The travail currently suffered by Senate President Bukola Saraki may have been made worse by a group identified as the Northern Ethnic Nationalities Unity Congress, NENUC, which yesterday called for his resignation.
NENUC insisted that Saraki should resign before he further drags the image and reputation of the office of the Senate President which he presently occupies to the mud.
Convener of the group, Mr Bako Benjamin, who made its position known to newsmen, stated that it is disgusting that the Senate President would rather be seeking court’s protection than going before the anti-graft agency to clear his name of the charges.
“Let the Senate President come to equity with clean hands. Let him defend himself against all the charges levelled against him in the spirit of the new wind of change blowing across the country,” he said.
Benjamin maintained that the anti-corruption war spearheaded by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would be futile if people like the Senate President continue to seek protection from the law courts rather than presenting themselves for the acid test.
While pointing out that the recourse to the court itself is an admission of guilt, he said: “Seeking protection from the law courts is sending a strong signal that he (Saraki) has something to hide.”
The group, he said, has therefore given the Senate President a three-day ultimatum to honourably resign to prevent impeachment proceedings against him for his eventual removal from the exalted office.
NENUC insisted that Saraki’s continued stay in office is “capable of sending wrong signals to the international community and pose a huge question mark on President Buhari’s commitment to ridding the nation of corruption.”
The Convener went on to state that his group will not hesitate to mobilise other well-meaning Nigerians to march on the National Assembly in protest, should the Senate President refuse to honourably resign from office within reasonable time.
It will be recalled that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) had secured a bench warrant for the arrest of the embattled Senate President by the CCB Tribunal over allegations of false declaration of assets dating back to 2003.
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