LAGOS SEPTEMBER 28TH (URHOBOTODAY)-A new twist have been added to the ongoing prosecution of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki for alleged false declaration of his assets by the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Saraki had, last Tuesday, stepped into the dock at the CCT in Abuja, where he was arraigned for false assets declaration charges. He pleaded not guilty to all the 13 charges slammed on him by the CCB and his trial has been scheduled to hold on October 21, 22 and 23.
But Isaiah Umeoranefo wrote today that the prosecution may have something to do with settling old grudges. He pointed out on facebook today that Late Chief Dr Olusola Saraki (MBBS), the father of the current Nigerian Senate President, Bukola Saraki, was a onetime Senate leader in the 2nd Republic Senate between 1979 and 1983 and a Senate committee member that indicted Buhari over the missing $2.8 billion.
FACT: In 1983, When the Senate Committee late Saraki chaired was investigating the stolen $2.8 Billion, from the coffers of NNPC Between 1977-1978, under Buhari’s watch as NNPC Boss. Muhammadu Buhari was indicted by the Nigerian Senate over the missing funds, as the Money was traced to his Bank accounts with British bank, Midland bank, now HSBC.
Muhammadu Buhari and his Military gangs staged the 1983 coup that ousted the Shehu Shagari-led government to cover up his indictment by Senate Committee and the Justice Ayo Irikefe panels that probed the missing 2.8 billion dollars oil money.
The late Sen Abubakar Olusola Saraki was thrown behind bars together with members of his committee and other Nigerian politicians by Maj Gen Buhari. Regrettably, the $2.8 Billion probe was swept under and the audit trail and source documents destroyed by Buhari’s Military Government.
Buhari declared himself a saint with barrel of gun, as he is aware that no one will challenge him. 32 years gone, Nigerians are still asking where the Missing has $2.8 billion has gone. The current value of $2.8billion stolen in 1970s in a simple compound interest is worth over $887.25Billion. This is bigger than the budget of all African countries in few years.
Today, President Buhari want a pound of flesh, and scheming to retaliate what the late Chief Saraki ‘did’ to him, on his son and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who was in school when this incident happened. The President using EFCC to summon the wife of Senator Bukola Saraki, who held no political office for questioning for a fund transfer related case dating back to 13 years ago is strange.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki on his own is thrown out for a mud fight from the Presidency and APC party leadership, using the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Tribunal, whose indicted chairman, Alhaji Danladi Umar have been avoiding prosecution for 9 months now over Millions of Naira bribe he received from a former Customs Controller General.
It is ludicrous that President Buhari will tell Nigerians that his disagreement with Senate President, Saraki will be resolved by using the CCB to drown him. The Leadership of the CCB should have been queried by honest Nigerians for ignoring to point out the error in Sen Saraki’s asset declaration form made 12 years ago.
President Buhari’s asset declaration in 2003 did not list his Asokoro, Abuja Mansion which worth over N6billion in 2015, knowing that he purchased the house before he made the initial declaration.
While we support the war against corruption, using it to fight personal enemies or settling political differences must be discouraged and condemned by all Nigerians.
Interestingly, Chairman of the 2014 National Conference Convocation Committee Senator Femi Okunrounmu, , said on Saturday that 99 percent of Nigerian politicians were guilty of false assets declaration.
Okunrounmu stated this while interacting with newsmen on the sidelines of the 80th birthday celebration of the founder of the Oodu’a Peoples Congress, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, in Lagos.
He said that if anybody had done anything that was against the law or the constitution, the person should be called to account.
“It should cover all the people who are guilty, not just target a few individuals. Ninety per cent of politicians declare assets falsely, so the law should go after all the people that are guilty of such false declaration of assets, try them and bring them to justice. They should not just target one or two people,” he said.
The Nigerian Police and CCB ignoring an order from a superior court and threatening to arrest the Senate President is another setback on our Democracy that has blossomed in the last 4 years.
Commenting on the development, Fubara David West wrote that “if there is any element of some connection between the political drama surrounding the current case against Senator and his father’s work, someone should be impeached and the anti-corruption agency pursuing the current case defunded, until it demonstrates that it is an apolitical and impartial public bureaucracy”
ELOMBAH