The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has slammed former Senate President Bukola Saraki for claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari has authority over the courts and legislature.
BMO said it was an irresponsible comment that had no basis in fact in a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke.
“Our attention has been drawn to comments made by former Senate President Bukola Saraki through the Campaign Director, ‘Bukola Saraki Presidential Campaign Directorate’, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher at a political meeting in Kano where he made a number of unfounded claims against President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Perhaps the most grating of those allegations is the suggestion that the Judiciary and the Legislature are not independent under this administration.
“We see it as an attempt by a former Senate President to muddle up the waters at a time the 9th National Assembly is getting accolades for doing what the crop of Federal lawmakers led by Saraki could not do.
“Here is a man that had the opportunity to pave way for the realisation of electoral promises made by his then party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), but opted for the path of infamy for the most part of his tenure as Senate President,” the group said.
It added:
“Saraki was not the first head of the Senate in the current political dispensation, but he was the first one since 1999 to embark on direct confrontation with the Executive in such a way that younger Nigerians assumed that Federal lawmakers are meant to be acerbic and confrontational.
“It was therefore not surprising to us that he suffered the biggest loss of his political career in what looked like a referendum on his performance as Senate President.
“Never in Nigeria’s political history has a major political player lost as massively in his State as Saraki did, so we expected him to have done some introspection about his tenure.”
BMO added that compared to the 8th Senate, the current one has passed bills with far reaching positive impact on the polity.
“We ask Nigerians to note that the same National Assembly that Saraki is demonising had early in its life instituted a January to December budget cycle in line with global practices.
“It is also on record that the present crop of Federal lawmakers cooperated with the Executive to ensure the passage of one of the most difficult bills that defied previous legislative intervention for over 10 years, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)
“And now with the great work that the Legislature has been doing with the Constitution Amendment process, our advice is for the former Senate President to do some soul searching on the missed opportunities that characterized his tenure,” it said.
