how and why the budget got missing.
He said that the Senate should not sweep the matter under the carpet in the interest of not only their constituents but the country in general.
He recalled that the matter of the missing document also came up during their closed session on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 without satisfactory explanation on the whereabouts of the document.
Abaribe who prayed the Senate to debate the matter so as to tell Nigerians the truth about the disappearance of the fiscal document said that it was also not in the interest of the Senate not to look into the matter.
He insisted that “the matter is definite and urgent” and should therefore be considered.
Abaribe said, “The matter that I refer to is what is in every newspaper today, everywhere in all the talk-shows in the radio of a missing budget and therefore Mr President, I want to bring to your attention and the attention of all my colleagues that yesterday in our closed session, this matter also came up.
“Some of us who are worried, who have been inundated by messages from our constituents who are really worried about what their fate in the 2016, and are asking us, where is our budget.
“That is why Mr President I think it is definite and it is urgent that we look into this matter.”
Saraki agreed and said that a team of Senator had already been constituted to look into the matter.
The Senate President added that Senators should be patient and await the findings of the search team after which the Senate would go into a closed session to discuss the matter.
He also confirmed that the issue came up during the Senate closed session on Tuesday.
He said that though Abaribe did not discuss the subject of his Point of Order with him as required by the Senate Rule, he would allow an exception in order to look into the issue.
Saraki said, “Because of the importance of this (disappearance of the budget) I will allow an exception.
“You know we are all part of the decision at the close session yesterday and as part of that decision we are still waiting for those we have referred to carry out the assignment to come back to us.
“I think they will come back to us by tomorrow (today) and we will go into a close session and finish up the report and we will be able to debate it properly.”
There was an attempt to cover up the issue when Senate President earlier announced that the Senate would commence debate of the general principles of the 2016 budget proposal on Tuesday, January 19 through 21st.
Saraki also said copies of the budget proposal would be made available to lawmakers on today (Thursday) to enable them go through before the debate.
He asked lawmakers who intended to make contribution to the debate to indicate interest before the consideration of the debate would commence.
There was no mention the reported disappearance of the budget proposal until Abaribe blew the lid open to confirm what some Senators had dismissed as speculation on Tuesday.
Some Senators spoken to spoke wondered “whether anybody can circulate or distribute what you don’t have.”
A source noted that “As at today, nobody has given or told us in clear terms the sectoral allocations contained in the budget proposal.”
The Senator said that “it was wrong for the Senate, the highest law making body of the federation to behave as if all is well when it is obvious that something is amiss.”
He noted that “if the budget was withdrawn, it could have been appropriate and reasonable for those involved in the whole affair to say so.”
He added, “To smuggle out a budget that was presented to a joint session of the National Assembly under suspicious circumstances is unacceptable to most of us.”
On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari and Saraki met briefly in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It was not clear what they discussed in the closed door meeting.
Saraki was reported to have declined comment when confronted with questions on the missing budget.
The Court of Appeal has upheld the election of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki as the lawmaker representing Kwara Central Senatorial District.
Saraki celebrated the victory via his social media platform while pledging that the 8th Senate will be people oriented.
“Delighted to hear Court of Appeal upheld my election as Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District.Thank you for all your support & prayers. Rest assured that I’m committed to making sure the 8th Senate is people oriented,” he posted on his Facebook account.
A Senior Advocate Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, has challenged the lead counsel for the Senate President Bukola Saraki, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), to go ahead to initiate the contempt proceedings which he threatened against lawyers who had criticised the ruling of the Supreme Court, halting Saraki’s trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Femi Falana
Falana said in a statement on Tuesday that the contempt suit threatened to be initiated by Daudu would enable him to join issues with lawyers who were allegedly fond of manipulating the criminal justice system to favour members of the ruling class that are facing trial for “grand corruption”.
Defending the rights of every Nigerian citizen to criticise any decision of the Supreme Court, he cited the provisions of Section 36 of the Constitution and past decisions of the apex court which he said had “always appreciated constructive criticism of its decisions, having regards to their finality and overall impact on the nation’s legal system”.
He said what was not allowed was to “scandalise” a court or level allegation of misconduct against judges without any proof, even as he accused Daudu of having more than any Nigerian lawyer, “consistently lampooned sitting and retired judges for engaging in massive judicial corruption without supplying any scintilla of evidence to substantiate his claim.”
He recalled that the Federal High Court had freed a former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, on the basis of preliminary objection raised by his (Ibori’s) legal team, led by Daudu, only for him (Ibori) to be later convicted by a British court to the embarrassment of the nation.
Falana explained further that following the concern expressed by the Federal Government over “the manipulation of the legal system by politically exposed persons”, heads of Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court had issued various practice directions to fast track trials and appeals arising from corruption, money laundering, human trafficking, kidnapping, rape and terrorism cases.
He said the practice directions issued by the courts predated by the enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, which in its sections 306 and 396 completely abolished granting of stay of proceedings with respect to criminal cases.
He said, “It is abundantly clear from the foregoing that the Federal High Court and both appellate courts in the country had, before the enactment of ACJA, adopted measures to discourage parties and their counsel from resorting to interlocutory appeals to frustrate the hearing and determination of cases of economic crimes and terrorism.
“To that extent, it is of no moment to insist that the abolition of stay of proceedings and interlocutory appeals by the ACJA is illegal and unconstitutional.
“Therefore, the contempt proceedings being initiated by Mr. Daudu will certainly provide an opportunity for me to join issues with the lawyers who are manipulating the criminal justice system to shield members of the ruling class from prosecution for grand corruption while indigent suspects are railroaded to jail over minor economic offences.”
Falana also accused a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), and Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), of being hypocritical in their argument that the provisions of the ACJ Act were not applicable to the Supreme Court, having held contrary opinion as members of the Committee on Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reforms of the 2014 National Conference.
