Senate leader insists Saraki will not resign unless convicted

dimeji akinloye

February 9, 2016 6:20 PM

He noted that the constitution is clear on a person being innocent until proven guilty, describing the call for Saraki's resignation as hasty.

The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has said that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, will not resign from his position unless he is convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Ndume stated this on Tuesday, February 9, at the President Villa, Abuja, after a meeting with the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

READ: Senators vow to stand by Saraki, say trial is a political vendetta

"It is not new for people to read meaning. Are you saying that the Senate President should be convicted before the trial?", he asked rhetorically.

When asked about the nature of the meeting with Osinbajo, which also had other senators in attendance, Ndume 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 why 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."

He added: “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. So 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 we have the new Money Laundering Bill before the Senate, we have many things we are looking at. We have come to come and consult on these".

Other senators who were present at the meeting included Dino Melaye and Abdullahi Adamu.

dimeji akinloye