Sarakigate and the battle for 2015

Date: 2012-05-17

WHILE he has not made a public disclosure of his ambition to have a shot at the presidency in 2015, political moves and calculations in political circles, particularly among the supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State in recent times, suggest that the camp of the immediate past former governor of the State of Harmony, Dr Bukola Saraki, may just be bidding its time to unveil the programmes of action for the 2015 presidential race.

Many politicians in the camp of the senator representing the Kwara Central Senatorial District even believe that the recent travail of the medical doctor turned politician in the hands of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) were not unconnected with the plans of some power brokers to ruffle and embarrass him over the perceived plan to contest the 2015 presidential race.

There has been a beehive of activities in the Nigerian political terrain of late. Top on the list is the Honourable Farouk Lawan-led subsidy scam probe being attended to by the House of Representatives on the recommendations of the subsidy committee. The report has been aired and read by the House, which eagerly awaits the presidency's full implementation of its recommendations to prosecute those indicted by the report.

In separate interviews with some sympathisers of Bukola Saraki on his recent invitation by the SFU, they said that they had expected a show of remorse from the culprits in a country where high-profiled cases of corruption such as the two trillion naira fuel subsidy scam were discovered, through voluntary resignation of their current appointments and maintaining a low profile, pending when further actions would be taken by the presidency and the anti-graft bodies.

"Surprisingly, the reverse is the case; the cabals are even gathering more momentum to witch-hunt and torment Senator Saraki with a corruption case that holds no water, rather than bury their heads in shame for committing the greatest criminal offence in the history of Nigeria.

"It would be recalled that sequel to the implementation of the 2011 budget, Saraki had moved a motion to investigate the current fuel subsidy management that had exposed the illegal affairs of some oil companies in the ongoing fuel subsidy investigation which indicted the cabals.

"This move by Saraki was applauded by all and sundry who, in recent times, believed that trying to stop corruption was like collecting raindrops with both palms. The findings have set him on a war path with his political adversaries who are hell bent on soiling the good name he has jealously preserved over the years.

"They are appalled by the outcome of the report, which signaled an era where corruption ceased to be treated with kid gloves. The game is up and their only consolation is to hound him down, albeit with corruption charges that keep re-surfacing whenever they are at war with his ideologies.

"If the Special Force Unit (SFU) claimed that the invitation of Saraki was to assist it in tracing the waived 21 billion naira loan by the defunct Intercontinental Bank, then the ferocious desperation to forcefully arrest him in the face of a court injunction justifies political victimisation.

"However, since the SFU is interested in Joy Petroleum alone at the expense of 17 other companies, their inability to unmask the real owners of Joy Petroleum as a preamble for a genuine investigation will further aggravate a delay in justice, while making false accusations the order of the day", a source told Nigerian Tribune.

It was also gathered that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in 2010, investigated the matter and it was laid to rest for lack of substance.

"The bank made provisions for the loans and has therefore not complained that it recovered any loss in the wake of the transaction. One would begin to wonder if it is proper for a group of aggrieved persons to use an organ meant to prosecute real criminals to oppress an individual for exposing their shady deals. It would be interesting to see if the SFU would allow itself to be used once again to perpetrate evil", the source said.

Meanwhile, it is worthy of note that Kwara State, nay North Central, remains the political stronghold of Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, popularly referred to as Oloye, until the last general election when political differences in the family gave room for the opposition to claim political conquest in the area. To a large extent, investigations  and the political developments had revealed that the family had made far-reaching efforts to bridge the gap by reconciling the aggrieved parties in the political difference through political appointments among other measures.

As things stand, however, the house has returned to its old indivisible form, except for the expected public show of reconciliation from Senator Gbemisola Saraki, Bukola Saraki's sister, who contested the Kwara governorship election under the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) but lost to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) candidate, Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Aside that, the Sarakis, represented by the two-term governor of Kwara State who is now the acclaimed political leader  in Kwara State, appear poised to bid for the 2015 presidency, except political calculations or alignments dictate otherwise. The reason for this may not be too far-fetched, as the North Central Senatorial District has made it so clear that it is one of the zones entitled to the presidency in 2015.

Source

 


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