CCT Judgement: I hold no grudge against anyone, says Saraki

Senate President Bukola Saraki has said he harbours no grudge against anyone for his 21-month trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

The Tribunal sitting in Abuja on Wednesday discharged and acquitted him on an 18-count charge of false assets declaration.

Reacting to the judgement, the Senate President, however, urged his supporters to ‘refrain from any unbridled triumphalism’.

The statement personally signed by Saraki affirmed that the judgement had vindicated his earlier position that he was innocent of all charges preferred against him.

According to him, he will not seek revenge against his distractors.

“After undergoing the crucible of a tortuous trial, my vindication today calls for celebration. It is my belief however that if there should be any celebration at all, it should be a celebration of the hopes that this judgment gives us as citizens that despite all the challenges that we face as a country, we are well on our way to building a country where the innocent needs not be afraid. I therefore urge all my supporters to refrain from any unbridled triumphalism. The challenges that our country faces today are enormous and do not allow for wanton celebration. Instead, we should all reflect on the significance of this moment and what it meant for our democracy.

“On a personal note, I harbour no grudge against anyone, regardless of the role they might have played in the persecution that I had endured in the last two years. I believe that If my trial had in anyway given hope to the common man that no matter the forces arraigned against him, he can still get justice in our courts, then my tribulation had not been in vain.

“Once again, I thank my colleagues in the 8th Senate for standing firm. Regardless of the distraction of my trial, we have achieved more as legislators than the previous Senates. Now that this distraction is over, we can even achieve so much more. We must now proceed from here with greater vigour to deliver on the expectations of Nigerians and show that this 8th Senate can indeed play a central role in improving the quality of lives of our people,” Saraki stated.

Also reacting to the Tribunal’s verdict, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, described as “victory for democracy”, the discharge and acquittal of Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

In a statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, Ekweremadu said it did not come to him as a surprise given that the CCT trial was “hatched in the coven of evil politics and was, therefore, bound to fall like a pack of cards”.

 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja