APC Chieftain Faults Call On Saraki To Step Aside

THE call by Senator Ahmad Lawan on Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to step aside, pending the outcome of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over allegation of false declaration of assets, has been described as distractive and prejudicial.

An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Kwara State, Suleiman Maja, who condemned the call in Ilorin yesterday, said the trial of Saraki at CCT should not be politicised, but should be seen as “purely judicial and sensitive.”

Speaking with newsmen also yesterday in Ilorin, Maja canvassed unity at the Red Chamber at this time of the nation’s history, noting that the leadership style of Saraki at the National Assembly has portrayed him as proactive, peaceful and patriotic.

He therefore urged Lawan and his supporters in the Senate to ensure the continuity of the serene atmosphere and leave the matters of the CCT to the prosecutors and judges.

“Even in the most advanced democracy like the United States, when the then President Bill Clinton was being tried for ‘inappropriate relationship,’ he never stepped aside until the matter subsided. So what is the need for Saraki to step aside over a yet to be proved allegation?

The APC chieftain, while responding to questions from reporters, said if Saraki should step aside as being canvassed, “then Lawan should tell the whole nation the one who would be qualified to lead the Senate pending the determination of the CCT’s case.”

Continuing, he said, “if some states’ Governors who have cases before election petition tribunals did not step aside before the determination of their matters, even where criminal tendencies were alleged, then the matter at hand should not take a different dimension.”

Maja therefore urged his colleagues in the Senate to ignor Lawan’s proposition, adding that any attempt to consider it would expose Nigeria’s democracy to a “show of shame and ridicule.”