National Assembly: Boxed in over Saraki?

The trial of Senator BukolaSaraki, the President of the Senate at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for alleged false declaration of assets, has enjoyed rave public attention for several reasons which include the high office he occupies and the novelty associated with the development. In a Nigerian society where serial failures by the ruling class, to change the status quo towards ever improving living conditions for the masses, has turned celebrity bashing into a welcome solace for many who always want to see the rich high and mighty cry, it is not surprising that the dispensation may have been twisted out of its original context in the public domain.
Against the grain of the time honoured liberty granted an accused person to remain innocent in the eye of the law until proven guilty by a regular judicial process, circumstances which include the handling of the issue by sections of the media, indicate that Saraki may have been adjudged guilty as charged on the platform of mob hysteria. This is most unfortunate as mob hysteria is driven more by half-truths, wild sentiments and misguided grievances, than facts, figures and cold logic.
Yet the drama also raises the risk of some adverse implications, one of which is the loss of traction it may already be imposing on the National Assembly in the conduct of its statutory functions. Right from the days when the affair was swirling within gossip circles, to the arraignment of the gentleman at the dock, its effect has been noticeably telling on the entire National Assembly establishment. This is neither unusual nor out of place. After all, Saraki as President of the Senate is the third citizen of the country in order of precedence, and the Chairman of the National Assembly, who presides at any joint function of the two chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives. Hence his personal fortunes or otherwise would easily rub off not only on the ambience of the National Assembly, but beyond the precincts of the establishment.
It is therefore not surprising that at every appearance of the gentleman at the CCT, he is accompanied by a throng of Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, political big wigs and other highbrow personalities. Just as well, his appearances in court for the trial often coincide(?) with the disruption of earlier scheduled plenary seatings of the Senate. The reverberations from his situation tallies with the proverb of the Kalabaris in the Niger Delta that “the sheep is never happy to witness the slaughter of the ram”.
Yet as many observers have noted, the spectacle especially the coincidental (?) disruption and postponement of Senate plenary sessions may also be associating the institution with an unwarranted siege mentality, even as several legislators have been fingered by sections of the media and members of the public as already contemplating his resignation from office, on the basis of the allegations and on-going trial. Could it then be said that the spectacle of ‘Saraki in the dock’ has also boxed the National Assembly into a corner?
Such a scenario cannot be anything but odious, as it portends grave implications for the country at a time when every Nigerian is looking forward to change in the status quo, and which the administration under President Muhammadu Buhari is supposedly working assiduously to effect. Given the strategic role of the National Assembly in the nation’s processes of democratic governance, any semblance of vitiation of its sanctity should qualify as unacceptable. This is more so in respect of the Saraki matter, as the gentleman is far from being convicted and is still a free citizen; only undergoing a regular judicial trial as fellow citizens undergo daily in hundreds of courts all over the country. The cold truth of the matter is that even if at the end of the present judicial process, the matter turns against him, he still has the liberty to fight his battle in the higher courts as the CCT is not the apex court of the country. It is against the backdrop of the foregoing that the Saraki matter should be allowed to revert back to a status shorn of fanfare and razzmatazz, even if all that may be achieved is to allow the trial judge and the temple of justice, a conducive atmosphere for adjudication.
More significantly all well-meaning Nigerians as well as members and functionaries of the National Assembly need to appreciate the need to deny the willing and unwitting revelers in the ‘Saraki in the dock’ drama the benefit of celebrating the man’s trying moments. As it is, for now the institution needs to re-establish traction at a renewed pace in tackling the several contingencies that not only fall within its statutory purview to address, but may have been denied prime attention while the Saraki affair had lasted. For instance many Nigerians are erroneously associating the late passage of the 2016 budget with the Saraki matter instead of the delay in its presentation by the President. In a dispensation where perception can easily supersede reality, the foregoing misjudgment of the fortunes of the budget is not healthy for the National Assembly, as it creates room for denigration of whatever positives it may have earned.
Beyond the budget there are other areas of expected decisive legislative intervention by the National Assembly, which a less than discrete handling of the Saraki matter, may help to mis-present the establishment in the public space. It is however welcome that the Senator has expressed his expectation of a fair trial based on his belief in the judiciary as the hope of every Nigerian – rich or poor, high or low, to obtain justice. That points to his preparedness to take the trial in his stride, and lead the establishment to deliver on its mandate.
In the final analysis,the entire affair offers valid lessons with respect to the challenges associated with building democratic governance in this country where political stakes are built around individuals rather than institutions. And as long as that situation persists, so long shall the efforts by Nigerians to move the country to the next level, amount to nothing beyond building castles on quicksand, where they shall collapse with every stroke of political turbulence in the land.