Saraki Expresses Confidence In Nigeria’s
Judiciary After Supreme Court Victory
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has
reiterated his confidence in the judicial process and the ability of the
Judiciary to do justice to all manner of men and in all circumstances.
In a statement personally signed by him and made available
to us by his media aide, Olu Onemola,
after the judgement of the Supreme Court which upheld the earlier decision of
the Code of Conduct Tribunal discharging and acquitting him of all 16 charges
instituted against him, Saraki expressed gratitude to all Nigerians who have
supported him since the case commenced three years ago.
“At the end of a tortuous journey of 1018 Days
counting from September 22, 2015 when the case began at the Tribunal, I am
happy that I have been vindicated. The Supreme Court has affirmed that there is
no evidence of false declaration of assets. The court also observed that
certain agents took over the responsibility of the Code of Conduct Bureau in
this trial, and one can infer that this was done towards a pre-determined end.
“This outcome has gladdened my heart and
further strengthened my belief in this country and as well as my faith in
Almighty Allah, who is the righter of all wrongs. God has vindicated me today
before the judgement of man, and I am most thankful and humbled at His grace
and infinite mercies.
“Through it all, I refused to be shaken,
knowing, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, that the arch of the moral
universe may be long, but it bends towards justice. I knew the day would come
when justice would prevail and I would be exonerated.
“I have always believed in the infallibility
of our Judiciary, secure in the knowledge that our courts – the last refuge of
the oppressed – would never condemn the innocent. This outcome is also a
vindication of my belief in the rule of law.
“As I said in my first appearance at the CCT,
this is a politically motivated case. The case was trumped up in the first
instance because of my emergence as the President of the Senate against the
wishes of certain forces. Ordinarily, I doubt anyone would be interested in the
asset declaration form I filled over 15 years ago.
“What we have seen is the opposite. Instead of
working together in the interest of the nation and to seek to do better for our
people, we are fighting one another and using legal instruments to mount
baseless accusations against one another.
Instead of exhibiting the need for
unity and working day and night for that purpose, we are stoking the fire of
division and rancour. I maintain that, above all else, my CCT trial has been a
flagrant vilification of my person, and shows that some people are after their
personal interests rather than the national interest.
“As a result of the war of attrition, various
arms of government have wasted resources needlessly. It has been three wasted
years across board in this country. Three years that would have been devoted to
tackling issues affecting Nigerians, including: economic recovery, insecurity,
youth unemployment and strengthening national institutions – were wasted on
malicious prosecution.
People were ready to trade off three years that would
have been devoted to fostering cooperation, unity and economic progress for
their selfish ends. It is my hope that those who are behind my persecution will
see the handwriting on the wall and leave me to do the work for which I was
elected, so I can continue to give my all to this great country of ours.
“As many have rightly observed, it is plain to
see that the anti-corruption fight is being prosecuted with vindictiveness, to
target perceived political opponents. I believe in the need to fight
corruption, but I will never be party to the selective application of the law
or the rhetoric of an insincere anti-corruption fight.
“I believe in fighting corruption and I have
made my own humble contributions to the fight against corruption in this
country. As a presidential aide, I initiated the process that led to the
enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. I was the first governor to
establish the Price Intelligence Unit which later metamorphosed into the Bureau
of Public Procurement (BPP) at the federal level.
In the history of this
country, the highest fraud, the most brazen corruption has been the Fuel
Subsidy scam. No one wanted to talk about it or confront entrenched powers. As
a Senator on the platform of the ruling party at that time, I sponsored a
motion on the floor of the Senate calling for investigation that led to the
unprecedented exposure of the massive corruption in the fuel subsidy regime.
That was my only point of departure with the former President. My antecedents
speak for themselves.
“I thank Nigerians for standing by me through
the difficult period of this trial. The support of ordinary Nigerians and their
faith in me, as well as their sophistication and discernment in seeing this
case for what it was, has been a source of strength to me.
“I am most grateful for the support of my
Distinguished Colleagues and the Honourable Members of the 8th National
Assembly for their unflinching support and regular attendance at the various
proceedings. They were unfairly criticised for accompanying me on court
appearances, but it is now clear that they did so because they believed that
injustice to one, is injustice to all. They have been the true embodiment of
esprit de corps. I thank them for banding together in the face of an
unconscionable attack on the institution of the legislature.
“I thank my legal team for their determined
and principled stance, and for their knowledge and diligence, which saw this
case to its just conclusion. My gratitude to all my friends, political
associates, supporters and the good people of Kwara State – all of whom have
been solidly behind me.
“I thank my family for enduring this trial
with their usual grace and fortitude. My immense gratitude also goes to the
international community for their interest in this case. The Nigerian press
have kept watch and I appreciate their vigilance in ensuring that all the facts
were held up to scrutiny.
“To my supporters, yes, there is a reason to
rejoice, but our celebration must be tempered with the sobering lessons of the
attempted injustice from Day One of this trial. We all have to canvas for
fairness in the fight against corruption. We should see this verdict as an
inspiration to champion the rule of law, promote democracy and its institutions
as well as tolerance of divergent views.
“The overwhelming support of so many, and the
insistence on ensuring that due process and truth prevailed, has made this
verdict possible,” he stated.
No comments:
Post a Comment