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Kwara PDP Chair, Ex-minister, Lawyers, Others React To Saraki-Police Clash


Prominent indigenes of Kwara State, on Tuesday, gave their views about the allegations made against Senate President Bukola Saraki by suspects arrested by Nigeria Police over  the April 5 Offa bank robberies, in which about 30 persons were killed, among whom were nine policemen. 

Recall that the Police had initially invited Saraki for interrogation before asking him to provide only a written explanation within 48 hours. 

Also linked to the bloody robbery incident is Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, following alleged claims by the suspects that they were political thugs working for the duo. 

But Saraki and Ahmed had both  dismissed the allegations as an attempt to frame them. 

Here are the respondents opinions in separate interviews in Ilorin. 

The Tafida of Ilorin, Dr. Amuda Aluko, said it would  be better for Saraki to respond to the Police in order to clear his name. 

Aluko, who  maintained that Saraki could  never be involved in robbery, however, said it had become imperative for him  to clear his name since he was allegedly mentioned by the suspects. 

He said that his Kwara Liberation Group had, about a week ago, urged Nigerians to  allow the Police to do their job. 

Also, a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Suleiman Abubakar, said, “The Senate President should honour Police invitation to clear his name.’’ 

According to him, the claim by the  suspects that they had links with Saraki makes it imperative that Saraki avails himself of the opportunity offered by the Police  to clear his name. 

Prof . Abdulwahab Egbewole of the Department of Law, University of Ilorin,  on his part,  warned  against “the politicisation of the lives of Nigerians.’’ Noting that the  Police have  the right  by law to investigate everybody. 

Egbewole said, “From the trajectory of the matter, it is not regarded as purely a legal issue. It has some fundamental political undertones.” 

Egbewole, however,  pointed out that the anti-cultism law in Kwara  put in place by the Saraki administration  was the most stringent in the country, saying, “How can a person who put  in place such a law will now  go against it?” 

The PDP Chairman in Kwara State, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, urged  the Police to do thorough investigation into the Offa robbery incident. 

He also expressed doubts that the Senate President would support the suspects to engage in robbery. 

Oyedepo, however, said  Saraki has a  moral duty to clear his name.
 
He advised the Senate President to honour the Police request by sending his statement so as to clear his name. 
 
“Did Saraki give them vehicle? Did Saraki provide them guns? Are they his political thugs? 

“All these questions should be answered by Senator  Bukola Saraki to clear his name,” Oyedepo counselled. 

He called on the people of the state to rise up and demand justice so that the case would not be compromised. 

In his reaction,  the State Secretary of the National Union of Local Government Employers, Rafiu Hotonu, said there was nothing wrong with the Police request asking Saraki to respond to allegations. 

“He should honour the request  to clear his name. NULGE wholeheartedly supports  the Police because the suspects allegedly confessed that they work for the Senate President, so he needs  to clear his name. 

“No matter how highly placed you are in the society, once the Police invite you, you are bound to honour the invitation,” Hotonu said. 

An Ilorin based legal practitioner, Mr. Isaac Oladele,  said there was no crime in a Police invitation, urging Saraki to use  the opportunity to respond to the allegations. 

Oladele, who  noted that the Police had even said the Senate President needed not appear in person, adding that it “is an opportunity for Saraki to clear his name of all the allegations of sponsoring cultists as thugs and having a link to the  Offa robbery. 

“Nobody is above the law, whether  you  are  rich or poor. The law is no respecter of anybody. I advise the Senate President to honour the invitation and clear the mess on time.’’ 

However, another  lawyer, Mr. Tunde Jimoh,  appealed to the public to “stop politicising the matter” but to allow the Police to conduct  their investigation. 

“Nigerians must allow the  police to do a thorough finding. They must stop the different protests and distractions on social media. 

“Enough of  interference from the external forces; there is no need to mount  pressure on the Senate President and the Nigeria Police in order not to complicate the matter. 

“The fact that the suspected robbers mentioned Saraki’s name in their confessional statements doesn’t mean we should jump to conclusions. 

“Nigerians must be patient and give room for thorough investigation and fair hearing, rather than drawing  conclusions, ” he said. 

For Funsho Aina, another legal practitioner, the Senate President must respond promptly to the matter “because of the sensitive position he is holding.” 

“It is still an allegation for now, and he is not yet found guilty. The best for him (Saraki) is to honorably make his statement on the matter available before it turns to another thing. 

“If there is the need for him to step down from his post as Senate President to clear his name, he can do so for the sake of his integrity and that of the National Assembly,” Aina  opined.

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