Saraki Must Go, Or Why Everybody Hates The Senate President (Part 1)
Editor’s note: Ini Akpan Morgan, Naij.com constant guest columnist, elaborates on the mediocre drama scripted and acted by Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, in furtherance of his budding ambition to ascend the seat of the Nigerian president, having led him, however, to the court, not to the distinguished post. The self-proclaimed president Senator Bukola Saraki may not know […]
The post Saraki Must Go, Or Why Everybody Hates The Senate President (Part 1) appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.
Editor’s note: Ini Akpan Morgan, Naij.com constant guest columnist, elaborates on the mediocre drama scripted and acted by Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, in furtherance of his budding ambition to ascend the seat of the Nigerian president, having led him, however, to the court, not to the distinguished post.
The self-proclaimed president
Senator Bukola Saraki may not know where his continuous clinging to the Senate presidency will land his depreciating reputation and political desirability, especially now when his career is under investigation. The demonstration of his stoning on the Ilorin Eid praying ground, even though denied, was just the tip of the iceberg – it was an act of paying him back in his own coin. You can fool some people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
The signs are obviously pitching Saraki’s antecedence against him for Nigerians to judge if he is a reasonable man or a fortunate spoilt brat, who sees the politics of Kwara state as his heritage, being clearly unable to sustain his father’s political magic over the people. He is surely taking the present Nigeria for the one of his childhood; I pray his ignorance would not rob him of a humble spirit that should guide his decisions at this time. It will not take too long until Nigerians unite to demand his retirement from the Senate presidency for the good of the country’s universal image. I have been following Saraki for a long period of time, and I know how quickly he starts exploiting relationships to his personal advantage. He laid the foundation and delineated the direction for how Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the erstwhile governor of Rivers state, “broke up” with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum as the chairman under the previous administration: we all know it was a disaster.
What the ambitions may come
Bukola Saraki must realise that the primary mandate that saw him to the Nigerian Senate was that of the people from Kwara Central Senatorial District, not of all Nigerians. He ascended the seat of the Senate president through deceit, bribery and the continuous artful dodging of his responsibilities; we are all aware of the effects that have taken their toll both on the politics and the people. If Saraki was a wise man, he would realise it would be more beneficial for him and for the people he represented if he remained in the Senate as a “mere” senator. Let me quickly point to the insinuations by some Nigerians who still insist on comparing Saraki’s emergence as the Senate president to Governor Tambuwal’s emergence as the House Speaker in 2011. They quickly connected Saraki’s present travails to a “witch hunt” resulting from his pulling the Senate presidency rug from under the feet of the APC. However, nothing can be farther from the truth, because the issue had been overtaken by the current events: Saraki is the Senate president. His present travails result from from his past misbehaviour that the present has unearthed. Tambuwal, as the Speaker, has also paid for his irregular carpet-crossing from the PDP to the APC.
We can still recall how the gates of the National Assembly were shut for Saraki on the instruction of Suleiman Abba, the then inspector general of the Nigerian police, and how he suffered from the teargas when he finally entered the premises – a practical demonstration of impunity. Thanks God that the rule of law is prevailing now. Saraki is lucky that he is facing the law courts, not the police. It is like coming to equity with clean hands: if Saraki’s hands are clean, then he has nothing to fear, because the onus of proof is on his prosecutor, even if it is the federal government. The anti-corruption war must start somewhere, and why should it not be high-profile?
The experience of the American counterpart
Unfortunately for Saraki, these are not the times to ignore the obvious and practical reasons why the change philosophy must embrace the world best practice and the relative lessons offered by the notable world leaders as a mirror for character building and morality. The Senate president is expected to follow them, and be morally-learned and properly instructed; he should be concerned about how the whole world views Nigeria. So Saraki, in his adventures or misadventures, as long as his position as the Senate president demands a certain level of morality and good conscience from him, should reflect on the recent response of John Boehner, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, to the turmoil that troubled the House he led – Boehner announced his decision to resign on the day he welcomed Pope Francis on the American soil.
How can we neglect such example of political fairness and lose the opportunity to improve our political system and participatory principle? The tradition of a leader sitting tight in office and seeking ways to wriggle out of taking responsibility in the face of criminal indictment is corruption as it is. I expect Saraki to realise the political damage he caused us by allowing the office of the Nigerian Senate president to be sullied in the judgment hall of the Code of Conduct Tribunal. He should have resigned to answer for his misconduct. Only responsible people are eligible to hold the office Saraki is holding; and the act of spotting the office of the Senate president was very irresponsible.
The obvious difference
What were the John Boehner’s sins that made him to resign from the most prestigious House of Representatives in the democratic world? The numerous reports state: “He (a Republican) was too willing to compromise with President Barack Obama (a Democrat); and he relied too frequently on Democratic votes to pass crucial legislation”. As “insignificant” as it may seem to us Nigerians, such issue surely indicates how far we are still to go as a people, how many lessons we have to learn, and I think the time to start the journey is now! Let us compare the two scenarios based only on the internal matters of both Houses: the US House of Representatives and the Nigerian Senate. Actually, we are bound to find out that Boehner’s “sins” bore no adverse effect upon the US people as Saraki’s did upon Nigerians. With no doubt, Saraki has overstayed as the president of the Nigerian Senate.
How far will Saraki’s National Assembly go with its national assignments? Why has the National Assembly been on holiday for so long? Are Nigerians all fools? John Boehner resigned because most members of his political party felt he was too representative of the Democrats; where lies the integrity of Saraki, who only enjoys bloated and fluctuating patronage and support in the Senate he heads? It is enough that three senators have distanced themselves from the recent “vote of confidence” passed in his favour: this is the Senate Saraki paid to be the president of, and he is still forcing their support by anticipatory roll call. Will more senators, who were on hajj, join them is a matter of time.
John Boehner resigned because his party men in the opposition felt he romanced too much with the ruling party. Saraki finds pleasure in collaborating with the opposition against his own (ruling) party, defiling the protest of his party men by ascending the seat of the Senate president. The similarity and difference between these two scenarios are just too clear to be ignored.
Saraki must go!
Bukola Saraki cannot continue imposing himself on Nigerians just because a few of his type in the Senate, like Godswill Akpabio, Theodore Orji, Danjuma Goje, and Ahmed Sanni Yerima Rufai (the name-changer), think that if his present dilemma is allowed to root, they also will not be spared. Their solidarity with Saraki therefore indicates their resistance to change, and henceforth Nigerians must view Bukola Saraki and his like-minded senators as the enemies of the Nigerian political progress. Yes! They must grasp our collective resolve not to allow the recent ugly slide in the political fortune to continue: we almost were at war before the last elections, and impunity must finally stop.
This is the time to halt all political rascality and irresponsibility. The Buhari’s presidency has clearly shown how Nigerians have taken an unshakable stand to define for themselves the direction in which the country should head from now on, and who should lead them. I am convinced it must be clear to President Buhari that Saraki cannot be trusted.
This is the first part of Mr Morgan’s message. You can find the second part here.
Ini Akpan Morgan for Naij.com
Ini A. Morgan is a Port Harcourt-based architect, writer and public affairs analyst. He is married with children.
This article expresses the author’s opinion only. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors.
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The post Saraki Must Go, Or Why Everybody Hates The Senate President (Part 1) appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Read on NAIJ.COM.