He said, “With respect, the contributions of some senior counsel to the debate smack of hypocrisy. For instance, both Messrs Agbakoba and Ozekhome and I were members of the Committee on Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reforms of the 2014 National Conference. The committee headed by the Honourable Justice George Oguntade (retd.) had recommended, inter alia, the establishment of a special anti-corruption court, devoid of niceties and technicalities of the conventional courts, such as preliminary objections and interlocutors appeals.
“The recommendations and several others on judicial reforms were unanimously adopted by all conference delegates. Although an anti-corruption court has not been created, the recommendations of the National Conference on the abolition of stay of proceedings and interlocutory appeals in criminal proceedings have emerged as sections 306 and 396 of the ACJA. All the lawyers who had campaigned for the abolition of interlocutory appeals are morally stopped from questioning the legal validity of the relevant provisions of the ACJA.
“Those colleagues who think, rather erroneously, that they are defending the Supreme Court ought to be reminded of the state of the law on stay of proceedings before the enactment of the ACJA.”
ABUJA—The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, will today, deliver judgment in the appeal seeking to quash the 13-count criminal charge pending against the Senate President, Dr. Olubukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.
Bukola Saraki
The appellate court had earlier adjourned its verdict on the matter indefinitely, a situation that forced the Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal to defer hearing on the case against Saraki till November 5, to await the outcome of the appeal.
The tribunal took the decision to suspend full-blown hearing on the criminal case after the Justice Moore Adumein panel of the appeal court, on October 21, postponed its judgement without adducing any reason.
A source at the appellate court who spoke to Vanguard on ground of anonymity that day, insisted that the “eleventh-hour deferment of judgment on Saraki’s appeal”, was not unconnected with the just concluded screening of Ministerial nominees that were forwarded to the Senate by the Presidency.
Saraki is in his appeal, challenging the legal propriety of the 13-count charge that was preferred against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
He was among other offences, alleged to have owned and operated foreign bank accounts while being a public officer.
However, aside challenging the charge, Saraki also queried the constitutionality of the warrant of arrest that was initially issued against him by Chairman of the CCT, Justice Umar.
Besides, the embattled Senate President, through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. J.B. Daudu, SAN, wants the higher court to ascertain whether the Justice Umar-led panel subscribed to the appropriate legal procedure when it ordered him to mount the dock and enter his plea to the charge despite preliminary objections against his trial.
He raised 12 grounds of appeal against the CCT, supported by a 16-paragraphed affidavit and four exhibits.
Saraki also deposed another 17-paragraphed affidavit of urgency, wherein he urged the higher court to intervene and protect him from what he described as “a politically motivated witch-hunt”.
Out of the 12-grounds, five of them are basically seeking to invalidate the charge against Saraki.
He is begging the appellate court to suspend the proceeding of the tribunal pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal against the Justice Umar-led panel.
The appellate court had on October 8, okayed accelerated hearing on the matter.
Meantime, the federal Government, while urging the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, maintained that it has garnered sufficient evidence to establish that Saraki, as a public officer, acquired several assets beyond his legitimate earnings.
FG, through its lead prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, equally told the appellate court that five witnesses it lined-up against the Senate President, have all expressed their readiness to appear before the CCT tomorrow to testify and tender exhibits against him.
Among those that FG billed to give oral testimony against Saraki included the erstwhile Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and present governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
Specifically, El-Rufai is expected to testify that he was the one that sold one of the assets that Saraki bought in Abuja, which the government alleged that he failed to list among the assets he acquired while in office as the governor of Kwara State.
The prosecuting counsel, told the appellate court that Saraki has already been furnished with all the proof of evidence against him, including copies of four separate assets declaration forms that he earlier submitted before the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.
Therefore, FG, urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal and order Saraki to go to the CCT and clear his name.
Saraki had through his lawyer, Mr. Daudu, SAN, argued that the CCT erred in law by going ahead with his trial despite that fact that “it was not properly constituted”.
He contended that whereas the constitution provided for a three-man panel to sit over cases brought before the tribunal, he said that only two Justices sat on September 22 when he was docked.
According to him, the composition of the tribunal was in violation of paragraphs 15(1) of the 1999 constitution, as amended.
Daudu maintained that the tribunal was wrong in assuming criminal jurisdiction against the Senate President when it was not listed in the constitution as a superior court of record.
He described the CCT as an “inferior court”, saying it does not in any way, share concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal High Court.
He therefore urged the appeal court to nullify the proceedings of the tribunal against Saraki and also set aside the criminal charges filed against him by the federal government for being illegal and unlawful.
Nevertheless, FG, bent on going ahead with the case, asked the appellate court to dismiss Saraki’s arguments as baseless and grossly lacking in merit.
Jacobs, SAN, argued that the tribunal was properly constituted and empowered to try the accused person.
He urged the court to invoke the Interpretation Act to resolve the issue on whether the two-man panel had indeed formed a quorum as envisaged by the law.
More so, the prosecuting counsel submitted that the tribunal has criminal jurisdiction hence the use of words like “guilty” and “punishment” in the law that established it.
“We urge your lordships to dismiss this appeal and order the appellate to go before the CCT and face criminal charges against him. We have gathered enough evidence to prove that he made anticipatory assets declaration”, Rotimi added.
Saraki was in the charge before the CCT, marked ABT/01/15 and dated September 11, 2015, alleged to have falsely declared his assets, contrary to the constitutionally requirement.
He was accused of deliberately manipulating the assets declaration form that he filed prior to his assumption of office as the Senate President, by making anticipatory declaration of assets.
The offence was said to have been committed while Saraki held sway as a governor.
He was also accused of breaching section 2 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, an offence punishable under section 23(2) of the Act and paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
FG alleged that Saraki claimed that he owned and acquired No 15A and 15B Mc Donald, Ikoyi, Lagos, through his company, Carlisle Properties Limited in 2000, when the said property was actually sold by the Implementation Committee of the Federal Government landed properties in 2006 to his companies, Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil Limited for the aggregate sum of N396, 150, 000, 00.
