Bankole Omisore, the Special Assistant to the Senate President on new media said on Thursday that no one attacked Sen. Bukola Saraki at the Eid el-Kabir prayer in Ilorin, Kwara as reported by a section of the media.
Bankole in a statement issued in Ilorin said that the Senate President arrived at the praying ground without any incident and prayed alongside other Muslim faithful.
“The senate president arrived at the venue this morning without any incident, prayed with other Muslim faithful, including the Emir of Ilorin, His Royal Highness (HRH), Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari.”
He recalled that Saraki spoke to reporters, who had asked for his message for Nigerians as part of the celebration of Eid el-Kabir.
The aide added that “nothing can be further from the truth as the senate president was never attacked nor was there any attempt made on his life to warrant him being whisked away as reported by a section of the media.”
Omisore explained that what happened was that a protest allegedly staged by local government employees over the non-payment of their salaries was almost hijacked by hoodlums, but were effectively stopped from doing so by security agents.
“Therefore, to say that the senate president was attacked at the venue of the prayers is totally false and a figment of the imagination of those behind the story.
“The protest was never targeted at him; neither was any missile hurled at him,“ Omisore said.
According to him, the Kwara Government had since issued a statement saying that majority of the workers in the state had received their salaries.
He said he was optimistic that those yet to receive their salaries would do so on Monday in view of the public holiday on Thursday and Friday.
But his denial counters a statement by Ahmed which condemned the attack on dignitaries and described it as “as absurd, barbaric and unislamic”.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, said government was aware of plans by some aggrieved politicians in collaboration with some local government employees and teachers to protest the non payment of arrears of salaries owed them.
He wondered why some miscreants should take the laws into their hands and disrupt the prayer since majority of state and local workers had received their pay, while others were expecting same after the holidays. .
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