SENATE President Bukola Saraki has since last September been facing prosecution at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false declaration of asset. The case has witnessed many adjournments, not to talk of deliberate stalling through multiple cases filed in different courts to disqualify the tribunal chairman, Justice Danladi Umar. A few days ago, Senator Saraki again filed a fresh motion to disqualify Justice Umar on the grounds of some of the statements the tribunal chairman made in court. The courts, including this column, presume the senate president innocent, but it is now clear that he is determined to frustrate the case through all sorts of legal sleight of hand. If filing applications in different courts and appellate courts proved unable to frustrate the case as he wishes, his defence counsels would embark on the slowest and most frustrating and provocative cross-examinations. Senator Saraki seems by implication to be saying he does not believe he is innocent of the charges brought against him. And he doesn’t care.
Now, to pile on the agony, the senate president and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP, will tomorrow be arraigned for allegedly forging Senate Standing Order 2015 in order to facilitate their elections as Senate principal officers. The election of principal officers had since last year become controversial, leading to the discovery of what the police and the Attorney General believe is a forgery. The nation’s chief law officer has finally and rightly given his consent for prosecution to be commenced. In response, an angry Senate has threatened to fight the President Muhammadu Buhari government through every legitimate means, especially by scrupulously conducting oversight functions with dispassion. There would be no more cooperation or cordial relationship with the presidency, they warned. For a long-suffering public subjected to an overreaching executive and underachieving legislature, it is of course good news that both arms of government appear to be determined to give the electorate full value for their votes.
However, beyond the quarrel, something much more dangerous and fundamental seems amiss. This manifests in different ways. One, it is a tragedy that top national lawmakers appear completely oblivious of the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. Dr Saraki is deliberately and mischievously attempting to manipulate the courts and obstructing justice in his own personal case. Does he not know he is setting a bad example — by the way, just like the executive itself — of treating the justice system with contempt? It is true he is fighting to save his political career and stay out of jail, and he is entitled to achieve these with all the legitimate means at his disposal. But he has embraced extraordinarily bad measures, weakened the rule of law, foolishly blamed his political detractors for his woes as if that mitigates the severity of the charges filed against him, and sent signals to the rest of the country that it is okay to serve the public with lack of character and principles.
Two, Dr Saraki seems prepared indifferently to bring the whole edifice down simply to save his own skin. He does not care that his insufferable attitude to the case undermines the entire system, brings the National Assembly to disrepute, vitiates the moral force lawmakers should possess, and sets a very appalling example for the youths of the country. He is undoubtedly presumed innocent; but he should allow the courts unfettered opportunity to adjudicate the case instead of entangling the judiciary with his unending rigmarole. There will never be a time when he will not have political detractors. Will he plead persecution every time he holds the short end of the stick, especially as a result of his own malfeasance?
Three, by threatening not to cooperate with the executive and also harassing the Attorney General because Dr Saraki and a few others are to be arraigned for alleged forgery, the Senate has given indication it is not averse to blackmail. It is unbelievable that the Senate could openly endorse blackmail, as if the august body’s destiny is intertwined with the fates of the accused principal officers.
What the CCT case has shown, and the forgery case is reiterating, is that too many unprincipled people have been elected into the legislature. Worse, it is also obvious that the lawmakers are led by principal officers with warped understanding of their legislative powers. They have neither demonstrated the character expected of lawmakers nor shown that they possess the kind of vision a great country needs. Indeed, from all indications, neither Dr Saraki nor Senator Ekweremadu, nor yet most national lawmakers feel compelled to change tactics and show a high degree of responsibility. They will fight to the bitter end; they will blackmail the presidency; they will harass the AGF; they will ignore the feelings of the electorate; and they will continue to argue that rather than the merit of the case against them, political detractors are behind their ordeals.
Every Nigerian must be a great apostle of the rule of law. Therefore, both the presidency and the AGF must be encouraged not succumb to the Senate’s blackmail. Instead, they should help the courts to dispense justice as quickly and efficiently as possible.