He was alleged to have made false declaration on or about June 3, 2011, by refusing to declare plot 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which he acquired between 2007 and 2008 through his company from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a total sum of N325, 000, 000, 00.
Similarly, Saraki was said to have refused to declare No1 Tagnus street, Maitama, Abuja, which he claimed to have acquired in November 1996 from one David Baba Akawu.
Some of his alleged offence while in office as governor, which are said to be punishable under section 15(1) and (2) of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, were allegedly committed between October 2006 and May 2007.
His actions were classified as a gross violation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
Saraki has since pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
ABUJA—Strong indications emerged, yesterday, that Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was prepared to bow to the position of All Progressives Congress, APC, by sacrificing his principal officers.
Bukola Saraki
According to a source, part of the unwritten agreement to allow peace to reign was to revert to the initial list of the party on the appointment of principal officers.
This was part of the political solution being worked out by the Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, and Senate President, Saraki.
A source said Dogara and the leadership of APC in the Senate held a marathon meeting at the new wing of the Senate complex yesterday evening, where it was agreed that the current holders of the Majority Leadership positions should give way to those anointed by the party.
The source noted that Saraki had been under pressure to intimate his supporters in the Senate, including Senate Leader, Ali Ndume; his Deputy, Bala Ibn Na’allah, and Deputy Majority Whip, Senator Francis Alimikhena, on the need to toe the party’s line as regards the composition of Senate Majority Leadership.
According to a source, the Senate President had communicated Ndume and Na’Allah about the decision of the party on the need for them to vacate the offices.
It was also gathered that Senator Ahmad Lawan had been informed of the readiness of the Senate President to announce him as the new Senate Leader.
It will be recalled that the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had on June 24 written the Senate President and Speaker Dogara, listing the names of proposed occupants of the leadership positions.
While Dogara kept faith with the party’s list, Saraki’s allies in the Senate named different persons, whose names were announced on the floor of the Senate in July.
Former Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, monday denied storming out of the residence of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, over the deferment of his screening last week.
In a statement signed by his media aide, David Iyofor, Amaechi said the story was
not true, adding that there was a deliberate and carefully calibrated attempt to characterise Amaechi with a very bad and demeaning mannerism.
The former governor said he holds the office of the President of the Senate in very high esteem and would never disrespect or act in anyway that would put the office in disrepute.
“We must clarify that Amaechi did not visit and was not at the residence of the Senate President last Thursday so, there is absolutely no way what the newspaper sources claimed to have transpired, happened.
“We must emphasise that Amaechi holds the office of the President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in very high esteem and will never disrespect or act in anyway that would put the office in disrepute.
“However, in this case, the incident reported never occurred either on Thursday or any other day,” he said.
NATIONAL Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, lambasted Senate President, Bukola Saraki, describing him as an indiscipline, disloyal and member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in soul.
Bola Tinubu
Tinubu spoke yesterday while denying media reports that he was conspiring with Senate President Saraki to move against President Muhammadu Buhari over his alleged disaffection with the ministerial list.
Insisting that President Buhari must be supported by all to realise the change agenda, Tinubu said there was no way he could conspire with Saraki, who he said was indisciplined, disloyal and a PDP member in soul.
Tinubu spoke via a statement from Conakry, Guinea, by his Media Director, Dare Sunday.
“The idea of an alleged conspiracy between Tinubu and Saraki against the President is a lie. Tinubu is committed to the APC vision and the Nigeria Project. The way Senator Saraki captured his current seat travestied party discipline” he said.
Reacting to the attack, the Senate President, Saraki, said he would not join issues with Tinubu and promised that the screening of ministerial nominees, starting tomorrow, would be done objectively according to the laws of the country and in the interest of Nigerians.
Tinubu in the statement said: “It was a crass act of disloyalty showing that Saraki may have joined the APC on paper but has remained true to the malpractices and wrong aims of the reactionary PDP in his soul.
“If this nation is to have more than a fleeting chance of escaping the quagmire into which years of PDP misrule have taken us, we cannot allow these regressive elements to deploy their cunning tricks to divide and pit progressives against progressives,” he said
The APC leader said he would not toss aside a lifetime’s labour because of an alleged slight and certainly would not join with Senator Saraki in stymieing the government which might just be the nation’s last best chance to salvage itself.
“In our journey to national betterment, plans and policies will be made, then amended. Mistakes will occur and then be corrected. Achievements will be had and replicated. Through it all, Asiwaju will remain true to the progressive ideals that fuelled the creation of the APC. He has devoted his political life to achieve what has been achieved. His heart is too much of the people and his mind too fixed on establishing a positive historic legacy to suffer such a cynical policy or engage in the destructive pettiness of which he is accused.”
He continued: ‘’The alleged conspiracy is a figment. It takes at least two people to make a conspiracy. There has been no substantive communication between Asiwaju and Saraki since the latter decided to foul the integrity of the Senate and the party. To be truthful, I don’t think Saraki would care to hear what Asiwaju would have to say to him. He would admonish the Senator to treat the nomination process with dispatch, justice, fairness, transparency, and most of all with the greatest patriotism.
“He would counsel Saraki to shelve his personal situation for the moment to concentrate on the people’s business. It would be a grave mistake and abuse of office for Saraki to directly or indirectly inject his personal matter into the approval process. Saraki should not link the approval of a single minister to his desire for extra-judicial treatment of his issues.’’
The statement read in part: ‘’Other than voice this encouragement, Bola Tinubu will never say a negative word or lift a finger to forestall anyone’s approval before the Senate. For the record, the Buhari Presidency was brought to life by the votes of millions of Nigerians who desire change. Such a collective and historic achievement is not one that anyone who worked to bring it to life would easily seek to de-construct.
