On Friday, AdamsOshiomhole,National
Chairman ofthe All Progressives
Congress (APC), addressed a press
conference toextensively discuss the
party’s tussle withBukola Saraki,
Senate President.
Oshiomhole’s press conferencewasin response toSaraki’s widely-publicised ‘Wolrd pressConference’.
Below is the full textof Oshiomole’s response:
We decided to call forthis press conference basically to respondto issues raised by the Senate President, Dr. BukolaSaraki during his press conference. It is important that we respondto some of the issues he canvassed, so that the public is not misled intoturning villains intoheros and twisting the facts that are not hidden to the Nigerian public. It is importantthat we helpthe Nigerianpublicby refreshing theirmemories.
TheSenate President raised the issues ofthe fact that he has always actednot on the basisofhis own personal interest, but that he has always acted on the basis of national interest. The truth is that it is doubtful if the Senate President has ever acted eitherin the National interest or in the interest of his own politicalparty before his defection recently. Without going backto ancient history, it is important to look at how SenatorBukola Sarakibecame the President ofthe Senate. He decided, clearly, against the party positionto enter into adeal with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and got afaction of the PDP, taking advantage of the fact that majority ofthe APC senatorswere holding a meeting at the International ConferenceCentre to resolve the issue ofleadership ofthe senateand other principal officers that are expected to beproduced by the ruling party with majoritysenators. Because he has put his personalinterest over and abovethe interest ofthe party, he went into alliance with the PDPand conceded the position ofDeputy Senate President to the opposition in other to obtain theirsupport forhim to become the Senate President. So, for the first time in our democratic history in Nigeria, we had asituation whereby, whereas the APC had majority ofSenators, it wenton to elect aPDPperson asDeputy Senate President. This action alone portray SenatorSaraki forwho he is and that his personalinterest comebefore any other interest, including national interest and that ofhis politicalparty.
Having gone intothis unholy alliance with the opposition and mortgaging the rights of the ruling party, he appointed opposition senatorsto head sensitive and strategic committees whose activities can affect eitherforgood or forbad, the working of government and the relationship between the government and the legislature. SenatorSaraki did that in other to continueto protect himself against the wishes ofhis party as Senate President. That showed that the only thingthat was constantin his mind was to cling on to the positionof SenatePresident even if it is at the expense ofhis own party and the country.
Even the media has consistentlydrawnattention to how Senator Saraki is managingthe Senateto the extent that questionshave been raised asto whose interest the Senate was serving.
Youdo not have to be a partisan politician to appreciate that in an election year, every democratic government around the world would do everythingpossible to ensure that it is seen to be workingforthe peopleof the country. Like any other politicalparty in government, Nigeriansexpected the APC government under President Muhammadu Buhari to do everythingpossible this year to make up forlosttime in terms ofbudget implementationand addressingcritical infrastructureswithout which sustainable developmentis impossible. The Senate under SenatorSaraki chose to delay the budget up to the end of the first half of the year and to coincide with the period of the rainy season such that thoseaspects ofinfrastructure suchas roads cannot be constructed during the rainy season. These were not errors underhis leadership, but clearly designedto frustrate the capacity ofthe government to address critical infrastructuraldeficit without which the ordinaryman cannot feel the impact of government.
Again on receipt ofthe budget, the President cried out that it was aclear distortion fromthe well thought proposal that he submitted to the National Assembly. He appreciated that while they can make alteration to the budget, he didnot expectthat it willbe completely rewritten asto make farmore provisions for recurrentexpenditure with very little forcapital projects. He said thisbudget will be difficult to implement.
So, whenI said he has never putthe interest ofNigeria first, I support this statement with reference to the deliberate delay ofthe budget and deliberate manipulationof the provisions in the budgetin away that will compromise the capacity ofthe government to address critical infrastructures.
It is no longera secret that as SenatePresident, he triedto conspirewith othersto create asemblance ofdivision within the ruling party having failed to truncatethe National Convention, when they assembled ahandfulof people who were neither delegates norcontestants forany office at the National Convention. Thereis nothing for meto add to the illegality of this action and the false foundation that SenatorSaraki triedto leave thanto adopt the wellthought out presentation ofFemi FalanaSAN.
