BEVERLY HILLS, February 10, (THEWILL) – The Senate has again warned Nigerians to stop condemning its president, Dr. Bukola Saraki before he is found guilty by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, in the assets falsification charges he allegedly committed as Governor of Kwara State.
The Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, disclosed this to newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, asserting that contrary to calls by some of his colleagues, Saraki would not resign his position unless convicted by the court.
While debunking speculation in some quarters that the meeting with Osinbajo had political connotation and was meant to finding a political solution to the trials of the Senate President, he said, “It is not new for people to read meaning. Are you saying that the Senate President should be convicted before the trial? In our constitution, you are considered innocent until proven guilty.”
On what brought them to the Villa, Ndume, who was accompanied by Senators Dino Melaye and Abdullahi Adamu, said: “This government is our government. I am the Senate Leader in this government, so my coming here today is not supposed to be a new thing. My coming here should even be more regular.
“This is not the first time we are coming here. But this is the first time we are having the Vice President as Acting President. That is one of the reasons we are here.
“This is because we are setting a new example. During the previous government, the President will just go and leave the place blank. But this time around, when our President goes for a few days, he transmitted to all Nigerians that the Vice President is to act as the President.
Ndume, who stated that Nigerians should expect more consultations with the Villa, said: “We came for the regular consultation. There is nothing new about it and we will be doing more of this.
“You should expect me to be coming here. Now we have the budget as work in progress; we have the new Money Laundering Bill before the Senate.
“We have many things we are looking at. We have come to consult on these,” he stated.
