Wanted: An impeccable Nigerian Senate

The National Assembly is the pragmatic symbol of democracy, and the Senate is the senior chamber of the parliament; anything that tarnishes the image of the Senate invariably denigrates our parliament; and by extension, our democracy, national image and the collective and individual Nigerians. I swear that, personally, I have always liked Bukola Saraki, with […]

The National Assembly is the pragmatic symbol of democracy, and the Senate is the senior chamber of the parliament; anything that tarnishes the image of the Senate invariably denigrates our parliament; and by extension, our democracy, national image and the collective and individual Nigerians. I swear that, personally, I have always liked Bukola Saraki, with or without reasons. However, it is generally believed that the evil that men do lives after them. I am particularly uncomfortable with the timing of the allegation that Senator Bukola Saraki was behind the allegation against the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, over a trillion naira of seized properties and forfeited funds in the last eight years.
My concern about the entire episode is premised on the antics surrounding the issues at stake, as follows: Why did Mr George Uboh and his informants/petition technocrats have to wait for so long and till now to package and present their petition? Why did they choose Saraki’s Senate, as opposed to that of David Mark, to report the matter? Is there any evidence to show that they had ever attempted reporting the matter to the Police before now – bearing in mind that the Senate is the highest arbitrating body in the nation? It is recalled that when Mrs Toyin Saraki was recently invited by the EFCC on some allegation (s) on money laundering between 2003 and 2011, about ten Nigerian Senators escorted her to the EFCC. To say the least, the solidarity demonstrated by the Senate team in escorting Mrs Toyin Saraki to the EFCC is prejudicial and places the Nigerian Senate as an interested party; I was ashamed when I saw the senators escorting her to the EFCC.
Believing that I am speaking the minds of many Nigerians, if not most, it is ridiculous that an allegation, which most Nigerians would be inclined to believe as a consequence of the antics of the moment, is coming at this material time, against no less a person than the Senate president himself. It is noteworthy, that this is the second allegation against the Senate president and his team of supporters within a spate of three months; the first, which I understand is currently under police investigation, borders on forgery of Senate Rules. It is obvious that Nigerians are tired of “Business as Usual”; if nothing else, such allegations constitute enough unnecessary distractions for a non-subverted functioning of the Senate as the highest law-making body in Nigeria.
Obviously, “if we don’t kill corruption in Nigeria, corruption will kill us.” From the look of things, before this journey of the eighth Senate moves further, it is becoming more and more glaring that Senator Bukola Saraki does not look like the Messiah that would move Nigeria out of the dungeon of corruption at this stage of our national life, given the collective resolve by Nigerians. I am competent to make the observations herein because I have been a victim of sundry acts of injustice in the last two decades in Nigeria.
As I write, my case is still pending at the National Industrial Court, Abuja. Before I reached this stage, I had exhausted all administrative avenues – including not less than four of my petitions which landed at the National Assembly; nobody ever gave me even a phone call by way of acknowledgement. Therefore, when a petition is being treated with such agility and alacrity, at the level of the Nigerian Senate, it calls for concern; At my level as an ordinary citizen, I would advise the Senate president and his colleagues not to treat this allegation with levity; it should be thoroughly investigated.
Lastly, if Senator Saraki, the Senate president, knows that this allegation is true, he should not wait for any probe; he should quietly resign – first as a the Senate President, and then second, as a senator. Nigerians have large hearts which are capable of forgiving him; if he does not push them too hard and too far. It is believed that the days of impunity under a democratic dispensation are over. Simply put, the Nigerian Senate is not a kingdom.
Muhammad Adeka +447423623525