“If adhering to the decisions of the party, supporting the government’s progressive plank and working for the good of the people qualifies Tinubu for surveillance, then he will accept that.
“However, we know that any such surveillance is not from state security organs. Such activity would come from the insecurity agencies of the PDP and its mercenary allies elsewhere who would seek to fragment the true core of the APC so that they may scuttle the Buhari reform programme and return the nation to the misgovernance of the past. They hope to delude the APC into attacking itself. By so doing, they believe they can regain through stealth, the reins of government the people seized from them through elections. They seek to break the hearts and hopes of the people. Asiwaju Tinubu would never team with anyone to gain such an inhumane objective…
“Those who midwifed this garish tale gave birth not to truth but to lies intended to kill APC unity and to retard the Buhari administration’s strategic reform initiatives, as earlier outlined by our party manifesto. Given the potential for change that stands before us, we are now beginning to see the true nature of many people. There are those who truly want positive change so that we can break from the ways of a stolid past. Then there are those who speak of change with their mouths but never believe in it in their hearts. They came along with us for the ride or because no other political option availed itself at the operative time. Now given the chance to redeem themselves from their past political actions, they would rather return to the political morass from whence they came.
“Here, I will do those who inhabit the shadows of untruth a favour. I will state explicitly what they hoped to get the reader to infer. Their claim is that Tinubu has joined with Saraki to scuttle the President’s ministerial nominations. They have misfired.
‘’Their wrong is a great wrong. Like the rest of us, Asiwaju Tinubu waited for the President to select his cabinet. The majority of the selections have been made. There is nothing to do but congratulate the appointees and pray for them. Their responsibilities are vast, the future of the nation now rests on their shoulders. The challenges before them are manifold and daunting. Those who want the best for Nigeria can only hope that these people succeed. The only intervention that Asiwaju Tinubu would make is one of encouragement. He would charge them to remain true to the progressive vision of the party and our President.’’
I won’t join issues with Tinubu—Saraki
Reacting, Saraki, in a statement by his Spokesperson, Mr Yusuf Olaniyonu said: “I saw the statement said to be issued by Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu over a story published by a national daily. I have decided not to join issues with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. However, I know that most Nigerians are aware that there has been no meeting or communication between me and Asiwaju Tinubu since I was elected Senate President. Therefore, I do not see any basis for a newspaper to report that we are both plotting to oppose the President.
“I recognise Tinubu as one of the leaders of the APC who contributed so much to the victory of the party in the last election. Some other people also contributed and I believe the collective efforts made it possible for the first time in the history of our country for an opposition party to win the general elections.
He also said: “Let me state clearly that I remain a committed member of the APC and will do all in my powers to ensure the party fulfill its promises to bring positive changes into the country.
“Since my election as Senate President, my focus and efforts have been devoted to doing the job that I was elected to do by my constituents and my colleagues in the Senate. Twice, my colleagues have confirmed their support for me as the primus inter pares in the Senate.
“As I said in my speech when we resumed from our recess late September and in Ikenne over the weekend, the screening of ministerial nominees will be handled by me and my colleagues with all sense of responsibility and in adherence to the provision of the constitution. We will be fair to all and be guided by the interest of Nigeria. The screening will be devoid of sentiment and it is not an opportunity for anybody to settle scores. We are equally eager for us to make a positive difference in our polity and Nigerians will be able to judge us whether we acted in their best interest or not.”
Senate President Bukola Saraki on Wednesday evening said the focus of the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the leadership of the National Assembly was how to better the lot of Nigerians.
Bukola Saraki
He said the meeting, which was at the instance of the President, was to devise means of delivering the promises made to Nigerians during electioneering.
Saraki spoke with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting held behind closed doors at the First Lady’s Conference Hall inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said, “The meeting was an initiative of the President for an interaction with the leadership of the National Assembly.
“It was a very useful session, being the first one. This kind of interaction helps in ensuring smooth relationship between the two arms of government.
“We discussed a number of issues: some of the plans. The general commitment is that yes, the National Assembly has legislators from different parties but now we are representing Nigeria. We have a common goal to see that we work together for the interest of the country as a whole.”
When asked whether his ongoing trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged false declaration of assets came up during the meeting, Saraki said, “We are talking about what will make Nigeria work, we are talking about the promises we made during elections.
“Those are the big issues we are talking about and to ensure that there are no distractions. The focus is to ensure that the executive arm does things in the interest of the county.
“It is normal in democratic setting, from time to time, you see the parliament talking with the executive. That is how to make things work.”
Saraki said Nigerians should be confident that the present government would work in their interest.
He promised that the two arms or government were committed to work together for the good of the people.
“What we are taking away is for Nigerians to be confident that government is working. We are committed to work together and it is going to be for the good of Nigerians at large.
“It is a good development. We are all committed to what we are all elected to do: to make Nigeria work,” he said.
Saraki also justified the absence of the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, at the meeting, saying he was attending a conference outside the country at the time of the parley.
“Two people are not here because they are attending a conference. The Deputy Minority Whip in the House too is not here. It just happened that they are not in the country,” he explained.
Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, led the lawmakers to the late night meeting with the President.
Others who attended the meeting from the Senate included the Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume; the Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah; Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio and Minority Whip, Philip Aduda.
Those who attended from the House of Representatives included the Deputy Speaker, Yusuf Lasun; and House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki has confirmed that he received the wide speculated ministerial list on Wednesday.
Presentation of list of Ministerial Nominees by Chief of Staff to President
He disclosed this on his twitter handle that he received the list at 5pm.
Saraki said “I can confirm to you that I have just received the list.”
President Muhammadu who is presently attending the 70th session of the United Nation General Assembly in New York had promised Nigerians to unveil his list of nominees in Semtemper.
