Does Saraki Deserve All These? By Nwokoma Messiah

I have watched with rapt interest the macabre dance in our political horizon especially with regards to what is happening in the Nigerian Senate where many thought will be warming up to cover the gaps that have been created already not with the issue of the emergence of the Senate President and his deputy from different political  platforms.

The President has promised to make known the list of his cabinet by September. Many Nigerians are looking forward to that date in September when the list will be made known but have become suspicious of the promise due to the distraction that has enveloped the return of the Senators from recess with the Senate President arraigned by the Code of Conduct Bureau. This bureau which also arraigned the leader of the party to which the Senate President belongs has also employed a rather bizarre pattern that smacks of nothing else than vindictiveness to fight the issue of corruption.

If Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s case could be looked from the prism of hunting down the opposition, how then do we need to look at the case of Bukola Saraki a member of the ruling party who fought very hard to ensure the success of the All Progressives Congress APC in the last general elections? Does the President of the Nigerian Senate deserve to be given such shabby treatment under the Presidency of a man Nigerians to some extent consider as honest? What happened to the statement that “I belong to everybody and nobody” and “I will work with anybody that emerges as the head of the National Assembly”?

The fact that the Code of Conduct Bureau invited Bukola Saraki is not actually the issue here after all everybody in government is expected to be credible and transparent but what makes me feel bad is the way and manner the allegation was brought up and the speed with which the Tribunal Judge issued the warrant for arrest against the Senate President not minding that despite the fact that the senate President constitutionally is under no immunity, the office  he occupies ought to be accorded some form of respect and dignity no matter what. This politics of bring him down syndrome employed by the APC media apparatchik may be working for them considering the gullibility of Nigerians but will it last for long? I guess not. It is this same way they used the social media to denigrate the Presidency during the Jonathan days and now expect people to accord same respect to the present occupier of the office. It is not possible at all. It is a known fact that you cannot eat your cake and have it and in this case, the APC after denigrating the Presidency cannot expect the same office to be accorded the respect they so crave for today.

While I was thinking if they would have learnt their lessons from such impish politics, it is disheartening that they have really failed to learn considering the manner they have been attacking the Senate president despite the fact that he is the head of a major institution in the country’s politics. No matter the politics we play we must learn to have respect for institutions that govern the state. The Presidency just like the office of the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and others are institutions in our polity that must be accorded the highest regards and not become source of ridicule as the CCB hearing sought to achieve.

I read the screamy headlines and some opinions of some newspaper columnists as well as a reportage written by a so called established media house in the country and came to the conclusion that some media houses in this country does not want the unity and progress of this country. How else could someone describe the screamy headlines that greeted the alleged stoning of the Senate President at Illorin. I wondered if that is what the editors of those papers expected and if did tickle their fancies to hear such. This is the same way they promoted the Boko Haram scourge by giving them unnecessary attention they never deserved and what is the result today? Thousands have been killed under the presidency of the same man that promised to end the terror in a months’ time. How possible is it to stop a demon that has been given life? We are expected to condemn illegal actions no matter who is involved. Crime does not know anybody. The same crime you support because it was perpetrated against your enemy may also come to haunt you.

Bukola Saraki’s presidency may not be acceptable to the All Progressives Congress APC heirachy but it is acceptable to the opposition and majority of Nigerians. The APC must view it from this light and do all it can to manage the situation properly rather than fighting to rock the boat. Bukola’s legislative agenda is in sync with the expectations of Nigerians and has been recommended by all and sundry. The APC must see this as an achievement and stop this politics of desperation hinged on political blackmail.

The Ahmed Lawan faction in the red chamber which has been spoiling for war threatening fire and brimstone must understand that the interest of the party comes first. Their fight against Saraki will only make the senate look demeaned in the eyes of the Nigerian public. Posterity will only remember that at a particular time their party was given the mandate to effect positive change in the country but ended up squandering the opportunity due to selfish interest and at the end of the day, all the efforts of president Buhari to make Aso Rock after over a decade of trials  will count for nothing. I really hope this is not what they bargained for.

Nwokoma Messiah is the National Coordinator of the Youth Say Yes Initiative For Change