A former presidential candidate, Dr. Olapade Agoro, has called on the Senate President, Mr. Bukola Saraki, and other public officers indicted for corruption to quit office in the interest of justice. Dr. Agoro, who contested the presidency on the platform of National Action Council (NAC) and is the current National Chairman of the party, said he will not hesitate to take the Federal Government and the Senate President to court should the latter fail to quit office within seven days. He made the call in a statement issued on Wednesday.
While stating that it was legally proper for Mr. Saraki to have filed an appeal before the Supreme Court against the 12 December 2017 judgment of the Court of Appeal reversing his acquittal for false assets declaration by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Dr. Agoro argued that it amounts to an aberration and flagrant abuse of justice for him to be allowed to remain in office as the Senate President.
“It odiously translates to Senate President, Mr. Bukola Saraki, currently presiding over the highest institution of lawmaking for the citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including President Muhammed Buhari, pretending to be higher and taller than the rule of law and the cause of justice,” the former presidential candidate said.
He further argued that if the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, suspended some of the judges indicted for corruption from sitting, there is no justifiable reason for Mr. Saraki to be allowed to remain in office.
The NAC National Chairman added that there are public officers with track records of international and local crimes, who are exploiting the country’s weak legal system and limp democracy to remain in the National Assembly, cornering billions of naira yearly and depriving Nigerians of funds needed for development.
“It hurts one to the bone marrow to alert and send a warning signal to President Muhammadu Buhari and his governmental machinery, in particular the Minister of Justice and Attorney- General of the Federation, that unless within seven days from today (10 January) the Senate President Bukola Saraki voluntarily quits office, I will issue a writ against him, the Federal government jointly and severally for corrective actions to be taken,” he stated.