The Senators eagerly waited for the list on Wednesday until they adjourned the plenary to Tuesday next week in the believe that, it was not forth coming.
Senator Dino Melaye had said early Wednesday that the list was yet to reach the Senate.
THE Senate, expectedly, had a stormy session on Tuesday as some members of the upper legislative chamber protested the passing of vote of confidence in the Senate president, Olusola Saraki, by 83 senators.
Bukola Saraki
Tuesday was the Senate’s first plenary since the arraignment of Saraki by the Code of Conduct Bureau for false asset declaration. The senior lawmakers had been on break since August 13.
Members of the House of Representatives, however, on Tuesday, said they had chosen to support the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, conveyed the position of the House in an address to lawmakers as they reconvened in Abuja after a six-week annual recess.
There was uproar in the Senate as the senator representing Zamfara Central Senatorial District, Kabir Marafa, complained that he was denied the opportunity to air his own view before the Senate president subjected the confidence motion to vote.
Senator Babajide Omoworare also protested the inclusion of his name as a co-sponsor of the confidence vote in Saraki.
Omoworare, representing Osun East Senatorial District, said his consent was not sought even as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Business.
He later, in a statement, dissociated himself from the vote of confidence passed in Saraki.
In an electronic mail to one of our correspondents, Omoworare said he was not contacted before his name was included in the list of 84 senators, who passed votes of confidence in Saraki.
He had then moved that his name should be struck out of the motion.
The motion for the lawmakers to pass vote of confidence in the Senate president was moved by an All Progressives Congress member representing Niger East Senatorial District, David Umaru, on behalf of 83 others.
The motion, reportedly endorsed by 48 Peoples Democratic Party senators and 35 APC senators, was passed by overwhelming shout of ‘ye’ by the lawmakers.
It was the second confidence vote in Saraki in as many as two months. Eighty-one out of the 108 members of the Senate passed a similar vote on July 28
Umaru, while moving the motion, had noted alleged interference in the affairs of the senate “by detractors and media propaganda against senators, the senate and its leadership for selfish politicians.”
He said the Senate would not allow itself to be distracted and that it would not succumb to blackmail in the course of carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.
He therefore called on innocent Nigerians, groups and political associations not to allow themselves to be used by any person or persons to intimidate or blackmail the Senate and its leadership.
But Marafa,who is the spokesperson for the Senate Unity Forum, a group opposed to the leadership of the Senate by Saraki, caused an uproar by noting that Saraki was only calling on his supporters to contribute.
Marafa, who was later recognised to speak after Saraki had ruled on the motion, cited order 53 (5) of the Senate Standing Rule, which forbids the Senate from discussing any issue before the court.
The insistence of Saraki that Marafa should also read the provision of Order 53 (6), which equally forbids any senator from raising any issue upon which the Senate president had ruled upon, degenerated into an open confrontation between the two lawmakers.
While Marafa argued that Saraki deliberately denied him an opportunity to talk before he ruled on the issue, the Senate president stood his ground and ruled the Zamfara senator out of order.
An angry Marafa consequently stood up and accused Saraki of giving only his loyalists the opportunity to speak on the floor and the resultant reactions from both pro- and anti – Saraki senators disrupted the deliberation on the motion on the outbreak of cholera moved by Senator Soni Ogbuoji.
An APC member representing Bauchi Central, Senator Issah Missau, climbed his seat and shouted on Marafa to “shut up and sit down” and Marafa responded by threatening to beat up Missau.
At the height of the confusion in the chamber, the immediate past Senate president, David Mark, stood up and quietly walked out.
In the ensuing confusion, Saraki called on the Sergeant-at-Arms to bring the proceedings to order but some of Marafa’s colleagues in the SUF, led by Senator Ahmad Lawan, sent back the Sergeant-at-Arms, saying the situation was under control.
Marafa was thereafter led out of the chamber by some senators who took him to the office of Senator Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central) and barred him from speaking to journalists.
The aggrieved senator later returned to the chamber and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, apologised on his behalf to the Senate.
The Senate spokesperson, Senator Dino Melaye, while addressing journalists after the plenary, lamented “the unruly behaviour of Marafa” and warned that the Senate would take necessary disciplinary action against him in future if he repeated such attitude.
Melaye said, “The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in session, apologised to Nigerians for the unbecoming attitude of Senator Marafa. That act is disgraceful, unacceptable and condemnable and that the senate regrets that.
“We want to assure Nigerians that this will be the last time that the Senate will condone such misbehaviour. His action contravenes Section 56 of the Standing Rule of the Senate but his misbehaviour is regrettable.
“The Senate will do everything within its powers to ensure that the situation does not repeat itself and where it is repeated, it would be met with stiff adherence to the rules of the Senate.”
ABUJA–SENATE President,Bukola Saraki,Tuesday,reiterated that his trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal,CCT,was being influenced by people outside the National Assembly who were not comfortable with his emergence as Senate President
But he said the ‘intruders’ were fighting a lost battle as they were not National Assembly members to effect their desired leadership in the Red Chamber.
Bukola Saraki
This was even as he disclosed that the screening of the ministerial nominees being awaited by the Senate would not be business as usual,vowing that the exercise would be thoroughly carried out.
Speaking while welcoming senators back,after six weeks of recess, Saraki insisted that his travails in the hands of the anti-graft agency were the handiwork of those he referred to as “powerful individuals outside” the legislature.
“I wish to reiterate my remarks before the Tribunal, that I have no iota of doubt that I am on trial today because I am the president of the Nigerian Senate, against the wishes of some powerful individuals outside this Chambers,”he said.
In an apparent reference to the outsiders,the Senate President said: “The laws of Nigeria does not give any consideration to any other forces outside the Senate in the election of its President.
“And to yield the ground on this note, is to be complicit in the subversion of democracy and its core principles of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution.”
