Bukola Saraki, Senate President

The Nigeria’s Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Monday, said that with the ongoing alleged forgery case of the 2015 Standing Order against him and by extension, the National Assembly, there was a clear indication that President Muhammadu Buhari was not in charge of governance, as a cabal has taken over his government.

According to him, those he described as forming a new government within the government of Buhari were using it to pursue and working towards achieving their nefarious agenda.

“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.

In a statement signed by the Senate President in Abuja and made available to journalists, Senator Saraki warned the government and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that if there was no rethink in the fight against the legislature, they stand the risk of losing the support of Nigerians.

Saraki vowed that as the Senate President, he was not going to surrender to the desecration of the Senate, as well as moves by the Executive to rubbish the nation’s democracy, just as he said that he was prepared to carry the cross, adding that he was prepared to go to jail in fighting against injustice and intimidation.

According to him, it was unfortunate that at a time the entire government should be working together to meet Nigeria’s many challenges, the National Assembly was once again distracted by the Executive Branch’s inability to move beyond a leadership election among Senate peers.

Saraki’s statement read: “Today, we the leaders of the Nigerian Senate reiterate our innocence against the charges filed by the Attorney General of the Federal Government of Nigeria at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court on the allegations of forgery of the Senate Standing Rules document.

“In our view, the charges filed by the Attorney General represent a violation of the principle of the Separation of Powers between the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch as enshrined in our Constitution.

Furthermore, it is farcical to allege that a criminal act occurred during Senate procedural actions and the mere suggestion demonstrates a desperate overreach by the office of the Attorney General.

These trumped up charges is only another phase in the relentless persecution of the leadership of the Senate “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. “Over the past year the Senate has worked to foster good relations with the Executive Branch. It is in all of our collective interests 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. “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”. “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 ( my not) 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.”