Senator Bukola Saraki should resign as the Senate President – CACOL

The members of the Senate are at loggerheads again over the trail of the Senate President at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) following the ruling of the Supreme Court last week which affirmed that the trail at the CCT should continue as against the prayers of the Senate President that the trial should be discontinued.

According to media reports, the Supreme Court ruling has pitched a group which hold that the Senate from the beginning of the trial last September, have declared that the case against the Senate President is not about any fight against corruption but simply a case of political vendetta against another group that has distanced itself from such a stance stating that the position is not that of the whole Senate but only the position of a few members.

It is disappointing to continue to watch some supposedly Honourable Senators exhibit such shamelessness and lack of morality the way they been doing since the start of the SarakiGate. CACOL finds it unintelligent for some people to continue to adduce ‘political vendetta or witch hunting’ as the reason behind the trails and travails of corruption suspects with reckless abandon for the gravity of the charges against the suspects.

Speaking on the issue, Mr. Debo Adeniran, Executive Chairman of CACOL said, “We ask why the loyalists of these corruption suspects won’t wait till their hero/s are discharged and acquitted before grandstanding and shamelessly displaying their immorality. For us, we commend the members of the Senate who are distancing themselves from the stain of corruption in line with our belief in shunning, shaming, naming and nailing corruption suspects.’’

CACOL believes that the Senate as the Upper Chamber of the law making arm of the Federal government should be conscious of its imagery in the minds of the people they were elected to serve in terms of integrity, legitimacy and acceptability of its decisions as whatever comes out an institution headed by a suspected criminal would be received with suspicion.

“The truth is that the wheel of justice may be slow, but it eventually catches up with the guilty. From the facts of the case available in public domain, the honourable thing that the Senate President should do is, is to resign or step aside for his name to be cleared.’’ Mr. Adeniran added

“The history of the Nigerian Senate since 1999 is replete with similar scenarios to the present one and we remember how the Senate Presidents that got entangled in corrupt cases ended. It was only Adolphus Wabara that took the honourable path of resigning in 2005, while Evan Enwerem and Chuba Okadigbo were shamed out of office via impeachments in 1999 and 2000 respectively.’’ The Executive Chairman concluded.