“This, in your wisdom, is what you have done by electing me to be the first among all of you who are my equals,”he told his colleagues.
He said the activities of the powerful individuals outside the legislature would not deter him,vowing that he would always defend the independence of the legislature.
He also noted that too many people have fought and died for the democracy being enjoyed in the country today,adding: “We would not be honouring them and their memories if we allow the sad chapters of our history to continue to repeat themselves like a bad curse.”
“As for me, I am prepared to do my duty in defence of our democracy and in safeguarding the independence of the National Assembly. My duty, as I see it, is to do justice and honour to the memory of those who have paid even higher prices to give us this democracy and this constitution.”
“Primarily as a senator of the Federal Republic and as Senate President, I owe it to this Senate to stand strong in the face of relentless persecution.
“I invite all of you to stand with me to defend this Senate and preserve its sanctity.
“Ultimately, our legacies would not be defined by how long we stay here and in whatever position; but by what we did with this great opportunity that our people have given us by the grace of Almighty God,”he stressed.
But he commended President Muhammadu Buhari, for refusing to interfere in the election of the National Assembly leadership “even in the face of enormous pressures on him to do so.”
He said the action of the president “proved quite concretely that he is indeed a born-again democrat.”
Speaking on the awaited ministerial screening, Senator Saraki said: “As we await the list of ministerial nominees this week, I believe the presence of ministers will create the space for greater policy engagement with the Executive Arm of government and enable us to begin to respond in a more systematic manner to the various economic and social challenges before us, especially through our various Committees that will also be constituted soon.
“On this note, I want to urge you all my colleagues to ensure that what is uppermost in our minds as we begin the constitutional task of screening of ministerial nominees is the overall interest of our country, informed by the enormity and the urgency of the challenges before us.
“Once the list is submitted, let us ensure that we treat it with dispatch and thoroughness. We must not be held down by unnecessary politicking. The enormity of our national challenges at this time does not give room for pettiness or politics of vendetta,”he charged senators.
The Senate President added:”This is an auspicious moment for us to rededicate ourselves to all that which will advance our nation,move us closer to the dreams of our founding fathers and our attain ourdestiny as the greatest nation of the black race on the planet.
“All that we seek for our country is achievable in our life time if we all play our part and forsake our old ways. But the least we must do is to ensure that while we are here, we are able to lay the necessary foundation for our children and their children to live a more prosperous life.”
Saraki charged senators to sit up to their constitutional responsibilities,vowing that the Senate under his watch will exercise it functions without fear or favour.
THE Peoples Democratic Party has said that the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, is fit for the office he is occupying; hence it is not considering any candidate to replace him.
Olisah Metuh
The PDP denied reports that it was already looking for a senator from the opposition party to replace Saraki, who is currently under pressure to resign from office following his trial for false asset declaration by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Nigeria’s two main labour unions–Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress – on Saturday demanded Saraki’s resignation on moral grounds consequent upon his trial at the CCT.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, who spoke to our correspondent on Sunday, said the party still believed that the trial of Saraki was political and that the PDP would not think of abandoning the Senate president until it sees the merit of the case.
Metuh said, “We have no candidate for the office of the Senate President, because we have a fit person occupying the position for now.
“We are behind him and we can’t abandon him just because he is undergoing trial. Anybody can be put on trial, but the question we should ask is whether the trial is political or not.
“Does the trial have merit? When we see the merit of the case, we will take position. But for now, there is nothing like that.”
Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State, is currently facing a 13-count charge of making false declaration as a governor between 20013 and 2011.
Since his arraignment before the tribunal, there had been speculations that the PDP, which produced Saraki’s deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, had been scheming to replace him with one of its senators.
Among those being touted as possible replacements for Saraki are Ekweremadu; a former Senate President, David Mark; and a former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio.
Saraki had defied the directive of his party, the All Progressives Congress, and had clinched the Senate presidency with the backing of senators of the PDP, his former party.
The APC has 59 senators while the PDP has 49 but the Senate inauguration and election took place on June 9 while about 50 APC senators were waiting for a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari outside the National Assembly.
But while the APC senators have been divided from inception of the eighth Senate, all the 49 PDP senators have been united.
The PDP senators have been the main backers of Saraki since his assumption of office as the Senate president.
Metuh said it was too early for the party to be talking with its members in the Senate or thinking of abandoning the Senate president.
He said the PDP was still of the opinion that Saraki was being prosecuted because of his political belief.
The opposition spokesman said, “We are not even thinking of replacement for Saraki for now. The National Assembly is a separate arm of the government just like the judiciary and the executive.
“Is anyone thinking that there would be leadership change in the executive and the judiciary?
“Are they not independent of the other? What we are interested in is that all the three arms of government must be allowed to function independently of the other. We are saying there shouldn’t be any interference.”
When he was reminded that the leadership of both the executive and the judiciary are not on trial for any crime, Metuh said that “trial doesn’t amount to conviction.”
There are indications that Senators that are opposed to Dr. Bukola Saraki’s leadership of the Senate are poised to ask for his resignation when the upper federal legislative chamber re-opens on Tuesday (tomorrow).
Bukola Saraki
The anti-Saraki Senators are citing the trial of the Senate president by the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false asset declaration as a reason for Saraki to go while his supporters are saying the man should not be proclaimed guilty before he goes through the judicial process.
The Senate will resume plenary on Tuesday. The lawmakers have been on break since August 13.
Investigations by our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday indicated that both anti-Saraki Senators and those supporting the Senate president are poised for a showdown when they return to the chambers.
While the anti-Saraki Senators are said to be resolute in their plot to end his leadership of the Senate, the pro-Saraki members are said to have vowed to ensure that the man is not forced out of office.
