The travail currently suffered by Senate President Bukola Saraki may
have been made worse by a group identified as the Northern Ethnic
Nationalities Unity Congress, NENUC, which has called for his
resignation.
NENUC insisted that Saraki should resign before he
further drags the image and reputation of the office of the Senate
President which he presently occupies to the mud.
Convener of the group, Mr Bako Benjamin, who made its position known to
newsmen, stated that it is disgusting that the Senate President would
rather be seeking court’s protection than going before the anti-graft
agency to clear his name of the charges.
“Let the Senate President come to equity with clean hands. Let him
defend himself against all the charges levelled against him in the
spirit of the new wind of change blowing across the country,” he said.
Benjamin maintained that the anti-corruption war spearheaded by the
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would be futile if people
like the Senate President continue to seek protection from the law
courts rather than presenting themselves for the acid test.
While pointing out that the recourse to the court itself is an admission
of guilt, he said: “Seeking protection from the law courts is sending a
strong signal that he (Saraki) has something to hide.”
The group, he said, has therefore given the Senate President a three-day
ultimatum to honorably resign to prevent impeachment proceedings
against him for his eventual removal from the exalted office.
NENUC insisted that Saraki’s continued stay in office is “capable of
sending wrong signals to the international community and pose a huge
question mark on President Buhari’s commitment to ridding the nation of
corruption.”
The Convener went on to state that his group will not hesitate to
mobilize other well-meaning Nigerians to march on the National Assembly
in protest, should the Senate President refuse to honorably resign from
office within reasonable time.
It will be recalled that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) had secured a
bench warrant for the arrest of the embattled Senate President by the
CCB Tribunal over allegations of false declaration of assets dating back
to 2003.
