“To abandon Saraki is to abandon a worthy comrade” – APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Timi Frank has said in a statement issued in Abuja that the unending trial of Senate President, Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT is tantamount to repaying a good man with evil.

Frank described as worrisome, the negligence of the ruling party in the trial of the country’s number three man over the assets he declared 13 years ago as the Governor of Kwara State.

He said:

I sincerely hold that the current trial of Saraki is not only underserved, but amounts to paying a good man with evil. I also want to say that the leaders of our great party have unfortunately remained quiet in the face of evil.

I don’t believe we have forgotten that the victory of the APC during the last general elections could not have been possible without courageous strategists like Saraki who lent their political weight in favour of the APC at the risk of their own lives and personal survival. I don’t think we have forgotten how Saraki as a Senator in the 7th Senate brought the attention of Nigerians to the fraud perpetrated by the last administration in the name of fuel subsidy.

I don’t think we have forgotten so soon how Saraki led five other governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) into the APC – a development that successfully turned the political tide against the PDP and eventually tipped the electoral scale against them during the 2015 general elections. I don’t think we have forgotten how Saraki led scores of Senators to cross over to the APC on the floor of the Senate. I don’t think we have also forgotten what he gave of his time, personal resources and energy to ensure that the APC emerged victorious both at the National, State and Local Government level.

“The question is: Why is the case of Saraki being treated differently at the CCT that in 2011 struck out the case against one of our national leaders because he was not given the opportunity to deny or admit the alleged discrepancies in his asset declaration forms in line with Section 3(d) of the CCB/CCT Act unlike 11 other ex-governors who had similar cases of irregularities whose cases were dropped by the CCB after they were invited by the agency.

Or where else in the world will the number three citizen of a country be hulled before a tribunal over alleged irregularities in his asset declaration forms 13 years ago, and the hierarchy of the ruling party to which he is a bonafide member will not come out to show solidarity or defend him? If it is true that the trial of the Senate President is not borne out of genuine desire to fight corruption but is being carried out for selfish political ends, then who is next?

He concluded with this:

Even the holy scriptures admonish us not to muzzle the ox that threshes the corn. Saraki has paid his dues at a time it was suicidal for anybody to stand up against the then ruling PDP. I believe it is time for all of us to act to save our party. It is time to rally round our generals who have fought valiantly and led us to victory. To abandon Saraki is to abandon a worthy comrade.

Source: Vanguard