CCT Trial: We Will Stand By Saraki- Senators
Loyalists of Senate President Bukola Saraki have promised to stand by him through his continued trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.
Saraki is currently facing trial at the CCT following a 13-count charge levelled against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, bordering on alleged corruption and false declaration of assets while he was governor of Ekiti state.
The senators, who met at the residence of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Magartarkada Wammako, came to an agreement that despite his trial at the CCT, Saraki must not resign but continue in office.
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The pro-Saraki senators noted that their decision was not just for the senate president, but for the institution of the Senate that he eminently represents.
According to them, the cherished autonomy of the Senate will never be rubbished by any arm of government.
Senator Ibrahim Rafiu, APC, Kwara South and Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, speaking on behalf of the senators shortly after the meeting, reiterated their earlier stance that Saraki’s trial was a ‘mere persecution’ and an attempt to tarnish his image in ways not experienced before.
He said: “We have since discovered that the trial of the Senate President is a mere attempt to blackmail him and make him look bad in the court of public opinion. No more, no less. A dispassionate analysis of the proceedings at the CCT, yesterday, has pointed to the fact that the APC-led executive is still embittered against Dr. Saraki over the manner of his election as Senate President.
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“This is why we are standing for the Senate President and we will so do till the very end. We are doing this not for him but for the institution of the Senate that he eminently represents. We will never allow any arm of government to rubbish the cherished autonomy of the Senate.”
On the increasing pressure in some quarters that the Senate President should step down, the senators, who vowed to resist the pressures insisted that the calls were borne out of ignorance and pure hatred.
“For those calling for the impeachment of the Senate President, we urge them to avail themselves of the provisions of the law relating to such a sensitive step.
“As far as we are concerned, there is nothing like that on the table, and if anybody is trying to import that from outside of the Senate, God help them.
“All I know is that they will have to produce as many as a 100 senators to achieve that aim. As long as they don’t have the majority, the call is a tall dream that will remain a figment of the imagination of the groups and their sponsors,” the senators said.
