Presidency, Saraki Fight over Who Controls Buhari

Tue, Jun 28, 2016
By publisher
5 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Politics

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THE presidency and the leadership of the senate are in a war of words over the allegation that a cabal has hijacked government from President Muhammadu Buhari. Bukola Saraki, Senate President, after his arraignment on Monday, June 27, for alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rules, claimed that a government within government had effectively taken control of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Saraki, in a statement he personally signed, said the charges of forgery pressed against him and other alleged conspirators represented another phase in the relentless persecution of the leadership of the Senate. He said there had been some forces who had hijacked the apparatus of Buhari’s executive power to pursue “nefarious agenda”.

“This misguided action by the attorney general begs the question, how does this promote the public interest and benefit the nation. At a time when the whole of government should be working together to meet Nigeria’s many challenges, we are once again distracted by the executive branch’s inability to move beyond a leadership election among Senate peers. It was not an election of Senate peers and Executive Branch participants.”

The embattled senate president said over the years, the senate had worked to foster good relationship with the executive branch and that was informed by the collective interests of all to put aside divisions and get on with the nation’s business. “We risk alienating and losing the support of the very people who have entrusted their national leaders to seek new and creative ways to promote a secure and prosperous Nigeria.

“As leaders and patriots, it is time to rise above partisanship and to move forward together. However, what has become clear is that there is now a government within the government of President Buhari who have seized the apparatus of Executive powers to pursue their nefarious agenda

“This latest onslaught on the legislature represents a clear and present danger to the democracy Nigerians fought hard to win and preserve. The suit filed on behalf of the Federal government suggests that perhaps some forces in the Federal Republic have not fully embraced the fact that the Senate’s rules and procedures govern how the legislative body adjudicates and resolves its own disputes.”

Saraki said he was confidence of survival, adding that he was ready to be jailed as a price for his “refusal to surrender to the subversion of our democracy and the desecration of the Senate. Let it be abundantly clear, both as a citizen and as a foremost Legislator, I will continue to rise above all the persecution and distraction that have been visited on me.

“In the words of Martin Luther King Junior ‘the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at a time of challenge and controversy.”

The senate president said he would remain committed to the responsibilities that his citizenship and his office imposed on him. “I will remain true and committed to the responsibilities that my citizenship and my office impose on me. Without doubt, the highest of those responsibilities is the steadfast refusal to surrender to the subversion of our democracy and the desecration of the Senate.

“This is a cross I am prepared to carry. If yielding to the nefarious agenda of a few individuals who are bent in undermining our democracy and destabilising the federal government to satisfy their selfish interests is the alternative to losing my personal freedom, let the doors of jails be thrown open and I shall be a happy guest.”

However, the presidency swiftly replied equating Saraki’s claim of a government within government as nothing but calling President Buhari a stooge.  A statement issued by Femi Adesina,  special adviser, to the president on media and publicity, entitled “Saraki and the Cabal,” said this claim by Senator Saraki would have been more worth the while, if it had been backed with more information.

“If he had proceeded to identify those who constitute the government within the government, it would have taken the issue beyond the realm of fiction and mere conjecture. But as it stands, the allegation is not even worth the paper on which it was written, as anybody can wake from a troubled sleep, and say anything.”

The statement stated that the attorney-general of the Federation is the Chief Law Officer of the state and it was within his constitutional powers to determine who had infringed upon the law, and who had not.

“Pretending to carry an imaginary cross is mere obfuscation, if, indeed, a criminal act has been committed. But we leave the courts to judge. To claim that President Buhari is anybody’s stooge is not only ridiculous, but also preposterous. It is not in the character of our President.”

Saraki is facing trial alongside Ike Ekweremadu, deputy senate president, Salisu Maikasuwa former Clerk to the National Assembly, and his deputy, Ben Efeturi.

—  Jun 28, 2016 @ 19:10 GMT

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