Those thingsdid not portray him as someone who is concerned aboutsustaining democracy because sustaining democracy also implies absolute commitment to the rule oflaw. If the rule oflaw is compromised and Nigeria is reducedto a bananarepublic where it will besurvival ofthe fittest, he is probably not the strongestman in townto cling onto that office. So, each time he takes an action that constituteabreach ofthe constitution, he is, by his own actionundermining the foundation and weakening the fabricsofour democracy.
However, upon his illegal defection, which he had to do hurriedly becausethe number ofSenators he was playing on theirfears that they will not beable to return to the Senate.
Ata point, he had onhis list, about36 Senators who were aboutto defect. But consequent uponour election, we tookpre-emptive stepsto reassure some ofthose senators. The first meeting we heldafter our election was with Senator Sarakito try and listen to what I called negotiableand verifiable grievancesand this I didin companyofthe Vice President and he acknowledged that thosesteps were taken when hewas leaving. But however, his real grievances are not negotiablewhich is about ambition, value and his fundamental values and the values of the APC. When he defected, he went to Ilorin to tellthe peoplepart ofthe truth that he was leaving for tworeasons. He alleged that President Buhari gave out over 200 juicyappointments without allocating someto him and he choose to speakfor the Speaker of the House of Representativesthat he was also not given. My questionis, giving Saraki, the Senate President juicy position, does that coincide with the Nigerian project? Orthe interest of the peopleofKwara State ofhis Senatorial zone? At notime didhe referto the interest of the people ofhis constituency or the people ofNigeria.
Thesecond reason he gave was that he was being persecuted. That is alleged persecutionof his person and not his people. He never pretendedthat any ofthese actions had anything, to do with the peopleof Nigeria, but his person. I think the governor ofKwara State was moreexplicitin corroborating his claim when he said that he asgovernor and Saraki as SenatePresident were being linkedto armed robbery cases. Again, that has nothing to do with the Nigerianproject or the Kwara people. What is the truth? Who linkedSenator Sarakito armed robbery? Was it the federal government t or arrestedarmed robbers? It is the armed robbers that allegedthat the weapons with which they carried out the operation were procuredfor themby the SenatePresident. This is contained in the police report which is no longera secret. He has not denied knowledge ofthese people. So Ifarmed robbers linkedthe name ofthe Senate President, is the APC or the government to blame? A crime that led to the killing ofabout 35 persons cannot be dismissedwith a wave ofhand and in any jurisdiction, when your name is linkedto suchheinous crime, peopledon’t clap for you. It is the duty ofthe security agents to investigate and establish whether they are valid or invalid. So, if he was linkedto armed robbery, that cannot be anoffense of the government or the APC. Thebest defenseI have heard is that the robbers said that hedid not ask themto use the weapon forarmed robbery.
In support ofmythesis that Sarakihas never acted in the national interest, my final submission is onthe way he adjourned the Senate. The senatecalendar is not secret to the presiding officer and the calendar that was known was that the senatewas going to adjourn on aThursday. But byMonday night, Saraki used his guest house, wrote out names ofSenators with provision forthemto sign for senatorsto decamp fromthe APCto the PDP, but some of the senators refusedto sign. That is what frustrated his calculations to turn the APCto aminority party in the senate. Is it acoincidence that as he was reading the names of defectorsin the senate, his counterpartin the Housewas also doing same? So there was coordination fordefection day. But happily, the pre- emptivemeasures we have taken to addressgenuine grievancesfrustrated their numbersuch that from36, he couldnot get morethan 14 senatorsto decamp including onethat subsequently overcamethe manipulation.
BetweenTuesday and Thursday, the Senate was expected to discuss the supplementary budgetfor the IndependentNational Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC requirementsare not things that youbuy from the shelf. Youhave to order themfrom the manufacturers and so, time is of the essence. But the senateunderSaraki adjourned without considering the mattersbefore it includingthe budgetforINEC. So, if Saraki adjourned the Senate ahead of schedule to resume towards the end ofnominations, can that act be said to coincide with national interest? If you decideto frustrate INEC by denying it the funds that it requires, can you be said to bea defenderof democracy? IfINEC don’t get their funds and therefore are unable to conductt credible election, willthat not lead to further consequencesfor our democracy?
