The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has
condemned the appeal filed by the executive against the ruling of the Code of
Conduct Tribunal that discharged and acquitted Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
The party warned that the “continued persecution of Saraki”
will dim APC chances in 2019.
In a statement on Sunday signed by the publicity secretary,
Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, the party said the ruling of the CCT will be sustained
by higher courts because the ruling represents the true position of law.
The party said if the agents of government who instigated
the appeal decide to remove their veil of desperation, it will be clear to them
that the CCT has done justice to the matter.
The statement noted that “If the fight against corruption is
not selective, vindictive and a tool to settle political scores, why is it
taking the government prolonged delay to order investigation and arraign the
Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse
Sagay, who corruptly instructed the Chairman of CCT on how to conduct the
trial?
“The facts have portrayed Sagay as a corrupt man. Therefore,
we demand his immediate prosecution for attempting to arrest and manipulate the
course of justice.
“In the last two years, facts have shown that some desperate
agents of the Federal Government who made no significant contribution to the
victory of the APC in the 2015 presidential election and their external
collaborators had in no small measure distracted the Executive from delivering
electoral promises to Nigerians due to the unpatriotic drive to persecute the
head of the 2nd arm of government and a strong pillar of the APC.
“In the next two years, Nigerians believe the Executive
would have learnt some lessons and fully concentrate on issues of governance.
However, with the continued persecution of the Senate President, it is clear
agents of the Executive have made the Senate President the only agenda of the
Executive.
“One of such desperate agents is one Okoi Obono- Oblo, who
appears to be pursuing personal vendetta because the Nigerian Senate found him
unworthy to serve as a non-Executive Commissioner in a government agency.
“We are concerned that the continued persecution of the
Senate President by desperate agents of the government and their external
collaborators will dim the chance of the All Progressives Congress in the 2019
presidential election.
“The FG should wade in to curtail the excesses of these
saboteurs before they would have done irreparable damage to the government and
the party.
“The APC in Kwara State wishes to restate its firm belief in
the independence of the Judiciary. We are confident the Judiciary will indeed
demonstrate its independence by upholding the ruling of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT) that discharged and acquitted the Senate President.”
By Wale Odunsi
