A Mortal of Wills – Saraki on APC Chariot. It is a shame that in the pursuit of political revanchism our politicians or their paid servants are willing and ready to bring a leader of one of the arms of government to disrepute and the country into opprobrium.
It is doubtful, highly doubtful, that anyone in his right senses would even remotely link Saraki with a conspiracy to rob a bank. His illustrious father, Dr. Olusola Saraki, owned a bank. He, the rich man’s son, worked in the bank, ran Kwara State for eight years as its governor and has been a ranking Senator who has now clinched the top job at the Senate. In Nigeria, there is no governor who can be poor after serving in that office for eight years. Our system is opaque, the more you look the less you see.
No one is asked to account for the humongous security votes that are approved for state governors every year. So, by what stretch of the imagination would a man who has held a couple of positions where money can be minted seek to do business with armed robbers? In any case, it is doubtful that even if Saraki is an extremely greedy man he would throw his touted presidential ambition into the dustbin. I doubt whether a man of his caliber would throw everything he has worked for in the trash can. The police may believe or be made to believe anything cynical about anybody but the public thinks this accusation is certainly apocryphal. No matter how much they try, the police will find it difficult to pin this robbery issue firmly on Saraki’s agbada. It just doesn’t wash.
The words of the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. U.E. Mohammed, are germane in this matter. He says he has not been able to establish a nexus between Saraki and the robbery suspects: “For the Senate President and the Kwara State Governor, this office is unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus between the alleged offences and the suspects. Hence it is our advice that further and thorough investigation in this regard be carried out.”
After the operation of Tuesday last week, where the police blocked Saraki’s and Ekweremadu’s residences, it is crystal clear that public sympathy rests with them. It is also obvious that the entire purpose of the operation was to prevent the National Assembly from sitting that day, since it was clear that some members were likely to defect. But the drama did not play out the way the police and their ogas at the top wanted. Saraki’s inner warning systems had gone off speedily and he was able to beat the police trap and to conduct the day’s proceedings at the Senate. As the names of the defectors were read at both the Senate and House of Representatives it was obvious that the political landscape had tilted and rattled on its axis. The tension, which had been steadily building up over the years and months, had now reached a flashpoint. A creeping uneasiness had set in. Saraki and his opponents had now reached an irreversible moment of no return.
All along, Saraki’s opponents had thought that a stick was all the tool they needed to whip him into line. They forgot the carrot until now. From what we hear, the package consists of an automatic nomination and election as Senate President, while some juicy oil blocks are to be thrown into the bargain. His opponents have suddenly remembered that they can actually catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. But it is obvious that it is too little too late. The anger has been allowed to hang in the air like an invisible dagger for too long. Saraki’s eyes and those of his traducers may not have traded strings of malevolence but it was there. The need to play with dexterity the game of political pretence, which masked the real feelings in the long-drawn political push-pull, did the trick. Now the gloves are off and the punches are flying. Each side is playing hardball now.
Saraki, the strongman of Kwara politics, is gone. So is Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who is being named also as a co-conspirator in the Offa robbery incident. Why would a governor whose responsibility it is to maintain law and order in a state under his watch be the one to disrupt it when he can conveniently have access to the state’s resources if he wants. This sounds like a joke taken too far. But at the end of the day, when this bogus balloon is punctured, the truth will sprint out.
The defections have only gone to confirm that most Nigerian politicians have no principles whatsoever. They can belong to any party once it offers them the opportunity to realise their ambitions. This is because there are no ideological differences between the parties. So, APC is the reverse side of PDP and vice versa. That is why it is easy for the members of each party to simply stroll across the aisle to the other side without any qualms.
However, the major advantage for the nation in the defections from APC to PDP is the opportunity for reducing the gap between the government party and the opposition. If we have a stronger opposi- tion, we have a chance of building a strong two-party system, which will be a bulwark against oppression and tyranny.
