The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki,
has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to set up an investigative
panel to probe last Tuesday’s police invasion of the Abuja residence of
the elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark......
This is coming as the police yesterday
apologised to Clark and paraded the alleged informant, one Ismail
Yakubu, a native of Waru village in Apo district, Abuja, for giving
false information to the police that led to the search of the Abuja
residence of Clark.
Saraki in a statement yesterday
described as unwarranted the police search of the home of the
nonagenarian, and called for an open and comprehensive investigation
into the incident.
The incident, he said, was an
“unwarranted harassment of the statesman,” who is known for being very
vocal in expressing his views on national issues.
He added that the incident must not be
be covered up without the public knowing all the details, particularly
concerning the officer who gave the order, who signed the police search
warrant and the officers who executed it as well as what the objective
was meant to serve.
According to him, “Chief Edwin Clark, a
former minister in the General Yakubu Gowon administration, is not just
anybody.
Yes, he is not above the law. If there is a genuine reason for
his home to be searched by law enforcement agencies, nobody will object
to it. However, as it now appears, for the police to conduct a raid on
the home of a man of that age on the pretense that they were looking for
arms and eventually, the claim turned out to be a hoax, then something
must be amiss.”
Saraki, while further condemning the police action, also described it as a threat to Nigeria’s democracy.
“This type of action by the police
coming at this time when we are preparing for election is not reflecting
well on the country. Such actions constitute a threat to democracy.
They represent gross abuse of state institutions. Now that the Inspector
General of Police (IG) has denied that the raid was never authorized,
the next move should be a thorough, transparent investigation into the
Clark’s incident to prevent future occurrence.
“This kind of ugly development must
stop. This country experienced peaceful change in 2015 because the
government in power allowed democracy to work. If the government had
allowed the flagrant abuse and misuse of state institutions to be the
norm, we would not have had the change that occurred,” the Senate
president stated.
Saraki further reminded the government
of its recent commitment to world leaders on the need to create a
peaceful and conducive atmosphere necessary for credible, free and fair
elections where citizens can freely exercise their franchise, devoid of
intimidation, suppression and abuse of their fundamental human rights.
The police yesterday paraded the alleged
informant, one Ismail Yakubu, a native of Waru village in Apo district,
Abuja, for giving false information to the police that led to the
search of the Abuja residence of Clark.
Speaking during his parade by the police
at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, the informant gave a detailed
accounts of how he got information that there were arms in Clark’s
house.
Yakubu, 45, said he was on his way last
Monday to receive a consignment from an anonymous caller around the
ECOWAS area in Asokoro when the taxi he boarded ran into a blockade
around Haile Selassie street in Asokoro, Abuja.
He said on enquiry, he was told by the
taxi driver that the blockade was caused by a truck entering house
number 43 Haile Selassie street.
He added that the driver of the taxi
categorically told him that the truck contained arms, and being a
citizen of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and going by the relative
peace in the FCT, he took it upon himself to report the matter to the
police.
“I did not have access to the STS to
report the matter that Monday evening, so I came on Tuesday and report
the matter to Inspector Sada,” he said.
Yakubu insisted he was innocent of any
crime, adding that as a citizen, he was bound to give information to
security agencies that would help curtail or prevent the commission of
crime.
But, the police who condemned the raid,
particularly due to the involved officers’ failure to follow due process
of the law in carrying out such search, said the police officers, who
are currently under investigation, would be punished according to the
law if convicted of any misconduct.
Force Public Relations Officer, acting
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jimoh Moshood, said: “Notwithstanding,
the facts that on daily basis the Nigeria Police Force across the
country receives series information from members of the public which are
promptly used to prevent and detect crimes and criminalizes, the Force
will not condone misconducts by any of its personnel that runs contrary
to the rule of law.
“The Police, therefore, have the
statutory rights to execute a duly obtained search warrant in any
premises where it has actionable intelligence or information that
incriminating items or exhibits used to commit crime or about to be used
for crime with the aims of recovering them to prevent the commission of
such crime or to detect the crime that have been committed.
“Any officer who is to carry out the
execution of search warrant must follow the laid down procedures within
the law. Where such is not followed, such an officer must be made to
face the consequences of violating the rule of law.
“The officer who led the team has been
queried, and the three Inspectors are currently undergoing orderly trial
for the appropriate punishment to be meted out on them.”
Moshood, while reiterating the position
of the police over the embarrassment the search has caused, added that
the Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, had already sent a
high powered delegation led by a DIG and other senior police officers to apologize to the elder statesman over the
search.
search.
Meanwhile, Saraki Wednesday met with the leaders of the North Central zone of the party in Abuja.
The zone has also resolved to produce a
consensus candidate among the three aspirants jostling for the number
one position in the country.
They also mandated the zonal leaders to engage leaders of the two other zones- North-east and North-west
The meeting, which was part of the
consultative meetings embarked upon by Saraki in the last one month
towards the realization of his presidential ambition, took place at the
Banquet hall of Ibro Grand Hotel in Zone 5 area of Abuja.
Sources told THISDAY that the close-door
meeting which lasted from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. was presided over by PDP
National Vice Chairman, North Central, Mr. Theophillus Dakas-Sham.
Saraki, who is from the North Central
zone like two other PDP presidential aspirants- former Senate President
David Mark and former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Jonah Jang-
used the forum to intimate the party’s zonal leaders on why he is
running for president and the need for the zone to give him total
support.
At the end of the meeting, it was
resolved that the zone will produce a consensus candidate among the
three jostling for the number one position bearing in mind that the zone
has all it takes to produce the next president.
They also mandated the zonal leaders to
engage leaders of the two other zones- North-east and North-west-on the
need for them to back the consensus candidate of the North Central zone.
Earlier in his opening remarks,
Dakas-Sham said although the zone is regarded as a conglomerate of
minority groups, it has always been powerful with an array of performing
sons and daughters.
He specifically mentioned the
achievements of Senator David Mark when he held sway for eight years as
Senate President from 2007 to 2015 and the leadership prowess of Saraki
since he became the Senate President in June 2015.
Dakas- Sham emphasized that the time is
ripe for the zone to produce the next President of the country having
assisted other zones in the past in this regard.
Also speaking, Saraki said 2019 poll is
all about winning the soul of Nigeria saying nothing will be more
important to Nigerians now than to rescue the country.
He promised that collectively the country’s democracy will not die at this particular time.
The aspirant also promised to improve
the standard of living of Nigerians and also bring development to the
nation if voted in as President in February, 2019.
Those at the consultative meeting
include former National Chairman of the party, Senator Ahmadu Ali;
Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Senator Wadil Jubril; former
governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida and his Kogi State
counterpart, Captain Idris Wada and former Minister of Sport, Mr. Simon
Sango.
Others include Senators Jeremiah Useni, Dino Melaye, Ahmed Ogembe, Atai Idoko and Philip Dunka.
Two members of the House of Representatives namely Hons Rasaq Atunwa and Tajudeen Yusuf were also at the meeting.
Saraki who made public his presidential
ambition last Thursday had within a week held consultative meetings with
all the PDP governors in both the South-east and South-south and
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ondo State.
Earlier before his declaration, Saraki
had in the last one month held consultative meetings with three former
Presidents- Ibrahim Babangida, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck
Jonanathan- at their Minna, Abeokuta and Abuja homes, respectively.
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