Senator Bukola Saraki beat the odds against him to emerge as Senate President but could make record as the first sitting Senate President to appear in court on allegation of impropriety. Last night he won temporary judicial relief when a Federal High Court temporarily halt his trial.
How far his current struggles are separate from his struggle to become Senate President is an issue
It was a hearty meeting between some of the principal founders of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Abuja few weeks ago.
As the men bantered and the issue of Senator Bukola Saraki cropped up, one of the very senior men now in government said that they should not be surprised that the same Saraki would soon run to the party and say that he no longer wants to be Senate President.
The fact that Saraki had defied fellow party leaders and mustered votes from opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senators to position himself as Senate President, and Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP as his deputy had become a deep embarrassment for the party leaders.
Party leaders
So as the party leaders ended that meeting there was a consensus that the Saraki sore would sooner than later be a thing of the past.
That meeting was after the wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki was summoned to appear before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for alleged offences flowing from the stewardship of her husband as governor of Kwara State more than five years ago.
The threats against Saraki eventually surfaced last Wednesday as it emerged that the Code of Conduct Bureau had charged the Senate President to the Code of Conduct Tribunal on a 13 count charge of false declaration of assets and improper conduct including allegedly maintain foreign bank accounts while he was governor.
Saraki was quick to dismiss the charges against him within hours after news of the development surfaced in online media describing the allegations as frivolous and a witch-hunt from outside forces
“There is no doubt about that. It is mischievous, it is not correct and the issues therein are not true. As far as we are concerned, we are not shaken. We will focus on what we have come to the Senate to do. I was elected by the people. I was elected by my colleagues to work for what is good and in the interest of this country and that is what I will do.
“For the Code of Conduct Tribunal to wait for 13 years before working on a declaration that was made since 2003 is ridiculous. I have always done my declaration and we will defend those allegations but we will continue to do our work here”.
Yesterday, the Saraki camp was still buoyed up ahead of the arraignment of the Senate President at the tribunal. That was despite the seeming specificity of the charges which initially seemed to throw supporters of the Senate President off balance.
Possible arraignment
Senator Saraki’s possible arraignment before the CCT today would be the first time since the advent of the Fourth Republic that a high level official at that level would be so brought to court on alleged misdeeds.
Not even President Olusegun Obasanjo at the peak of his political problems with ‘troublesome’ Senate Presidents such as Senators Chuba Okadigbo, Anyim Pius Anyim and even Ken Nnamani took that route.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari had shown the stuff he was made of when Toyin, Saraki’s wife was charged to court.
When Senator Saraki and his aides claimed that the CCB was acting a script they also referred to the fact that the country is yet to have an Attorney-General, who according to the law should give the permission for the prosecution of such cases.
It was as such easy for supporters of the Senate President to point at a witch-hunt on the premise of alleged political differences flowing from divided opinions on who should be Senate President.
Saraki’s struggles: Since his emergence as Senate President Saraki has not once been invited to the Presidential Villa. In
contrast his predecessors were almost without exception guests of the president within days of emergence, guests of the sitting president. However, besides sitting near the president at the Eid Ground at the end of the Muslim month of fasting, Senator Saraki and President Buhari have not met.
It is also being alleged that the charges against Saraki were framed to either remove him from the process of the screening of ministers or to pummel him to ensure unhindered clearance for the nominees that are expected to appear before the Senate from the end of the month.
Clearance of nominees
It is alleged that PDP senators may want to block the clearance of nominees in the states where PDP senators dominate given the Senate tradition that stipulates that at least two senators must approve before the clearance of nominees from their states.
Strategies: Following his initial rebuff of the allegations even before he was formally notified, Saraki sat down with his close confidants Wednesday night during which the allegations were scrutinised in a meeting that lasted till about 3.00 a.m.
At the end of the meeting, Team Saraki resolved to frontally challenge the allegations seeing it as an attempt to rubbish the Senate President not just for now, but for future.
Saraki it was gathered would attempt to prove that possession of an American Express Card does not amount to maintaining a foreign bank account and show that it was funded by his Nigerian bank.
But of more concern to the camp is the fact that the development could paint the image of the Senate President as a corrupt man.
“You know Atiku was never convicted for any offence, but his enemies have tended to so paint him as corrupt for the purpose of making him unelectable and that is what we believe they want to do to Saraki,” a close associate of Saraki said yesterday.
“The issue is not a matter for today, but it is what they want to do to him against tomorrow,” the associate said.
Saraki is as such expected to robustly present the allegations against him as an offshoot of his political struggles and fight for the office of Senate President
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