Curiously, the Senate president’s “enemies” are mostly members of his All Progressives Congress while his “loyalists” are from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
A strong member of the anti-Saraki faction of the Senate, under the aegis of the Senate Unity Forum, who spoke with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday, explained that his colleagues were determined to restore the integrity of the upper chamber by ensuring that a senator standing trial for corruption would not continue to preside over their affairs.
The APC senator from the North-East geopolitical zone, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Posterity will judge us if we continue to condone corruption in the legislature instead of distancing ourselves from it”
“It is our intention to reach out to more senators who had yet to see things from the same perspective like us and we will play our role and leave the rest for Nigerians to judge.
“The Senate president may rule us out of order while his supporters may also make noise and shout us out but we will say our own and allow history to be the judge.
“Nigerians know what is going on and majority of our people now have access to the mass media more than ever before, so they will also know the role that each senator plays in the whole saga.
“We are not assuring Nigerians that our efforts alone would get Saraki out of office but we will do the needful as responsible lawmakers and would encourage Nigerians to take it up from where we stop.”
Another APC senator from the South-West geopolitical zone, who also craved anonymity, argued that it would be better for the Senate president to step aside to face his trial at the CCT.
Some Senators of Like Minds, being the name of the pro-Saraki Senators’ group, who spoke with The PUNCHsaid they were aware of the plot by some of their colleagues in the SUF “to blackmail the Senate president” over his current trial at the CCT.
One of them, an APC Senator from the North-Central, who would also not want his name mentioned, said that his colleagues were fully prepared to tackle any “externally motivated motion on Tuesday”
According to him, the Senate president has more than enough loyalists in the upper chamber “to kill any politically-motivated motion sponsored by any godfathers outside the Senate.”
The Senator said, “We have a tradition in the Senate; anybody is free to air his or her view on any issue while the Senate president will in his wisdom rule in favour of the strongest argument.
“We equally wish to warn our colleagues on the opposite side to be careful with the way they are going about the whole issue because any Senator who connives with an external body to run down his or her colleague, would in the shortest possible time bite his fingers in anguish”
A PDP Senator from the South-East geopolitical zone clarified that any motion targeted at calling for the impeachment of Saraki or asking him to step aside would not sail through because the Senate would not discuss on any matter before the court.
The Senator said, “Any anti-Saraki motion on the floor on Tuesday based on his trial at the CCT will fail because all of us know that we can’t discuss any issue before the court.
“The Senate president will definitely not rule on any case before the court so nobody should bother to bring such an issue before him”
Another PDP senator confided in one of our correspondents on Sunday that members of the SUF had been reaching out to some opposition lawmakers to seek their support to sack Saraki by supporting an impeachment motion.
The Senator from the South-South said, “I have been called by a Senator from the South-West geopolitical zone who is my friend but I told him that some leaders of the APC were using Saraki’s trial to get at other senators, which would be disastrous”
Efforts to get an official reaction from the spokesperson for the SUF, Kabir Marafa, failed as he said he was just returning to the country when our correspondent called him on Sunday.
He said, “I am just returning to Nigeria from an overseas trip and it will be difficult for me to comment on an issue that my colleagues had not discussed with me. I am still studying the situation because I have been out of circulation for some time now,” he said.
Also the Senate spokesman, who also doubles as the coordinator of the Like Minds senators, Dino Melaye, failed to pick his call or respond to a text message sent to him on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Democracy on Sunday joined those calling for the resignation of Saraki as senate president. The CD called on Saraki to resign as a respect to his person and the integrity of the nation.
The CD, in a statement by one of its zonal coordinators, Ifeanyi Odili, noted that the apprehension over the ongoing crisis at the nation’s legislative arm was capable of consuming the nation’s democracy.
The statement reads in part, “The lingering crisis at the Senate is beginning to be seen as a diversion aimed at dissuading Nigerians from the recovery of our loots from the past government.
“CD noted that since the Bukola Saraki’s saga started, no one has heard about the probe of the former ministers and the Niger Delta amnesty programmes. Up to this moment, nothing has been heard about the investigation, let alone the prosecution of the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde.
“While we agree that false assets declaration is a criminal offence, we are more concerned about the recovery of our looted money,that is what is expected of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In a normal society, the Senate president ought to have resigned from the exalted seat before entering the witness box at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.”
In a related development, Senator Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Sokoto) on Sunday said there was no plot to oust the Senate president.
Wamakko, one of Saraki loyalists, described reports that Saraki would be removed based on his ongoing trial by the CCT as the handiwork of “political rabble-rousers.”
Wamakko, who spoke to journalists in Abuja, described as untrue reports that members of the PDP were plotting a takeover of the Senate on account of the Senate president’s ordeal.
Wamakko said, “I see Mr. President, Saraki and Senators holding a meeting very soon on how to salvage democracy, which certain elements have been trying to subvert. They will find time to meet to stop our opponents from progressing with acts to sabotage our democracy.
“Once the President and the Senate leadership sit on a round table with a resolve to re-oil the wheels of democracy for national progress, the cynics, the political rabble-rousers and those who never meant well for the APC government will go to sleep.”
As speculations mount over the future of embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki, plots by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to supplant the majority All Progressives Congress (APC) and take over leadership of the senate are intensifying.
The Nation had reported a few days ago the PDP was plotting a sensational take-over of the upper chamber of the National Assembly in the event that Saraki is consumed by his ongoing trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio
The party is mobilising its members in the Senate to ensure one of its own replaces Saraki if the presidency of the senate becomes vacant. With that as a goal, it is said to be seriously considering one of the trio of former Senate President David Mark, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, as possible candidates for the position. The Nationalso learnt that the three senators are being supported by various groups within the party and the senate.
The opposition party’s calculation is that some APC senators, especially those in the pro-Saraki’s Likeminds group, may either defect to the PDP or work with the party to once again produce the president of the senate if Saraki is convicted by the CCT.
