The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki has hailed the verdict by the Supreme Court dismissing all charges against him over his alleged failure to faithfully declare his assets.
In a statement he personally signed, the Senate president said the judgment vindicates his statement at the opening trial about three years ago that the whole exercise was politically motivated. Hear him: “At the end of a tortuous journey of 1018 Days, counting from September 22, 2015, when the case began at the Tribunal, I am happy that I have been vindicated. The Supreme Court has affirmed that there is no evidence of false declaration of assets. The court also observed that certain agents took over the responsibility of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in this trial, and one can infer that this was done towards a pre-determined end.”
He however, regrets that those behind his trial wasted time and resources as well as impaired the necessary unity that would have been forged to add value to governance. He said, “As a result of the war of attrition, various arms of government have wasted resources needlessly. It has been three wasted years across board in this country. Three years that would have been devoted to tackling issues affecting Nigerians, including: economic recovery, insecurity, youth unemployment and strengthening national institutions – were wasted on malicious prosecution.” He expressed the hope that the patrons of the alleged war of attrition would now see reason to let peace reign for purpose of good governance.
He also restated his commitment to a fair war on corruption, alleging that the current effort by the federal government was “being prosecuted with vindictiveness”. Saraki stated efforts he had made even from his days as a state governor to fight corruption, stating that the feeble approach to corruption fight was the reason he fell out with the former president, Goodluck Jonathan.
While thanking his colleagues, who he said were unfairly criticised for their support for him, his family and his supporters for standing by him throughout the trial, the Senate president said he would however not roll out the drums for the victory. Why? He said, “yes, there is a reason to rejoice, but our celebration must be tempered with the sobering lessons of the attempted injustice from Day One of this trial. We all have to canvas for fairness in the fight against corruption. We should see this verdict as an inspiration to champion the rule of law, promote democracy and its institutions as well as tolerance of divergent views.”
