Cct Trial: Senate’s Integrity At Stake; Saraki Must Go – Muric

SAN FRANCISCO, April 07, (THEWILL) – A group which identified itself as the Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC has called on the Senate to remove Dr. Bukola Saraki as Senate President so as to retain its integrity, stressing that the country cannot “afford to have an icon of credibility at the Nigerian apex of the executive only to have the exact opposite in the higher chamber.”

In a statement issued on Thursday by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC noted that while shocking revelations have been made since the Senate President's trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, commenced, “the last nail in the coffin is the implication of Saraki in the recent Panama papers where the Senate President allegedly has hidden assets in safe havens abroad.”

While drawing the attention of the lawmakers to the serious and damning implication of the development, the group asserted that the integrity of senate is at stake hence the need for something urgent to be done, alleging that the several attempts by the embattled senate president to resist trial suggest that he probably has skeletons in his cupboard.

According to Akintola, “The recent revelations during court proceedings where staggering amounts of money were alleged to have been surreptitiously deposited in bank accounts or siphoned outside this country by the Senate President through his agents also call for caution, concern and sober reflection.

“That huge sums were reportedly split into smaller amounts and paid fifty (50) times into the same bank account on a single day is quite worrisome. Somebody somewhere knew that the source of the money he intended to deposit in a bank account was illegal. Somebody somewhere wanted to avoid detection. Somebody somewhere knew that he could be detected if the whole amount was paid in bulk and at a go. Somebody somewhere has been a smart alec.”

The group continued: “Can honourable members of Senate beat their chests and tell Nigerians that this somebody somewhere is not occupying the highest seat in the hallowed chamber? Is this not desecration of the highest office in Senate?

“We know that there are honest men and women in Senate. We know there are people of integrity who occupy well-deserved seats in our Senate today. Are our senators waiting until Nigerians start judging all senators by the same parameter? Are our Senators tarrying until Nigerians start invoking popular proverbs like 'Birds of the same feather…?'”

MURIC, which then called on the Senate to do the needful as members of the public are disenchanted with a legislative arm which condones stinking corruption at the leadership level, stressed that “Saraki must go”.

It continued: “the Nigerian masses will know their true friends in the Senate in the next few days. They will know those who are ready to sanitise the system and those who are in Senate to pursue the wicked agenda of the super rich against extremely poor Nigerians. The practice whereby 'monkey dey work; baboon dey chop' must stop.

“Workers' salary cannot take them home even on the day they receive it. Some states are yet to pay the N18,000 minimum wage. Some states also owe as much as three months salary arrears. Our graduates of ten years ago are still roaming the streets. There is hunger and starvation in the land. The average Nigerian lives on less than one dollar ($1) per day. Our _per capita_ income is less than $300. More than 70 million Nigerians are poor.

“How then can the masses stomach reports of a single person depositing between N600,000 and N900,000 fifty times in a single day? This wide gap between the rich and the poor is nothing short of social economic injustice. It is responsible for the rise in violent crime, particularly armed robbery. Robbers see no difference between robbing with the pen and stealing with the gun. It kills workers' morale and frustrates the few honest people we still have around.”

“MURIC therefore calls on senators to save Nigeria from the impending doom. Our senators must prove to Nigerians that no single person is greater than Nigeria. It is time for pendulum swing. Distinguished Senators, are you going to be loyal to a particular person or to Nigeria?” the statement asked.