The campaign and intrigues prior to the 2015 Nigeria Presidential election was something many of us cannot easily forget. Most of us in the diaspora did not go to work on the election as we are busy monitoring the results through the live update by channels television. The drama of Orubebe is still very fresh in the minds of many.
I could remember the first week of President Buhari in office, many Nigerians were posting iced beers and other items from the refrigerators due to regular power supply and increase in the megawatt of our power generation.
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But the change we all craved for was halted before we know it. It started from the disagreement between the APC caucus on who will be the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. As Bola Tinubu was rooting for Senator Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Saraki and Like Minds caucus were bent on not giving up on the stand. The scenario played into the hands of PDP as Saraki wanted it.
Just few hours to the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 10, 2015, Senator Bukola Saraki sealed the game by emerging as the Seventh President of the Senate. It was on record that a night to the inauguration of the Senate, Peoples Democratic Party caucus gathered at the residence of former Senate President in person of David Mark for a premeditated arrangement which eventually materialized. It was at that gathering that Saraki agreed to seed Deputy Senate President to the PDP caucus. The PDP Senate caucus nominated Senator Ekweremadu as their candidate, on the day of the election as many of the APC senator went to meet with Mr. President, Saraki and his team quickly organized an election that put him in office and which made Senator Ike Ekweremadu the Deputy Senate President.
It was of course outrageous and shocking because in a civil society the winning party should have produced officers for both offices. So, with the emergence of Ekweremadu as deputy, Buhari’s hope of pacifying the North-East with the number three position was darkened. The alteration in game posed by Saraki and his Like Minds group marked the beginning of where we are now.
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Bukola Saraki and his team neglected all moves and they damned all consequences from the party hierarchy, despite the pressure from the former governor of Lagos state, Senator Bola Tinubu that Saraki and Dangora should render an unreserved apology to the party because they have publicly embarrassed the party and defied their authorities. Saraki and Dangora refused to comply, though the body language of the party Chairman does not really imply he actually want Saraki and Dangora to follow Tinubu’s proposal.
Mr. President tried to show some respect to the party by avoiding to meet with Saraki privately but at the end he was coursed into meeting the unfaithful Saraki and Dangora. And as time progresses, Toyin Saraki was invited by EFCC for questioning on money laundering, Saraki’s men in the senate gave their support to the wife of their boss by showing solidarity and following her to the EFCC office. This action forced people to wonder, whether that was the primary responsibilities of the Nigerian Senators.
In between, Bukola Saraki found himself in the duck of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, sitting in Abuja. Saraki was charged on September 11, 2015 to appear before the CCT on allegation that he falsified the declaration of his assets which is contrary to the constitutional requirement. He was accused of deliberately manipulating the assets declaration form that he filed prior to his assumption of office as the Senate President. Aside allegation that he owned and operated foreign bank accounts while being a public officer, Saraki was expected to explain before the CCT how he acquired some assets which the federal government believes were beyond his legitimate earnings either as a former governor or as a private person.
It was as if heaven will lose as Saraki and his team insisted he would not show up at court, even though he sent his team of lawyers, led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. J.B. Daudu, SAN, to file memorandum of conditional appearance on his behalf.
When his case was called up, one of his lawyers, Mr. Mahmud Magaji, SAN, notified the tribunal about the ruling by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, which had summoned the Ministry of Justice over the charge against Saraki. But the stand of the Chairman of the tribunal and noise from the populace, Saraki was forced to show up and the drama began.
The issue of an attorney general was raised, but the prosecuting counsel described Saraki’s contention that he cannot be prosecuted in the absence of a substantive Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, as “a clear misconception of the law”. He argued that the power to initiate criminal proceeding before any court or tribunal is not limited to the AGF alone, adding that section 175 of the constitution provides that any officer in the office of the AGF is qualified to initiate criminal proceeding in any court of law or tribunal in Nigeria, except the court martial.
As things stand, No one is talking about Toyin Saraki’s case anymore, the Senate President case has no bearing. So where is the CHANGE we all craved?
Few days ago, we were told the 2016 budget has gone missing, different versions of stories are out there. However, the senate has not come out to deny that the budget wasn’t missing. Even BBC reported the news, gradually we are heading back to that era of laughing stock amongst nations of the world. The question on many people mind is if truly the CHANGE has come.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has been very reticent of recent, but he has called the attention of the populace and Mr. President to the fact that, the likes of Saraki are not the kind of people you would want to wine and dine with if you want a measurable progress in governance. Furthermore, he noted that Bukola Saraki and some defectors from PDP are mapping a strong alliance towards 2019 election.
The believe in some quarters is that this government might not achieve much as the wheels to move the vehicle of CHANGE forward has been punctured from day one.
As we all wait unwearyingly to see the dividends of democracy in Buhari/Oshinbajo administration, I want to believe the CHANGE we all desire might still be far away.
Olabode writes from Canada.
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