Nigeria protesters voice support for embattled senate chief
Date
9/30/2015 6:37:59 AM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Hundreds of protesters on Tuesday morning stormed Nigeria's parliament building in Abuja to register their support for Senate President Bukola Saraki who is currently on trial for corruption.
“The whole trial is political; it’s a desperate attempt to remove the senate president” protestor Andrew Agba told Anadolu Agency.
Agba held a placard reading “Enough is enough! Stop witch-hunting Bukola Saraki!”
Protestors representing various organizations chanted slogans in solidarity with Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu who is also under investigation for alleged forgery.
“We cannot watch while some persons dictate to the legislature. We must respect the separation of powers” Ayo Balogun another protestor said.
He was referring to allegations that Saraki's current corruption trial had been instigated by President Muhammadu Buhari whose ruling All Progressive Congress had opposed Saraki’s assumption of the Senate presidency.
Saraki faces 13 counts of corruption before Nigeria's Code of Conduct Bureau which accuses him of having made false asset declarations and having held foreign bank accounts while in office.
If convicted of the charges Saraki would have to vacate his senate seat and would be barred from holding public office for the next ten years.
He is Nigeria's first senate president to have been tried for corruption while in office.
Saraki insists that his trial which is set to resume on Oct. 21 is a political maneuver aimed at removing him as parliament leader -- an assertion dismissed by the presidency and anti-graft organizations.
Tuesday’s pro-Saraki protest comes amid calls by labor unions and civil society groups for the lawmaker to step down.
Apart from charges of false asset declaration Saraki also faces a number of corruption allegations related to his chairmanship of a bankrupted bank and from when he served as governor of Nigeria’s Kwara State.
His wife and a number of business associates are also being investigated for corruption.
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