Senate President Bukola Saraki has cleared the air on
his absence at the caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday and the
national executive council (NEC) meeting of the party on
Tuesday.
Saraki’s absence at the meetings where critical decisions were
taken, including the extension of the tenure of the national
working committee, had led to speculations.
Some had said the senate president was plotting his exit from
the ruling party.
But in a statement which Yusuph Olaniyonu, his spokesman, issued
on his behalf on Thursday, Saraki explained that there was no way
he could have attended both meetings.
Here is the full statement:
After many queries and concerns expressed by some
colleagues, friends and associates on the absence of my principal,
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate, at Monday
night’s National Caucus and Tuesday morning’s National Executive
Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I would
like to make the following clarifications:
On Monday, the Senate President was in Benin from morning
till 6.15pm, attending the Senate Roundtable on Migration and Human
Trafficking, one of the interventions by the lawmaking body to
source for legislative and policy solutions to one of the major
problems plaguing the youth in our country today. The event was
attended by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, his Deputy, Hon.
Phillip Shuaib, representatives of the Governor of Delta State and
Oba of Benin, international partners and many
stakeholders.
Dr. Saraki and his delegation, including Senators,
returned to his Abuja home at 7.45 pm, while the APC National
Caucus meeting was scheduled to begin by 8.00 pm on the same night.
Clearly, there was no way he could have arrived at the venue on
time, especially as it would be a breach of protocol to do so at a
meeting presided over by the President.
On Tuesday when the NEC meeting
was holding at the APC secretariat, the Senate
President was at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) where he was
fighting to clear his name as the defendant in an ongoing
case. Dr. Saraki did not fix the date of the
adoption of briefs by prosecution and defence lawyers. The Tribunal
did, and by law, Saraki must be physically present at the Tribunal
as the defendant.
It stands to reason that he cannot be in two places at once,
and so he was unavoidably absent at the NEC meeting.
Let me also state clearly here
that Dr. Saraki is not one to sneak into a room
via the window. He would rather enter through the front door so
that his entry is well noted and acknowledged. Nigerians know that
when he joined the APC, he did not sneak in. Therefore, no one
should attach any mischievous or inaccurate interpretation to his
absence at the two meetings held at times when his whereabouts were
a matter of public record.
Sponsors of misinformation as to why Saraki was not present
at the Caucus and NEC meetings should be clear that there is no
special reason behind the absence. The Senate
President is not a coward. When he left the PDP in 2014, he was
bold enough to inform the then President of his decision and
left openly with his supporters.
He therefore has no reason to be sneaking or
hiding now.
It is incontrovertible that he is a leader, major
stakeholder and founding father of the APC. Nothing has changed
with regard to all these. I hope this clarification will halt the
speculations, misinformation, misinterpretation, mischief and Fake
News about the ‘Why’ and ‘What’ of his absence at the APC National
Caucus and NEC meetings.
I appreciate the fact that the nation is gradually inching
towards the electioneering period and permutations will be rife. I
plead with analysts, commentators and forecasters to always get
their facts right and not impute frivolous meanings to otherwise
innocent events and occurrences.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has cleared the air on
his absence at the caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday and the
national executive council (NEC) meeting of the party on
Tuesday.
Saraki’s absence at the meetings where critical decisions were
taken, including the extension of the tenure of the national
working committee, had led to speculations.
Some had said the senate president was plotting his exit from
the ruling party.
But in a statement which Yusuph Olaniyonu, his spokesman, issued
on his behalf on Thursday, Saraki explained that there was no way
he could have attended both meetings.
Here is the full statement:
After many queries and concerns expressed by some
colleagues, friends and associates on the absence of my principal,
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, President of the Senate, at Monday
night’s National Caucus and Tuesday morning’s National Executive
Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I would
like to make the following clarifications:
On Monday, the Senate President was in Benin from morning
till 6.15pm, attending the Senate Roundtable on Migration and Human
Trafficking, one of the interventions by the lawmaking body to
source for legislative and policy solutions to one of the major
problems plaguing the youth in our country today. The event was
attended by Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, his Deputy, Hon.
Phillip Shuaib, representatives of the Governor of Delta State and
Oba of Benin, international partners and many
stakeholders.
Dr. Saraki and his delegation, including Senators,
returned to his Abuja home at 7.45 pm, while the APC National
Caucus meeting was scheduled to begin by 8.00 pm on the same night.
Clearly, there was no way he could have arrived at the venue on
time, especially as it would be a breach of protocol to do so at a
meeting presided over by the President.
On Tuesday when the NEC meeting
was holding at the APC secretariat, the Senate
President was at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) where he was
fighting to clear his name as the defendant in an ongoing
case. Dr. Saraki did not fix the date of the
adoption of briefs by prosecution and defence lawyers. The Tribunal
did, and by law, Saraki must be physically present at the Tribunal
as the defendant.
It stands to reason that he cannot be in two places at once,
and so he was unavoidably absent at the NEC meeting.
Let me also state clearly here
that Dr. Saraki is not one to sneak into a room
via the window. He would rather enter through the front door so
that his entry is well noted and acknowledged. Nigerians know that
when he joined the APC, he did not sneak in. Therefore, no one
should attach any mischievous or inaccurate interpretation to his
absence at the two meetings held at times when his whereabouts were
a matter of public record.
Sponsors of misinformation as to why Saraki was not present
at the Caucus and NEC meetings should be clear that there is no
special reason behind the absence. The Senate
President is not a coward. When he left the PDP in 2014, he was
bold enough to inform the then President of his decision and
left openly with his supporters.
He therefore has no reason to be sneaking or
hiding now.
It is incontrovertible that he is a leader, major
stakeholder and founding father of the APC. Nothing has changed
with regard to all these. I hope this clarification will halt the
speculations, misinformation, misinterpretation, mischief and Fake
News about the ‘Why’ and ‘What’ of his absence at the APC National
Caucus and NEC meetings.
I appreciate the fact that the nation is gradually inching
towards the electioneering period and permutations will be rife. I
plead with analysts, commentators and forecasters to always get
their facts right and not impute frivolous meanings to otherwise
innocent events and occurrences.