Read 10 reasons why Bukola Saraki must resign

The Nigerians under the umbrella of Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group (NDMG) on Sunday, April 24, said it will gladly help Saraki write his resignation letter if he has no idea on how to do that.

The group gave the Senate President 10 days to resign as leader of the eighth assembly.

The group’s offer came at a walk held by thousands of Nigerians living in London.

The participants of the walk marched around the buildings housing the Nigerian high commission in the United Kingdom.

Also, in a speech presented by Onyilo Adeka, the group said Saraki, whom he accused of entrenching corruption, must resign immediately.

Adeka said the position of Senate President has been tainted beyond imagination with the endless scandals around current holder.

“Bukola Saraki’s position as Senate President is no longer tenable and he should quit immediately allowing to Nigeria make progress.

“We urge constituents of the various Senatorial Districts to closely watch where the senators they elected are pitching their tents in this show of shame with a view to using the instrumentality of recall or voting them out in the next election,” Adeke said.

To back the call for Saraki’s resignation, the group gave 10 reasons why Bukola Saraki must resign as the Senate President.

Read the 10 reason below:

1. His failure to declare his assets or falsifying any declaration he did made is a violation of the Code of Conduct for public officers as spelt out in the constitution. A lawbreaker has no business leading the nation’s law making arm.

2. Revelations of the Panama papers about his offshore assets, which were not declared by the way, are enough reason for Saraki to have done the needful. His co-traveller in the Panama affair and former Icelandic Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, has demonstrated what a man does when he compromises his honour but Saraki failed to understand the concept. In this he may want to peruse the National Assembly records for the names of Evan/Evans Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo and Adolphus Wabara.

3. The truly innocent has nothing to fear in clearing his name before a court but instead of defending himself against the Code of Conduct Tribunal charges he had engaged on an endless trip of judgement shopping as he approached one court after the other, not to clear himself, but to block his trial from holding. In addition to the many charges against him he has endlessly abused the judicial system. We are now the butt of online jokes that say the only court Saraki has not approached to stop his trial is the Basketball Court.

4. The purchase of exotic SUVs for members of the chamber he presides over (in addition to being the chairman of the National Assembly) is a clear indication of his unremorseful attitude and the disdain in which he holds Nigerians. It is enough proof that corruption and wasteful public expenditure are an integral part of his DNA as a public office holder and the fact that the public outcry prior to the act fell on deaf ears confirms he has no iota of regard for what citizens want.

5. Saraki has converted his trial into an avenue for wasting tax payers’ money as the business of the National Assembly is crippled each time he has to appear at the CCT. He has denied mobilizing his colleagues to following him to the trial venue in solidarity but what he has not proven is him telling the other senators to continue with what they were elected and paid to do instead of embarking on their charade. It will be prudent that Saraki resigns and faces his trial as an individual while the other lawmakers face their national assignment without distraction.

6. On top of the outrage the charges against him are generating among Nigerians, Saraki upped the insult to Nigerians by attempting to change the goal post when he and his colleagues futilely attempted to amend the laws, the Code of Conduct Bureau Act and Code of Conduct Tribunal Act, under which he was being tried. Even it was another top politician being tried; attempting to change the laws during the trial has all the hallmark of criminality.

7. In the almost one year he has been the President of the Senate, Saraki has not demonstrated concurrence with the desire and determination of Nigerians to tackle corruption head on. Almost all the Senate/National Assembly action he has presided over tend to be in favour of entrenching corruption.

8. The budget fiasco is confirmation that Saraki is out to strangulate the nation for political leverage. A man that can compromise the well-being of 170 million citizens to save his political career is not to be trusted with the office that Saraki currently occupies.

9. Saraki’s persistence in office in the face of the damning indictments against him is blocking Nigeria’s progress with international partners. They cannot trust that a man with baggage this much presiding over parliament will willingly domesticate treaties that have anti- corruption components. Many agreements between Nigerian and other countries are consequently awaiting activation as these nations bid time to see what we do with her legislative arm.

10. Saraki’s several and latest attempts at using the media to plead political persecution as the reason for his compromised position are unacceptable. His explanations, which should have been saved for the courts, did not factor in all the above enumerated reasons. The combination of all these reasons is enough ground for Saraki to immediately resign and we so demand.

The Senate President is facing a 13-count charge for falsely declaring his assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau.

He is currently being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal under the chairmanship of Danladi Umar who has just been exonerated by the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC).