Bukola Saraki
Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The majority of senators monday urged Nigerians to ignore the calls for the resignation of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to enable him face his trial over false declaration of assets before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
The Supreme Court last Friday dismissed Saraki’s suit seeking to quash his trial before the tribunal for lack of merit, and consequently asked the senate president to return to CCT to answer charges on false assets’ declaration in 2003 when he was Kwara State Governor.
Following the verdict, a vocal opponent of Saraki, Senator Kabir Marafa, granted an interview to some journalists, asking Saraki to resign as Senate president in order to preserve the image and sanctity of the upper legislative chamber.
But at the end of a meeting in Abuja at the weekend, a majority of senators loyal to Saraki in the Senate said the call for his resignation was mischievous, insisting that his trial was politically motivated.
According to them, the call was misplaced, saying in as much as the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, Saraki has no reason to vacate his seat now as the president of the Senate.
According to the resolution reached at the end of the meeting and signed on their behalf by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, the senators vowed to stand by Saraki in the moment of trial until the very end.
The resolution read: “Following a meeting held in Abuja yesterday (Sunday) by some senators and the wide consultations with our colleagues in which we reviewed last Friday’s decision of the Supreme Court in the appeal on the preliminary matters filed by the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on the charges filed against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), we hereby resolve as follows:
“That from the beginning of the trial last September, we have declared that this case is not about any fight against corruption. It is simply a case of political vendetta. Our position remains the same. We still believe that the case is politically motivated. We also noted that the decision of the Supreme Court given last Friday was on preliminary matters arising from the commencement of the trial. The trial proper is yet to begin. And since the fundamental principle in our legal system is that a defendant is deemed innocent until proven guilty, we have decided to patiently observe the proceedings until the case runs its full circle in the nation’s final judicial forum.
“It is on this ground that we want to state categorically that there is no basis for the call on the Senate president to resign until after the matter is decided in that final judicial forum. Such a call at this time is premature, mischievous and unwarranted. We therefore reiterate our support for Senator Saraki as the President of the Senate. We stand by him as he goes through the trial at the CCT where we believe he will be able to prove his innocence. We also call on members of the public to ignore the rantings of a few senators who having failed to get the wish of their sponsors done on the floor of the Senate are now launching media campaign against the leadership of the Senate.
“We want members of the public to know that the Senate under Saraki has achieved stability in the legislative institution and we do not need any negative distraction at this point. The focus of the Senate is on the objective consideration and timely passage of the 2016 budget and we will want all Nigerians to support us as we concentrate on this important assignment. We also want to say that we will not make any further statement on this case until the matter has been decided in the final judicial forum.”
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