By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

ABUJA — THE Senate, yesterday, raised an alarm that some senators were now launching media campaign against its leadership to destabilise the President, Senator Bukola Saraki, urging Nigerians to ignore what it described as rantings of a few failed senators.

Bukola and Saraki Danladi Umar

The Senate in a statement, yesterday, by Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the upper chambers was strongly behind the Senate President in his case with the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, over alleged false declaration of assets.

It said the ‘war’ with the number three citizen was not about the present government’s fight against corruption but politically motivated.
According to the Senate, the fact that the Supreme Court had on Friday said Senate President Saraki has a case to answer is not enough to call for his resignation by any senator and that the case against him was simply that of political vendetta.
The statement, entilted: “Our Stand Remains The Same,” read: “Following a meeting held in Abuja, yesterday (Sunday), by some senators and the wide consultations with our colleagues in which we reviewed last Friday’s decision of the Supreme Court in the appeal on the preliminary matters filed by the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on the charges filed against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, we, hereby, resolve that from the beginning of the trial last September, we have declared that this case is not about any fight against corruption. It is simply a case of political vendetta.

Our position remains the same“Our position remains the same. We still believe that the case is politically motivated. We also noted that the decision of the Supreme Court given last Friday was on preliminary matters arising from the commencement of the trial.

“The trial proper is yet to begin. And since the fundamental principle in our legal system is that a defendant is deemed innocent until proven guilty, we have decided to patiently observe the proceedings until the case runs its full circle in the nation’s final judicial forum.

“It is on this ground that we want to state categorically that there is no basis for the call on the Senate President to resign until after the matter is decided in that final judicial forum. Such a call at this time is premature, mischievous and unwarranted.

“We, therefore, reiterate our support for Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki as the President of the Senate. We stand by him as he goes through the trial at the CCT where we believe he will be able to prove his innocence.

“We also call on members of the public to ignore the rantings of a few senators who, having failed to get the wish of their sponsors done on the floor of the Senate, are now launching media campaign against the leadership of the Senate.”