[size=14pt]Why I am against Brother Bukola – Oyinkansola Saraki[/size]

By OLAYINKA OYEBODE


The governorship candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance in Kwara State, Ms. Oyinkansola Aminat Saraki, in this interview with OLAYINKA OYEBODE, speaks on the controversy surrounding her paternity and the nine-month struggle to get her petition heard by a special elections petition tribunal as ordered by an Appeal Court.



What are you doing to ensure that a new tribunal is set up to hear your petition?

Naturally, one expected that the normal thing to do is to give everybody an equal access to justice. It is bad enough that the tribunal threw out my case without any just cause. We went to the Appeal Court and the Appeal Court on November 2, 2007 ruled that I had a case and that a new tribunal should be set up to hear my petition. So, it is baffling that months after that, nothing has been done. I am just appealing to the Nigerian people to prevail on the president of the Court of Appeal to respect the ruling and set up the new tribunal. It is sad that one has to come out to pursue justice, after a court of competent jurisdiction has made a pronuncement on the matter.

When was the last time you had any communication with the Appeal Court’s president after the court ordered the composition of a new panel to hear your petition?

My counsel and the party have written on many occasions to remind the president of the Court of Appeal on the need to act on the ruling of the Appeal Court. We are yet to get any response to any of the letters. But, they acknowledged receipt of the letters, and you can see their stamps on them. This is what gives us some concern, it is now nine months and a few days after the Appeal Court ruling.

Are you suspecting foul play?

Honestly, I don’t know why this is happening. The judiciary in this country has recently proved to be the hope of the common man by virtue of some rulings. So, one is baffled that the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullai, will ignore the ruling of the Appeal Court which ordered that my petition should be heard by a new tribunal. It’s been nine months after the ruling and nobody is saying anything about it.

I know Governor Bukola Saraki is jittery already, and I know he could be the one working against the process. Now, the question is why is he afraid of a re-run, if he actually won the election by an overwhelming majority? One thing is certain, they can only delay justice, they cannot prevent it. The truth will come out.

What if the Appeal Court president fails to do anything after all your petition?

I will keep making noise and I won’t keep quite. I believe the Appeal Court president will be under pressure from well meaning members of the society to take the right step, by setting up the tribunal as ordered by the appeal court since November 2007. This case remains a major dent on the image of the judiciary, and the judiciary has done quite a job since the beginning of this dispensation. So, it is baffling that the president of the Appeal Court is finding it difficult to honour a simple ruling of the court. So, where lies the claims of adherence to the rule of law, when a court ruling is being ignored almost 10 months after? And what is the ruling all about? Set up a new tribunal to hear my petition. And like they say, justice delayed is justice denied. As for me, I am yet to see the much-talked about rule of law of the Federal Government at work. Or maybe I should say that I am yet to benefit from the rule of law, because my case has not been treated fairly. We will reject any tribunal that is not composed of judges of integrity. We want the case assigned to judges that are truly upright. Anything short of that, we shall reject.

What is the level of involvement of your party in this struggle to get the Appeal Court president to set up the new tribunal to hear your petition?

My party is solidly behind me. The party leadership has written to the president of the Court of Appeal, to remind him of the ruling of Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwunmiji of the Appeal Court, sitting in Ilorin on November 2, 2007. Our counsel, Dayo Akintayo, has also written to the Appeal Court president. We have written to the National Judicial Commission and the Chief Justice of Nigeria. In Kwara State, other opposition parties who saw the merit in our struggle have come together to also petition the NJC and CJN over the matter. It is quite painful that this could be happening in a country where the government talks about adherence to the rule of law and due process. It would appear that the government is merely paying lip service to the issue of rule of law; because I can’t see anything like the rule of law in this case. I believe posterity will judge whoever is trying to block the course of justice in this matter.

Did you ever discuss your governorship ambition with Governor Saraki, knowing that he is the incumbent?

I actually made some moves to see my brother before I started my campaigns. I spoke to him; he fixed an appointment and I went there to see him. I told him of my plan, he listened carefully, without saying a word. After that, he looked at his wristwatch and said, ‘Oh! it is three o’clock now, the last plane out of Ilorin is five o’clock. Make sure you don’t miss the flight because after that I won’t be able to guarantee your safety.’ That was what he told me. Obviously, I did not leave, but I told him he could not do anything to me. So, I have tried. But obviously when you have tried to change somebody and he is not ready to change, what do you do. You go against him.

It would appear now that you are against the political dynasty of your father. Why did you not explore the possibility of working with the governor?

There is no way I can work with them. I mean, look at Kwara, look at the Societe Generale Bank, for instance, a lot of innocent people lost their savings in that bank. Many of them trusted that bank, innocent people, petty traders, businessmen and women, and look at the way the bank went under, it went down with the people’s sweat. And you expect me to work with that same set of people? No, I fear God and I have a conscience. And I don’t want any curse upon my head. The question is what else do they want in Kwara? They have finished Kwara. When I said in Akede newspaper, the other time that my father and brother had turned Kwara into a slave camp, a lot of people were shouting. And I am not going to join them. I don’t care if they disown me. You know, it is possible for either your mother or father to disown you. I have fathers, brothers everywhere; and your father is not necessarily your biological father. So, I am not going to work with them.