“The party hopes to win to its side some APC senators to vote for our candidate along with the PDP senators. This is based on our belief that many senators across party lines are unhappy with the ongoing trial of the Senate President and we all know where this is coming from,” a PDP senator told The Nation.
Reliable sources said a meeting of PDP senators and members of Saraki’s Likeminds has been schedule for tomorrow in Abuja to discuss recent developments within the upper chamber and decide how the pro-Saraki lawmakers will react.
“While I know we will be discussing how to stall any plan to remove Saraki from office, I am also aware that we will be talking about how to ensure that APC doesn’t take over the leadership of the senate even if Saraki has to go. Already we are positioning our men in readiness for another political battle on the floor of the senate. If Saraki is forced out, we will replace him with one of our own,” another source said.
The Nation learnt that those pushing the candidacy of Ekweremadu are of the opinion that being the current Deputy Senate President, it is only normal that he be supported by PDP senators and Saraki’s loyalists to emerge as the Senate President should the latter lose the battle to remain in office.
“Ekweremadu is the current Deputy Senate President. He has shown loyalty to his boss and he is a loyal party man too. Many of us are of the opinion that it is natural that he be supported by PDP senators and Saraki’s loyalists to emerge as the Senate President should the latter lose his position as a result of his ongoing trial.
“We have made this clear to the caucus and the party leadership and he is seriously being considered by all stakeholders as a good candidate for the job. Ekweremadu’s experience as a Deputy Senate President of many years is also a great advantage. He is well suited for the job and he is well loved by many of his colleagues,” our source said.
Another factor working in favour of Ekweremadu, The Nation learnt is the quest by the South East geo-political zone to be represented among the top political office holders in the land. “The fact that he is from the South East is another factor working for him. Many senators will reason with the need to give the zone some sense of representation in the current arrangement,” our source added.
For Akpabio, the possibility of replacing Saraki as the next Senate President is being pushed largely by those opposed to Ekweremadu’s emergence. He is also said to be enjoying the backing of former governors now in PDP and Likeminds senators.
“Akpabio is the choice of those opposed to Ekweremadu for one reason or the other. He is also the candidate of his fellow ex-governors who are in Saraki’s camp or in PDP senate caucus. Their desire to ensure Ekweremadu is stopped from becoming Senate President may split the camp of pro-Saraki lawmakers,” our source added.
Meanwhile, a third group is said to be rooting for the return of David Mark as the Senate President to forestall further friction between the pro-Ekweremadu and pro-Akpabio camps. According to reports, the former Senate President’s status as the unofficial leader of the party in the National Assembly largely informed the decision to draft him into the race.
“Senator Mark is the real leader of the PDP caucus in the National Assembly. So, many of us feel he is the best man to be returned to the position after Saraki. His choice will also end the dangerous rivalry between the other groups and ensure that we do not lose the contest should the need arise,” our source added.
LAGOS—APPARENTLY reacting to the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu yesterday said the present administration cannot overlook certain things in its fight against corruption.
Bola Tinubu
Meantime, Tinubu has called on Nigerians to often put God and the nation first in their daily activities, saying “What is missing in Nigeria is lack of patriotism, dedication to God and to our people.
Tinubu, speaking after activities for the Eid-il-Kabir celebration at Dodan Barracks, praying ground, said that the ongoing anti-corruption war embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari will further strengthen the country’s institutions and fast track development.
This came 48 hours after Saraki appeared before the CCT in Abuja on September 22nd, 2015, claiming that he was not guilty of the charges leveled against him by the tribunal.
According to him, “It is part of nation’s development. We cannot overlook a lot of things. And we cannot personalise a lot of things as if it was vendetta. We have to endure and be patient as we look for justice, equity and a balanced society.”
He stated that to achieve a just and balanced society, the various institutions in the country must be strengthened, adding “If we do not strengthened these institutions, how can they work for the development of the nation? If we fail and result to blackmail, how can the nation reverse the decadence that is perceived in our society?”
Tinubu lamented that citizens often denigrate public officer as one who mismanage public funds allocated to his office.
The APC leader said: “Government officials are no longer believed by the citizens. When one has a public responsibility, the citizens look at it as if the source of wealth to steal and mismanage public funds and do things not included in the democratic norms and values.
‘We have to live by example and by our words. We can be talking about it alone. We have to work it without any iota of blackmail.”
The former governor recalled how he went through such trial and was later discharged and acquainted, saying; “It is not what I haven’t personally experienced.”
His words: “I have been through it. The second week I left office, I was invited by Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC. I went there and answered their questions. Later, I took them to court and I won.
Some years back, after they discovered that my asset declaration had some questions, they claim. It is only then I accused the government of being selective.”
He noted that the country had surmounted some challenges but to avoid a repeat of such, Nigerians must put the nation first and do the right thing.
Tinubu said: “Yearly, we talk about sacrificecharged me to the tribunal. I went and challenged them to show proof. I was later discharged and acquainted because there was no evidence to prove their s and perseverance of people. If we want people to persevere, from the top to the bottom, we have to demonstrate as leaders that we are very serious about nation building too.
“Our leaders should look compassionately at the suffering masses and create the demand locally and diversify our economy. Go through it at once and have a nation that we will all be proud of. Develop citizenship that will be blind to tribe or ethnicity but believe in character.
“It is worrisome that when we meet ourselves outside the country, we embrace one another but immediately we arrive in this country, we revert to ethnicity, tribalism and others. We have to develop a new character and new nation.
“Every day we talk about the potential of this country but where are we, when one looks at a country like India, they don’t have oil but they were able to build an economy for themselves that is thriving today and creating employment for the youths.
“We want everything free but we have not put emphasis on the training of our youths and retraining of our teachers to put education in forefront of investment that is necessary for this country.
“We still believe that education is the weapon against poverty. And to achieve it, we have to rededicate ourselves and make those sacrifices in order to lift the country out of poverty,” he added.
