Saraki Is Our Man, We Will Not Abandon Him – PDP Opens Up

If a man dumped your party, joined
another to defeat you in the general
election and you now turn around to
be fighting for the same man, there is
an agenda you are working to
achieve. That’s politics for you.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
has insisted that Senate President
Bukola Saraki is their man and is fit
for the office he is occupying; hence
they are not considering any
candidate to replace him.

PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh gave
their position: “Does the trial have
merit? When we see the merit of the
case, we will take position. But for
now, there is nothing like that.”

The PDP denied reports that it was
already looking for a senator from the
opposition party to replace Saraki,
who is currently under pressure to
resign from office following his trial
for false asset declaration by the Code
of Conduct Tribunal.
Speaking with Punch, Metuh said the
party still believed that the trial of
Saraki was political and that the PDP
would not think of abandoning the
Senate president until it sees the
merit of the case.

He added, “We have no candidate for
the office of the Senate President,
because we have a fit person
occupying the position for now.
“We are behind him and we can’t
abandon him just because he is
undergoing trial. Anybody can be put
on trial, but the question we should
ask is whether the trial is political or
not.”

Saraki, a former governor of Kwara
State, is currently facing a 13-count
charge of making false declaration as
a governor between 20013 and 2011.
Since his arraignment before the
tribunal, there had been speculations
that the PDP, which produced Saraki’s
deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, had been
scheming to replace him with one of
its senators.

Among those being touted as possible
replacements for Saraki are
Ekweremadu; a former Senate
President, David Mark; and a former
Governor of Akwa Ibom State,
Godswill Akpabio.

Nigeria’s two main labour unions –
Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade
Union Congress – on Saturday
demanded Saraki’s resignation on
moral grounds consequent upon his
trial at the CCT.