Bukola Saraki: Time to shine or melt (1)

The firestorm generated by the Code of Conduct, CCT arraignment of senate president, Bukola Saraki over alleged false declaration of his assets when he was governor of Kwara state has taken the dimension of a political witch-hunt. At least, that’s the view of his numerous supporters, especially fellow senators who came to that conclusion after the recent Supreme Court’s denial of the senate president’s prayer to prevent CCT from further prosecuting him. In a terse statement, majority of the members of the red chambers reaffirmed their confidence in Saraki’s leadership while pledging to sustain their unflinching support for their embattled leader throughout his travail.

Left with no other option, and perhaps buoyed by the exaltation of his colleagues, Saraki is now looking forward to his day in court early next month where he will either shine or melt. Normally, witch-hunting is not alien to politics. Anyone who is in doubt should ask Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of States and presently the Democratic Party front runner for the White House. The ‘banana peel’ – to borrow the popular Nigerian lingo – deliberately put on the path to the Oval Office for Mrs. Clinton to step on, slip and fall to prevent her from getting there is known to all keen observers of the race to the presidency of the USA.
That’s why a sad event on an ordinary day, during her time  as Secretary of State, such as the attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, where the USA ambassador, Chris Stevens and a couple of other compatriots were killed by Libyan terrorists, became a sort of albatross that would define her candidacy for the presidency.

Likewise for Mr. Saraki, whom forces similar to the ones intent on hamstringing Senator Clinton in far away USA, seem to be determined here in Nigeria to equally undo him as Senate President and ruin his chances of running for the presidency in 2019 or beyond.

Just like Clinton, whose ghosts from her time as Secretary of States suddenly started popping up as soon as she announced her interest in the presidency, Saraki’s alleged breach of public service code with respect to his network during his term as governor is being dangled like the sword of Damocles over his head. The difference between both situations with Clinton in the USA and Saraki in Nigeria, is that while Clinton is confronting her demons barely ten (10) months to when president Barack Obama is supposed to hand over to his successor on Jan 20, 2017, Saraki is embroiled in a presidential ambition motivated legal tango, less than 8 months into the commencement of the new regime which has four (4) years or 96 months tenure.

Make no mistake about it, not all politicians can stand the heat of blackmail and scandal. Take the recent case in the United Kingdom for instance.
Chuka Umunna, a Labour Party leadership front runner in the dramatically abandoned his candidacy barely after three days of launching it for fear of the muck which might be raked up about him, his fiancée and his mum.
Hear him: “Since the night of our defeat last week, l have been subject to added level of pressure that comes with being leadership candidate.” According to him “I have not found it to be comfortable experience. One can imagine what running for leadership can be like, understand its demands and attention but nothing compares to doing it and the impact on the rest of one’s life. Consequently, after further reflections, I’m withdrawing my candidacy”.

You can imagine that the scenario above is the sort of attitude that the fear of blackmail could have compelled Clinton and Saraki respectively to adopt. But alas the pair of Clinton and Saraki are made of sterner mettle, hence they have decided that instead of chickening out like Chuka Umunna, they are soldiering on! The duo of Clinton and Saraki are veterans of many political battles. Along with her husband – former President Bill Clinton – Hillary survived the famous white-water real estate scandal that rocked the then governor of the state of Arkansas’s presidential quest. After getting to the White House together, Hilary and Bill survived the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton the 42nd president of the USA by the House of Representatives. Fortunately, the impeachment had no significant consequence, because the Senate did not concur in the impeachment as constitutionally required.

On her own, Hilary fought and won the senate seat for the state of New York and subsequently contested against Barack Obama for the presidency in 2008. Although she did not make history at that time by becoming the first female president of the USA, as she had hoped, she nevertheless caught a handful of cloud (since she could not accomplish her ambition of touching the sky) by being compensated by Barack Obama, who appointed her the Secretary of State.
To be concluded tomorrow…

 Magnus Onyibe

Magnus Onyibe, a development strategist, futurologist and former commissioner in Delta state govt is an alumnus of Fletcher School of Law And Diplomacy, Massachusetts, USA sent this piece from Abuja