The trial of President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, and two others accused of illegally altering the Senate’s Standing Rule used in electing leaders and inaugurating the upper legislative chamber on June 9, 2015 began today.
However, Mr Saraki has made a statement as regards the trial and INFORMATION NIGERIA brings you 9 interesting points he made.
SEE ALSO: Court Grants Saraki, Ekweremadu, Two Others Bail
1.He said they reiterated their 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.
2.He said 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.
3.He noted that, 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.
4.These trumped up charges, according to him, is only another phase in the relentless persecution of the leadership of the Senate
5. That the suit is a distraction and came about because of 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.
6.He says it 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.
7.Adding that, this latest onslaught on the Legislature represents a clear and present danger to the democracy Nigerians fought hard to win and preserve.
8.He said he 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”.
9.On a final noted, he said if 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 his personal freedom, let the doors of jails be thrown open and he shall be a happy guest.