So, Isubmit that Saraki’s actions were calculatedto underminedemocracy. Those who fought fordemocracy did not do it sothat it can be at the mercies ofaSenate President whoseinterest is clearly at variance with national interest. There was a request forvirement which was also not considered.
A substantial part of the 2018 budgetmeantfor capital projectwas supposedto be sourcedthroughloans and underthe constitution, you cannot borrow from foreign countries without the express endorsementofthe National Assembly. Without those loans, the budget cannot be implemented. While this was pending, SenatorSaraki put his personal interest abovehis office and choose to adjourn the Senate , leavingthis huge national issues unattendedto. So, foran officer that behaves likethat, how can he argue that anything hedid was not abouthimself? Everythinghe didhas never been informed bynational interest. There are also allegationsof lackof transparencyand we have seen Nigerianstrying to demystify what they earn. We havean arm that is completely unaccountable becauseofthe way he has presided.
Therefore, his attempt to use the incident at the National Assemblyon Tuesday to portray himself as the conscience of the nation is to insultour collective intelligenceasa people.
Thereis the futile attempt he has made to suggestthat the Tuesday’s incidencewas an attemptto carryout an illegal impeachment. Howcan a presidingoffice arriveat such aconclusion that there was a planto carryout an illegal impeachment? Untilan action takesplace, you cannot determine the outcome, if impeachment itselfis unlawful, thenyou can understand where heis comingfrom. It is lawful to impeachanyone, including the President the Senate and his deputy if the numberrequired to do sois present. So, he cannot pre-empt that. From theirown statement, they claimedto be aware that the SenatePresident was going to beillegally impeached and so mobilizedthugs to the Senate. Theytold the worldthat they haveadjourned till 25th September. But meanwhile, about15 PDPSenators were in the Senate and imported thugs that molested two ofour members they saw in the senate. If APCSenators were not in the Senateand it was PDPSenators that were there, whatis the basis ofthe false claim that there was an attemptto carryout an illegal impeachment? In any case, Sarakiis not going to be the firstSenate President to be impeached and Idoubt if he is going to be the last. But definitely, hewill be impeached according to law and democratic norms. The only way he can avoid impeachment is forhim to do whatis honourable.
We saw Senator Godswill Akpabio who was the PDP leader in the Senate. Once he made up his mind to leavethe PDP, he wrote to inform the PDPeven before his defection that hewas resigning. So, SenatorSaraki has demonstrated neither characternor being aman of honour. I told him when we heldameeting that he came to jointhe APCasa Senator and it is on ourplatform that youbecame Senate President. Once you made up your mind to leave, the honourable thing to do is to resignas Senate President. If he does not resign, he will be impeached according to law and not by thuggeryor by mob or anything that undemocratic. He cannot sustainaminority rule in the Senate and that is whatis haunting him in the Senate.
WhenI say that the Senate President will be impeached, let me emphasise that he will beimpeached properly according to law. The constitution is clear how a presidingofficer can be impeached and because severalimpeachments has taken place, we are not about to witnesswhat has not taken place before. We haveenough precedent to fall backon. I havelooked at the constitution which does not saythat an impeachment is illegal. It is done, you cannot arriveat the conclusion that it is unlawful. Howcan we be accusedof planning an illegal impeachment whenit has not commenced. If hethinks that bysaying that he will pre- emptthe APCfromhaving him impeached, he is deceiving himself. Ithink that the time ofSaraki is over. Theway he has manipulated the politics of Kwara state, he fails to understand that the Nigerian projectis far morecomplicated thanbeing at the mercy ofhis own dynasty. He will not only beimpeached, we will work hard to have him defeated as aSenatorin his own Senatorial zone come 2019 by the people ofKwara statewho are fed up with SarakiI. Go and check the results ofthe elections that made him a Senatorand you will findout that the President got more votes fromKwara Central than Sarakigot forhimself. So, he can’t claim that the vote the APCgot fromhis Senatorial zone was because ofhim. That is why his leaving is of nopolitical consequences as faraselectoral issues are concerned. We triedto talkto him, not out offear, but out of convictionthat as apresiding officer, there are rules of engagement.
CREDIT : SAHARA REPORTERS
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