The voices of dissent over Dr. Bukola Saraki continuation as the President crew over weekend after the Supreme Court ruling that the Senate President he should go and face his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The group of senators under the aegis of Unity Forum that worked against Saraki’s emergence as Senate president had renewed their efforts against him. Spokesman for the forum, Senator Kabiru Marafa, believed that Saraki would do the Senate proud if he announced his resignation and stepped aside to face trial.
Marafa said the image of the Senate was already bad pointing out that with Saraki presiding over the chamber while facing his trial, Nigerians would no longer have any measure of confidence in the body.
“The most honourable thing for Saraki to do is to resign and face his prosecution. If he wins, the seat is always there and he can be re-elected if those that supported him truly believe he is the best person for the position. And if not, he will remain a senator like he was in the 7th Assembly. Must he be Senate president?”
The leadership crisis may be compounded by an audit report by the Media Support Centre at the weekend alleging widespread fraud in the handling of N100 billion constituency projects by lawmakers in the last three years. This is coming few days after former President Olusegun Obasanjo labeled the members of the National Assembly as being corrupt.
Other senators favorable to Saraki however disagreed with the position of the Unity Forum. They argued that Saraki deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt as well as fairness and justice.
