The Deputy
National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade
Timi Frank has described the continued trial of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar
Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as worrisome in view of the
manifest flaws in the processes leading to the arraignment of Saraki. Frank in
a statement in Abuja, said it was dangerous that the leadership of the APC has
decided to sit on the fence and watch Saraki swim or sink in this trial.
He said: I sincerely hold that the
current trial of Saraki is not only under served, but amounts to paying a good
man with evil. I also want to say that the leaders of our great party have
unfortunately remained quiet in the face of evil. “I don’t believe we have
forgotten that the victory of the APC during the last general elections could
not have been possible without courageous strategists like Saraki who lent
their political weight in favour of the APC at the risk of their own lives and
personal survival. “I don’t think we have forgotten how Saraki as a Senator in
the 7th Senate brought the attention of Nigerians to the fraud perpetrated by
the the last administration in the name of fuel subsidy. “I don’t think we have
forgotten so soon how Saraki led five other governors of the People’s Democratic
Party (PDP) into the APC – a development that successfully turned the political
tide against the PDP and eventually tipped the electoral scale against them
during the 2015 general elections.
“I don’t think we have forgotten how Saraki
led scores of Senators to cross over to the APC on the floor of the Senate. “I
don’t think we have also forgotten what he gave of his time, personal resources
and energy to ensure that the APC emerged victorious both at the National,
State and Local Government level. “The question is: Why is the case of Saraki
being treated differently at the CCT that in 2011 struck out the case against
one of our national leaders because he was not given the opportunity to deny or
admit the alleged discrepancies in his asset declaration forms in line with
Section 3(d) of the CCB/CCT Act unlike 11 other ex-governors who had similar
cases of irregularities whose cases were dropped by the CCB after they were
invited by the agency.” For the avoidance of doubt, Section 3(d) of the CCB/CCT
Act which has been so undermined by the CCT in its Thursday ruling states that
the CCB shall: “Receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of this
Act and where the Bureau (not the AGF or EFCC) considers it necessary to do so,
refer such complaints to the Code of Conduct Tribunal established by Section 20
of this Act in accordance with the provisions of Sections 20 to 25 of this Act:
provided that where the concerned makes a written admission of such breach or
non-compliance, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary.”
It is
pertinent to mention that when this section of the Act was pleaded in the
defence of one of the leaders of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in
2011, the selfsame Justice Danlandi Umar struck out the case for lack of jurisdiction
to entertain the suit when he ruled that that “…On Section 3(d), I feel
compelled by the argument of the learned SAN for the accused. It is a condition
precedent for referring a charge to this Tribunal that the Accused ought to
have been invited to either deny or admit the allegations against him. This is
missing in this case as the Complainant has no such evidence of a prior
invitation. It would be proper for me at this stage to simply decline further
exercise of jurisdiction having held that the co diction precedent to the
instituting of charges against the Accused has not been complied with. I hereby
resolve this issue in favour of the Accused…” He added: “It is based on the
above precedent that I want to ask why Saraki’s case is different? Why is the
judiciary suddenly giving in to apparent blackmail from a section of the media
by refusing to do their job as required by law? “Already the Senate President
has told the world that the trial has nothing to do with corruption but that he
is being persecuted for emerging as the Senate President. To me the ominous
silence of our leaders since the day he was arraigned up till now serves to
validate the claims of the Senate President that he is being persecuted. “Or
where else in the world will the number three citizen of a country be hulled
before a tribunal over alleged irregularities in his asset declaration forms 13
years ago, and the hierarchy of the ruling party to which he is a bonafide
member will not come out to show solidarity or defend him?
“If it is true that
the trial of the Senate President is not borne out of genuine desire to fight
corruption but is being carried out for selfish political ends, then who is
next? “I think the party need to be courageous enough to speak out against this
unwholesome trend whose outcome will definitely not augur well for the overall
development of our party and by extension the country at this hour. “Even the
holy scriptures admonish us not to muzzle the ox that thresh the corn. Saraki
has paid his dues at a time it was suicidal for anybody to stand up against the
then ruling PDP. I believe it is time for all of us to act to save our party.
It is time to rally round our generals who have fought valiantly and led us to
victory. To abandon Saraki is to abandon a worthy comrade.”[vanguard]
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