Saraki’s corrupt hand
Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
It is an understatement to say that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki represents the face of corruption in Nigeria, if not in Africa. He is the highest ranking government official in Nigeria to be prosecuted for massive criminality and ushered into the accused box due to corruption.
In recent time, for every theft, criminality and corruption perpetrated in Nigeria, there is only one name that is constant in all of them. Bukola Saraki. He is the symbol of corruption.
However, the most disturbing part of this development is that, Saraki doesn’t seem to have had enough of the public loot; his taste for more and more corrupt embezzlement is unrivaled. Enu ko kin sin lara alabahun re. This is a perfect example that fits into a Yoruba saying ‘’Bi asen ge lowo, ni onbo oruka’’, meaning that the more corruption busted involving this man, the more the new corruption he is involved.
Since his arraignment for false assets declaration over a year ago, Saraki’s corrupt hand, more like the long spoon, being used to eat with the devil, has been caught in several other corruption scandals, both old and new. From false assets declaration, embezzlement of state funds, falsification of National Assembly standing order, panama papers criminality, budget padding scandal, Paris club loan diverting, FG bailout fund and theft at FCDA over imaginary accommodation. Just mention any worthy corruption scandal and the name Saraki shall surface. Does he thinks they spend money in heaven?
I find it difficult to understand why only one man would become so greedy, so selfish and so fixated on the theft of public resources, to an extent that every single corruption scandal in Nigeria has his hand in it. Saraki’s taste for blood money is unquenchable and it seems he has established himself as a grand master in corruption that every other corrupt person finds as a perfect partner to jointly perpetrates their criminality.
To imagine that this same corrupt individual is heading our legislative arm of government for over a year now is an aberration. It kills public morality, no matter how we explain it. With Saraki, we need not tell the younger ones that stealing is a good thing, they are seeing how those who stole public funds are being treated as dignitaries and rewarded with more juicy positions.
Some days ago, one of the largest financial scandals in recent times was reported, and the 36 states governors, plus Bukola Saraki were reported to have pocked large slices of funds approved by Federal Government to reimburse states for the excessive deductions charged to them on account of the Paris Club and other international loans. Investigators discovered that some governors got as much as N400million, while Mr Saraki carted away N2.5 billion out of the first batch of payments made to states. Consultants who act as cover, once paid, forwarded a part of their payment to the individual accounts of the state governors. Saraki was reportedly paid 2.5billion through a finance consultancy run by one Mr. Okey Mbonu, a former managing director of Society General Bank, a family bank robbed and run down by Saraki.
Two weeks before that report, Citizens Action To Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN) had uncovered a grand theft of over N630 million at the FCDA traced to the four (4) principal officers of National Assembly led by Saraki. The 4 principal officers, Bukola Saraki (Senate President), Yakubu Dogara (Speaker), Ike Okwerenmadu ( Deputy Senate President) and Yusuf Lasun (Deputy Speaker) all conspire to steal over N630 million with false accommodation claim. Saraki alone got a whopping sum of N200million from this theft.
The budget padding scandal from National Assembly is still fresh in our memory, in which billions of naira was fraudulently inserted into the budget for selfish reasons by leadership of the National Assembly. The role played by the leadership of National Assembly led by Saraki is known to all.
This is not to forget the panama papers scandal, in which several hidden assets of Mr Saraki and his family were exposed in the tax heaven. Internal data of the panama-based offshore-provider, Mossack Fonseca exposed that at least 4 assets of the family of Mr Saraki tucked away in secret offshore territories. However, Saraki didn’t mention these assets in his declaration as required by law because it was acquired with stolen resources from his tenure as Kwara State governor.
Additionally, in 2016 July, Bukola Saraki reportedly diverted N3billion received by Kwara State as bailout from the Federal Government to pay workers salaries. Till this moment, workers are yet to be paid their salaries in Kwara State.
Do not also forget that the same Saraki was the principal beneficiary of forgery of senate standing order which produced the current leadership of the senate. He is also standing trial for false assets declaration.
How can we explain that the senate president of Nigeria is a man that literally represents corruption in its entirety? Does that mean the National Assembly should rightly be christened as the Corruption Assembly? How members of the National Assembly sleep at night with this kind of character leading them beats my imagination. The damage done by this fellow to the legislative institution will last for eternity.
I am yet to understand how a single man will be so corrupt that every major fraud, theft and corruption must have is imprint in it. The name Saraki is now synonymous with fraud and corruption. This is why most people are of the opinion that, until Saraki is convicted, there is no war against corruption going on in the country. Because, should Saraki go Scot free despite all his atrocities, it will mean that Corruption is officially legalized for those who knows their ways.
We must never allow this to happen.

We should stop casting aspersions on some people

If you tell the name of one of these leaders, I'll give you a long list of their corrupt acts.

I didn't bother reading the epistle.




Name 5 politicians that are not corrupt

?

LAFO:
I didn't bother reading the epistle.




Name 5 politicians that are not corrupt

Obori
Abacha
Obassanjo
Fayose
Suswam
Alison
Corrupt free