Why is it difficult to resolve this paternity issue ?

Well, if you recall the paternity issue clearly, when Governor Bukola Saraki did a press conference and they put in the papers that I was not his sister and that it was not Dr Olusola Saraki that gave birth to me, I challenged my father to a DNA test. The answer my father gave then was that he was not the one that spoke, that it was Bukola that spoke. So, if Bukola has problems with me or my father doubts that I am his daughter, let them come out and say it. So, it was Bukola that spoke, and since my father has not come out to say so himself, then let Bukola keep his mouth shut. If he does not like me being his step-sister, let him go and commit suicide. As far as I am concerned, my father has not spoken. Until he speaks and says publicly that Oyinkansola Aminat Saraki is not my daughter, then I will know the right step to take. So, I don’t think I owe Bukola any answer on that issue.

What is the relationship between you and Dr. Olusola Saraki?

The relationship between me and my father is the normal relationship between father and daughter. I am based in the United Kingdom. I was raised by my mum, which usually happens when your parents are separated. So, I was raised by my mum. But he (Dr. Saraki) sent me to the United Kingdom and the evidence is there at the British High Commission; (that) in 1989, he got a visa for me to go and further my studies in the UK. So, if Bukola has a problem with me being his half-sister, that is his problem. And whether he likes it or not, I am Oyinkansola Aminat, the daughter of Dr. Olusola Saraki. And whether he likes it or not, people even say I look like my father more than him. May be that is what is killing him.

Even if you become the governor of the state, are you capable of changing the status quo?

By their fruits, we shall know them. And let me say this, I know it is not easy to go against your family and attack them as I am doing. I don’t think I will waste my time attacking the current administration, if I don’t have something better to offer the people. I have lived in the UK for years and I have seen how things are being run. Talk about infrastructure. Go to Kwara today, with all the noise, you will see many of the schools without windows and doors and whenever it starts raining, they will park all the children into one corner and the health facilities in the state are nothing to write home about. We will make changes, and as I have said, you know women are soft-hearted and we fear God more than you men, so, obviously a woman will make a difference.

Some believe that your level of preparation for the governorship seat is doubtful, because you left the country immediately after the election, only to return months after.

No, I did not travel immediately, I went straight to court.

And thereafter you travelled out?

Like they say, that a lion is keeping quiet does not mean it is afraid. I had a reason to go to the UK then to do a particular thing and I came back immediately.

Are you sure that wasn’t borne out of fear?

Fear of whom? Bukola? No, I am not afraid of him at all.

You alleged that there was a plot to assassinate you during the electioneering. Could that explain why you stylishly fled the country after the poll?

I actually left Kwara State for some time during the electioneering, because they were after me. Officials of the State Security Service were going round the party offices then looking for me, harassing party officials to disclose my address. So, I had to leave for some time, not for my safety alone but for the safety of the party members, because everybody had to leave the party office for some time.

Are you now hiding in Lagos?

Well, if you Lagosians want me here, no problem. But, like I always said, nobody can kill me, because I am not their meat.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/aug/16/406.html

Why is it difficult to resolve this paternity issue ?

Well, if you recall the paternity issue clearly, when Governor Bukola Saraki did a press conference and they put in the papers that I was not his sister and that it was not Dr Olusola Saraki that gave birth to me, I challenged my father to a DNA test. The answer my father gave then was that he was not the one that spoke, that it was Bukola that spoke. So, if Bukola has problems with me or my father doubts that I am his daughter, let them come out and say it. So, it was Bukola that spoke, and since my father has not come out to say so himself, then let Bukola keep his mouth shut. If he does not like me being his step-sister, let him go and commit suicide. As far as I am concerned, my father has not spoken. Until he speaks and says publicly that Oyinkansola Aminat Saraki is not my daughter, then I will know the right step to take. So, I don’t think I owe Bukola any answer on that issue.

Why i stheir father keeping quiet over this issue? Men!!! they Bleep Bleep Bleep till they don't even know whom they bleeped again. See how two siblings dey disgrace each other for years now.

This shows what kind of man Dr Olusols Saraki is. How does a man allow 2 of his children to make a public mockery of the family. Maybe his past is catching up with him and his children and children's children may well suffer humiliation as a result of all the evil that the man has brought upon common citizens of Nigeria, especially Kwara indigenes.

This shows what kind of man Dr Olusols Saraki is. How does a man allow 2 of his children to make a public mockery of the family. Maybe his past is catching up with him and his children and children's children may well suffer humiliation as a result of all the evil that the man has brought upon common citizens of Nigeria, especially Kwara indigenes

.

I mean, it can happen to anybody but what I want to know is why he kept mum on the issue of paternity. Do you know what that girl is going through now?