Activists speak on whether the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, should resign or not owing to his ongoing court trials.
Ayo Opadokun
In any decent society, he ought not to
return to the office of the Senate President. He is facing a criminal
charge. Conviction has very little significance; the fact is that he has
to be in the dock to face criminal prosecution. It is humiliating that
the leader of the Senate had to be docked for a criminal trial. It is a
national embarrassment that he is attempting to politicise a purely
criminal offence.
They should stop the charade. They
should rather take decisive steps to save the country of the
embarrassment; witch-hunt is not an appropriate response to the matter.
People like us feel embarrassed and
disappointed that military surrogates, sympathisers and loyalists who
aided and abetted the military to dominate the national political
landscape for a long time are the same set of people doing everything
possible to frustrate and jeopardise democracy.
While we were in the trenches using our
blood, our freedom and even our lives, they were hands in glove with the
military jackboot. The current political operators are messing the
situation up day-by-day, pretending to be democrats, which they are not.
They are only interested in the amount
of money they can steal from the government coffers. Saraki is an
unsuitable person for the seat of the Senate President.
Itse Sagay
The Senate President can do anything that suits his conscience. I have no opinion on the issue.
Adedeji Adeleye
The issue raises a moral question. Both
Saraki and his deputy should resign. This is necessary for a public
office holder, when your integrity is called to question. Look at the
case of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron; he did not steal or
forge anything. But for the fact that his people disagreed sharply with
his position on the EU membership, he wants to step aside.
In Nigeria, it is not seen that way. In
the days of Chief Obafemi Owolowo, politician naturally left office when
it was necessary. But today, politicians would rather bribe judges to
remain in office. Saraki is fighting to keep his office do that he could
use the position to negotiate for the presidency in 2019.
Liborous Oshoma
We are too legalistic in our approach to
issues in this part of the world. Most times, we look at issues from
the legal point of view without weighing the moral options. Look at the
British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Come October, he will leave
office. He is a believer in the European Union. And now that his people
have decided otherwise, it is like a vote of no confidence on him. So,
he feels he does not enjoy the confidence of his people.
But here, we look at every issue from the perspective of the law.
On this issue, I have never heard Saraki
defend himself; all he keeps saying is that he is being persecuted. I
may not like President Muhammadu Buhari’s approach to issues. But what
is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. If Saraki is being
prosecuted, the most reasonable thing to do is to step down and prove
his innocence. It is not about him but about morals; it is about the
behaviour expected of that office.
A man occupying such an exalted office
should be without blemish. It is not enough to say that he has not been
found guilty. The fact that his name is even mentioned in a matter of
such nature puts a big question on his integrity. The fact that his name
is placed side-by-side with people accused of under-declaring their
assets or forgery puts a big question on his reputation. It is not a
defence in law for somebody to say, ‘We are many.’ ‘Why should it be
that it is only me that is being prosecuted?’ That is not a defence. The
questions is, ‘Did you do it or not?’
We should focus on building strong
institutions and not strong men. I may not like the fact that he is the
only person being prosecuted. But was the rule forged? Who forged it?
The bulk stops at the table of the man who is at the helm of affairs.
Apart from that, who benefited from the forgery?
Nobody says he should go to jail. Have
we considered the negative publicity Nigeria gets for the fact that the
number three citizen is docked for criminal prosecution? It is about the
office. Those who must lead must live above board. Saraki is covered
with mold, and it is only appropriate that he steps aside to clean
himself. He can come back to take his office if found innocent.
Chuks Nwachukwu
There is no basis to call for Saraki’s
resignation. I don’t understand what people mean when they say he forged
the Senate Standing Orders. This is a straightforward issue, legally.
Can one forge one’s signature? The response to this settles the
questions over Saraki’s prosecution. He cannot be accused of forging the
Senate Standing Orders. It is the Senate that makes its Standing Order,
and it is only it that can say what its standing orders are. Ever if
somebody presented something that did not exist before, you cannot fault
it. Besides, the old Senate had gone. Also, whatever the Senate did
cannot be questioned by anybody outside the chamber as long as the
members ratified it through a simple voice vote.
This is tantamount to accusing directors
of a company of forging the memorandum and article of the company. If a
company, at a general meeting, says this is our article, so be it. It
does not matter if one or two members say they don’t agree with the
Standing Orders. This is a case where the Senate has absolute supremacy.
Prosecuting the leader of the Senate is like prosecuting the entire
Senate; there is no supervisory body over its activities and whatever
happens at the Senate. It is a matter in which the Senate is supreme.
Can anybody say no to whatever the Senate calls its Standing Orders.
And for the fact that the Senate used
the Standing Orders to hold proceedings means that it rectified it.
Nobody can question the standing. The logic is like questioning the
outcome of a simple voting at the Senate. If the Senate feels that its
rules were forged, it should impeach its leaders.
Why should Saraki resign? Rather, it is
President Buhari that should resign for interfering in the affairs of
the Senate. It is an impeachable offence, so he should be asked to
resign. The President should also be asked to sack the Attorney General
of the Federation because he does not advise the President properly. He
does not behave like a lawyer.
Wahab Shittu
In the case of Saraki, allegations are
not synonymous with guilt. He should be allowed to defend himself in a
court in an atmosphere of fair trial. Until the court has pronounced him
guilty, I don’t think the Senate President or his deputy should resign.
But Saraki must submit himself to the trial process.
Debo Adeniran
Saraki should resign. This is the normal
thing to do. In fact, he should have resigned the first day his wife
was indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. He has
been involved in other scandalous issues; remember that his name was
mentioned in the Panama Papers. Instead of defending himself, he is
trying to water down the power of the agencies that called him to
question.
In a civilised world, this cannot be
tolerated. That the Senate President is moving from one case to another
is a disgrace to the nation. It is also shameful for the Senate
President to be put in a witness box. There is no integrity in what he
does in the National Assembly. He is only trying to curry the favour of
the authorities or to whittle down the gravity of the allegations. The
normal thing for him to do is to resign. If he does not resign, he
should be impeached.
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