.Stop blackmailing us, nPDP warns
President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday debunked insinuations that leaders of the New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) who met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, prevailed on the Federal Government to stop his trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on allegations of non-declaration of assets.
Saraki said that his trial, which is now before both the Supreme Court and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), was never part of the discussions over the grievances of the nPDP leaders and was never discussed during the said meeting at the Presidential Villa.
According to Saraki, his trial was politically and maliciously motivated and would prefer that it was resolved through the due process of law.
A national daily (not New Telegraph) had reported that the issue was one of the bargaining chips in the on-going discussions between nPDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government on ways to resolve the divisions in the ruling party.
In a statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate president, Saraki explained that the issues being discussed between nPDP and APC leaderships were beyond personal matters.
“Dr. Saraki will want it known that he is not interested in any settlement of the asset declaration case outside the judicial process. He is confident that the court will give him justice and he will be exonerated of all charges as can be seen by the verdicts of the CCT and the Court of Appeal. In fact, he maintains his earlier position that the trial was politically and maliciously motivated.
“The Senate President’s only concern is that all interested parties should allow the judiciary to freely and fairly decide on the issues before it. Dr. Saraki believes in the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and ability of the court to adjudicate on all matters.
“The Senate president has consistently exhibited a strong belief that nobody should compromise national interest with personal issues. And this has guided his actions, conduct and utterances in the performance of his official duties in the last three years, despite the persistent persecution and intimidation directed at him,” said Olaniyonu.
Saraki maintained that there was no reason for him to depart from his avowed principle that the nation is greater than any individual, including himself.
Meanwhile, the leader of nPDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, has said that they are not demanding the stoppage of trial of Saraki as a condition for peace in their negotiations with the Presidency and APC.
He also warned against the creation of ‘bad blood’ against nPDP members in the on-going negotiations with leaders of the party.
Baraje, who gave the warning in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, yesterday, said resort to blackmailing his members particularly in the media would only worsen the negotiations.
Baraje debunked media report alleging that the group tabled Saraki’s trial during the group’s meeting with Osinbajo.
He described the report as false.
Baraje disclosed that the trial of Saraki by CCT over alleged false declaration of assets was not part of the issues raised or discussed at the meeting the group held on Monday with the vice president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, there was no mention of anybody’s case, let alone that of the Senate president at the said meeting.
He added that members had refused speaking on the outcome of the meeting in deference to a request by Osinbanjo.
He said: “I want to warn that if this is the way we want to handle the issue by creating bad blood against our group, through the media, it will not augur well for them and we are therefore warning that blasphemy and arrant lies cannot resolve the matter at hand.
“I want to also disclose that at the last meeting, the vice president requested and appealed to us that we should all keep our mouth shut until we reach the final stuck, that’s why we are not talking to the press.
“If the media houses concerned did not stop this blasphemy this issue will be very difficult to solve.”
Members of nPDP bloc within APC recently alleged that they were being marginalised and persecuted in the party and had made a subtle threat to quit the ruling party if their grievances were not resolved before the forthcoming national convention of the party.
.new telegraph