News

Saraki travails on Twitter

Published

8 years ago

February 6, 2018

Senate President Bukola Saraki has taken to his Twitter handle to vent his anger as his trial resumes in the absence of the Code of Conduct chairman who is also being prosecuted by the EFCC for taking bribes.

Danladi Umar chaired Saraki’s first trial in 2016, and acquitted the No 3 citizen after over a year of trial for false asset declaration when he was Kwara governor for eight years.

Saraki now accuses the commission of mocking the APC government anti-corruption fight.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the Senate president said he “sympathised” with Umar, whom he described as a victim of the commission’s dramatic twist of events.

“I sympathise with the Chairman of the Tribunal, Mr. Danladi Umar, for his travail in the hands of the EFCC which suddenly woke up 4 days to the resumption of this case to file criminal charges against him,” Mr. Saraki wrote.

“You will recall that in April 2016, when our lawyers asked the Tribunal Chairman to recuse himself from our case, because of the criminal investigation against him, the EFCC swiftly cleared Mr. Umar of any wrongdoing.

“Now, I find it amusing, that in a dramatic turnaround, this same EFCC now thinks that Mr. Umar has a case to answer just before the commencement of my case before him. What has changed since April 2016?

“As much as many Nigerians want to continue to believe that this my case is merely about asset declaration irregularities, the maneuvers, manipulation, intrigues, schemes, and “House of Cards” nature of this whole case proves otherwise.

“I really wonder whether those who genuinely love this Government appreciate the damage that all this is doing to our so-called ‘War Against Corruption. However, in all of this, my confidence in the judiciary and its ability to do justice in all cases, remains unshaven,” Saraki said in his tweet on Tuesday.

Saraki has run the gamut of Nigeria’s court system from high court to the apex court three times within the last three years.