SARAKI TO BE OR NOT TO BE

IT has been a period of stunning moments of anxiety and rage at the Senate.Reason:the President of that Upper legislative house, Dr Bukola Saraki is facing another political travail that may throw him out as the Senate president and set off a gruelling judicial trial that may end his hugely successful political career. Yesterday’s decision by the Appeal Court, Abuja Division,striking out his application to stop    the Code of Conduct Tribuna l(CCT) from    arresting him, has set the stage for his appearance before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja today. All eyes will be at the CCT venue today. This is because, finally, the Senate President has confirmed he will appear before the tribunal. He explained that his refusal until now was based on legal advice,maintaining he remains a law-abiding citizen. That’s good.And exemplary if he appears today. The Code of Conduct,had last week issued a warrant of arrest for the Senate President to be produced before it yesterday. Saraki has been charged with false assets declaration that dates back to when he was the Governor of Kwara State,12 long years ago. Perhaps one of the most mind-boggling of the
13- count charge was his alleged false asset declaration in the form he submitted before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as required by law for public officials.    Chairman of the Tribunal,Justice Danladi Umar had    issued the bench warrant for Saraki’s arrest last Friday.
The weight of the charge slammed against the Senate President by a Deputy Director in the Fed- eral Ministry of Justice,is criminal in nature. If found guilty as charged,Saraki risks removal from the Senate.A long and painful trial could be in the offing. That, of course, is what his legion of enemies,many of them,within his own party, the All Progressives Congress had long wished for since June 9, when Saraki    pulled the rug from under the party,with the support of the Peoples Democratic Party senators,to emerged as President of the eighth Senate.
Every plot to unseat him as so far has failed. The Appeal Court ruling yesterday is perhaps a big surprise to the Saraki camp. We are all    aware that before the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s ruling last Friday,the Senate President had obtained an exparte application from a Federal High Court Abuja Division,which restrained the CCT to compel him to appear in person before the Tribunal. The CCT had disagreed with the Federal High Court ruling.Instead,it insisted that the Court of the same “cordinate jurisdiction” has no power to stop it.
That was the crux of the matter in the suit filed by Saraki before the Appeal Court challenging the ruling of the CCT which ordered the IGP to arrest and bring him before the Tribunal    yesterday .    Saraki’s lead Counsel, Joseph Dawodu (SAN), had submitted that the tribunal erred in law and also acted with- out jurisdiction by assuming jurisdiction over the criminal trial of the appellant at the CCT.
Before matters got to this sore point,the decision of CCT, to use the words of Saraki’s media team, was nothing but    what it called a “forum shopping”,by which it meant,it was a witch-hunt and a well orchestrated attempt to tarnish the integrity of the Senate President and make him unfit to hold public office.
I don’t know how this adds up to the allegation of “false and anticipatory declaration of assets” by the Senate President. I have chosen deliberately not to dwell on the merits or otherwise of the cases before the courts,to avoid trenchant opinion. But,I know for sure that this matter is of great public interest,and as such,it’s within the sphere of public interest to make fair comments on the matter.    I may not have liked the way Saraki emerged as Senate President.I had argued before that he(Saraki) would have listened to his party and subsume his ambition.I made my reasons known in this column three months ago because I thought party supremacy ought to super cede personal considerations or ambition.
But, the Senate President, some have said,seems smarter than    those opposed to his ambition. Majority in the Senate on that fateful day had its way, and “selected” Saraki as its President.The rest, as they say, is now history.    I know that those against Saraki will easily point out that the present case of alleged false asset declaration is different from the issues that led to his emergence as Senate President.They mmay be right. However, I think the present case may end up pursuing the same agenda.
It is comforting that the presidency has washed its hands off Saraki’s travails by saying that it was purely a “judicial process” that Saraki should submit himself to.The taciturn nature of Mr.President has made many not to vouch for him. Some have argued that, n actual fact,t he President doesn’t “be- long to everyone”. Neither does he belong to “no one”. With a President like that, many may argue that nothing is certain. That is why politics doesn’t lend itself to simple theorizing. But, politics matters in the affairs of every nation and its leaders.    Today might be one of such eye-popping moment. It does happen in other climes. That Saraki has survived uptil    now,is attributable to few key factors. First, is the lack of full awareness of his foes to know when to retreat and when to launch a fresh attack.In this regard,I ask:Does a make-up in a lady’s kit make her beautiful? The answer is a resounding NO.It is how the lady applies her make-up. Second, though Saraki may not have fully anticipated this evil against him,in spite of that,he has survived the plots against him mainly because strategic thinking.His adversaries seem in a hurry to see him(Saraki) leave the plum Senate seat in disgrace.
Ever since that blustery day, June 9,when Saraki had his ambition realised, in what many have called a perfect ‘coup’ of sorts, and set off a barrage of collective discontent in the National Assembly and his party,APC hasn’t been the same.As Senate President,he has been unveiling one smart script after the other.His choice of principal officers of the Sen- ate is one of such smart moves that the presidency and some APC chieftains may not forgive him in a long time to come.It sucks.    Forget his claim that it was in order to avoid abduction. The truth is that any man who could do this has more    bags of tricks. All of this is without prejudice to the present matter before the CCT which insists that the IGP must produce Senate President before it today. As former President of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) Chief Olisa Agbakoba said yesterday,the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) will do well to clarify the powers of the CCT.
Altogether, the earlier all the matters are laid to rest,the better for our democracy.    The ruling APC may have lost a great deal of public goodwill by the way this matter has gone so far.    It’s unfortunate that Saraki has become a delicate bone in the APC throat,and by extension,a firestorm on President Buhari’s plate.It needs utmost caution. months ago,it may be late in the day to suspend Saraki from the part. Altogether,I see the Saraki’s travails somewhat familiar to late American Sen.Jim Jeffords’coup’ against his party,the Republican    14 years ago.The difference however is that Jeffords’ ‘coup’ which former Republican Leader then, Trent Lott,dubbed a ‘coup of one man to undermine democracy’ in America. For now, let the trial begin.