The Muslim Rights Concern has stated that the continuous stay of Saraki as the senate president is “immoral”.
The group stated this in a statement issued to the press and signed by its director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola.
MURIC rejected the rationale for the continued retention of the post of Senate president by Bukola Saraki as explained at the world press conference, where Saraki stated that he will remain in office until the APC controls two-thirds of the membership of the senate.
The group frowned at this position and stated that Saraki lost the capacity the very moment he defected to the PDP.
It said: “Saraki’s hypothesis is only workable if there is a working agreement between the ruling party and the opposition. It will then be a coalition. Such coalition is formed in advanced democracies in the interest of the nation. But the situation is different here. The ruling party and the opposition are locked in a cut-throat struggle characteristic of a bolekaja political culture.
“Saraki is heating up the polity. It is a reflection of acute poverty of statesmanship in the National Assembly. The Senate president knows very well that it is the grass that suffers when two elephants fight but he does not seem to care. Nigerians can whistle for their dinner as far as he is concerned. Our lawmakers have turned the citizenry into pawns in their political chess game.”
The group further pointed out that there is little difference between the APC and the PDP and only President Buhari can be single out for been outstanding.
It said: “We are not interested in party politics because the difference between the two major political parties is the difference between six and half a dozen. They can do whatever they like to themselves as individuals and as politicians. But the Nigerian ship of state is drifting courtesy of Saraki’s political gymnastics. We can only single out a few individual leaders as the little choice in a whole basket of rotten apples and President Muhammadu Buhari stands out as the gem in the collection.”
MURIC further frowned at the rationale behind the delay in signing development projects by the senate, stressing that this acts are new in our democracy and wonder the intention behind it.
It stated: “Development projects are being held up. 2018 budget was delayed for a monumental seven month period. It has never happened before. It appears that the intention is to shut down government and make the people suffer. The Senate president and his supporters in the red chamber are not thinking of Nigeria and the poor masses. They are holding Nigeria by the jugular.
“We plead with these people to do a rethink. No country can make any progress in the absence of political stability. So where is our patriotism? Where is our sense of honour? Governments come and go but administration is a continuum. Regimes rise and fall but nations continue projects, programmes and policies designed to improve the welfare of the citizens.”
The group further argued that despite the need to have different organs of government to serve as checks and balance, they should all work together for the development of the country.
It said: ““Even the theory of separation of powers does not entertain the luxury of each arm of government working at cross-purposes. But this is what has been happening since the inception of this administration. Certain lawmakers loyal to the opposition manipulated legislative technicalities to hijack leadership positions in the legislature. This was done while pretending to belong to the ruling party.
“These usurped positions were consistently used to obstruct the smooth running of government and to armtwist the executive in the past three years. These same people eventually decamped to the opposition party after sabotaging government’s efforts at improving the lives of Nigerians. This is what Nigerians in particular and the international community in general needs to understand about Nigeria’s peculiar case at present. The world must know where the present NASS is coming from. Its leadership emerged in highly controversial and questionable circumstances.”
The group also pointed out that it is unfair that the lawmakers who are expected to help improve the life of the people have become a cog in the wheel of progress and the DSS siege is a pointer that there is “no mutual trust” between the executive and the legislature.
It added that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has a moral obligation to show some “level of patriotism” and abdicate his position since he has joined the opposition party.
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