Weeks after berating the Chairman of his party, Chief Odigie Oyegun, for remarks that tended to undermine his position as Deputy spokesman of the APC, the outspoken Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has described the continued trial of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as worrisome in view of the manifest flaws in the processes leading to the arraignment of Saraki.

Frank in a statement in Abuja, said it was dangerous that the leadership

of the APC has decided to sit on the fence and watch Saraki swim or sink

in this trial.

He said: I sincerely hold that the current trial of Saraki is not only

undeserved, but amounts to paying a good man with evil. I also want to

say that the leaders of our great party have unfortunately remained quiet

in the face of evil. “I don’t believe we have forgotten that the victory

of the APC during the last general elections could not have been possible

without courageous strategists like Saraki who lent their political weight

in favour of the APC at the risk of their own lives and personal survival.

“I don’t think we have forgotten how Saraki as a Senator in the 7th

Senate brought the attention of Nigerians to the fraud perpetrated by the

the last administration in the name of fuel subsidy.

“I don’t think we have forgotten so soon how Saraki led five other

governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the APC – a

development that successfully turned the political tide against the PDP

and eventually tipped the electoral scale against them during the 2015

general elections. “I don’t think we have forgotten how Saraki led scores

of Senators to cross over to the APC on the floor of the Senate.

“I don’t think we have also forgotten what he gave of his time, personal

resources and energy to ensure that the APC emerged victorious both at

the National, State and Local Government level.

“The question is: Why is the case of Saraki being treated differently at

the CCT that in 2011 struck out the case against one of our national

leaders because he was not given the opportunity to deny or admit the

alleged discrepancies in his asset declaration forms in line with Section

3(d) of the CCB/CCT Act unlike 11 other ex-governors who had similar

cases of irregularities whose cases were dropped by the CCB after they

were invited by the agency.” For the avoidance of doubt, Section 3(d) of

the CCB/CCT Act which has been so undermined by the CCT in its Thursday

ruling states that the CCB shall: “Receive complaints about

non-compliance with or breach of this Act and where the Bureau (not the

AGF or EFCC) considers it necessary to do so, refer such complaints to

the Code of Conduct Tribunal established by Section 20 of this Act in

accordance with the provisions of Sections 20 to 25 of this Act: provided

that where the concerned makes a written admission of such breach or

non-compliance, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary.”

It is pertinent to mention that when this section of the Act was pleaded

in the defence of one of the leaders of the defunct Action Congress of

Nigeria in 2011, the selfsame Justice Danlandi Umar struck out the case

for lack of jurisdiction to entertain the suit when he ruled that that

“…On Section 3(d), I feel compelled by the argument of the learned SAN

for the accused. It is a condition precedent for referring a charge to

this Tribunal that the Accused ought to have been invited to either deny

or admit the allegations against him. This is missing in this case as the

Complainant has no such evidence of a prior invitation. It would be

proper for me at this stage to simply decline further exercise of

jurisdiction having held that the co diction precedent to the instituting

of charges against the Accused has not been complied with. I hereby

resolve this issue in favour of the Accused…”

He added: “It is based on the above precedent that I want to ask why Saraki’s case

is different? Why is the judiciary suddenly giving in to apparent

blackmail from a section of the media by refusing to do their job as

required by law? “Already the Senate President has told the world that the

trial has nothing to do with corruption but that he is being persecuted

for emerging as the Senate President. To me the ominous silence of our

leaders since the day he was arraigned up till now serves to validate the

claims of the Senate President that he is being persecuted.

“Or where else in the world will the number three citizen of a country be

hulled before a tribunal over alleged irregularities in his asset

declaration forms 13 years ago, and the hierarchy of the ruling party to

which he is a bonafide member will not come out to show solidarity or

defend him? “If it is true that the trial of the Senate President is not

borne out of genuine desire to fight corruption but is being carried out

for selfish political ends, then who is next?

“I think the party need to be courageous enough to speak out against this

unwholesome trend whose outcome will definitely not augur well for the

overall development of our party and by extension the country at this

hour. “Even the holy scriptures admonish us not to muzzle the ox that

thresh the corn. Saraki has paid his dues at a time it was suicidal for

anybody to stand up against the then ruling PDP. I believe it is time for

all of us to act to save our party. It is time to rally round our generals

who have fought valiantly and led us to victory. To abandon Saraki is to

abandon a worthy comrade.”