FORMER Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has advised security agencies in the country to be wary and avoid being manipulated by politicians as the 2023 presid- ential election draws nearer.
Saraki, in a statement by his Media Office in Abuja, while reacting to the recent court case in which the De- partment of State Services (DSS) accused the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, of terrorism and other sundry charges while seeking a court order for his arrest, stated that what led to such an action by the secret service at this point needs further clarification so as not to create misunder- standing and wrong percep- tion about the motive.
He added that without holding brief for the CBN gov- ernor who he believes should be able to defend himself as he is not above the law, his concern is that as a victim of a similar wrong and politic- ally-motivated accusation, he felt that there were some clouds around the DSS’s court action coming two months to the general election, particu- larly at a time the apex bank introduced tough guidelines on the cashless regime and change of currency which could work against those who had planned to resort to vote buying in the election.
“As somebody who had been wrongly accused of in- volvement in the Offa robbery by political opportunists and manipulators before their evil plots are now beginning to un- ravel in the court of law, I feel that a similar intrigue is being woven by those who are bent on sabotaging the 2023 elec- tion as the obvious outcome is not going their way.
“In this court case in which the CBN governor is being accused of terrorism through a suit which the Federal High Court has now described as frivolous and without con- crete evidence, my position is not to support Emefiele but to support democracy which is being targeted by the plotters.
“With all the due respect that I have for the DSS as a very professional security agency, I still find it very difficult to understand what led to the charges, why concrete evidence that will enable the court to take a good decision was not provided and why the department gave room for suspicion and speculations as the case file has gaping holes as noted by the Honourable Judge John Tsoho.
“One of the suspicions this case has raised is that it is part of a grand plot by those who want to undermine and sabotage the coming general election because their calculation on vote buying, rigging, and excessive use of money is falling apart.
The new CBN regulation on a cashless regime in which individuals can only with- draw N100,000 a week and N20,000 per day is sure to frustrate the partisan fraud- sters, mischievous politicians and unpatriotic elements who aim to win the election at all costs even when they are be- ing rejected at the polls.
“The CBN guidelines have derailed the plan of those who believe that they will not allow the ‘one man, one vote’ system in which the electorate freely choose their represent- atives in a fair and peaceful atmosphere.
“I urge the DSS, police, Nigeria Security and Civil De- fence Corps (NSCDC), the military, and all security agencies to be wary of political manip- ulators, despots, and anarch- ists who may want to use the case to derail the free and fair election regime that the new Electoral Act, Independ- ent National Electoral Com- mission (INEC) and President Muhammadu Buhari have promised.
“These same undesirable elements in the political pro- cess have attempted to use the National Assembly to scuttle the electoral process by frustrating the provisions on electronic transmission of results, use of Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), the new guidelines on currency change and cash withdrawal. They failed. They have also put pressure on the presidency to reverse some of these innov- ations.
They did not succeed. Now, they are resorting to the use of the judiciary.
“Their desperate resort to the manipulation of the judi- cial process and the use of se- curity agencies that may be in- advertently lending support to the plot without knowing the full implication and ramifica- tions should remind Nigerians of the antics of the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) which was used by anti-democratic elements during the military transition programme in the early 90s.
“I, hereby, urge the security agencies to distance them- selves from the anarchists and anti-democratic elements masquerading as democrats or political players.
“With the current situation in the country, all the citizens, national institutions, resid- ents, and foreign friends of Nigeria should commit to the goal of having free, fair, peace- ful and credible polls in 2023.
It is my prayer that next years election should provide a positive turning point for re- building, refocusing, resetting, redeeming, restructuring, re- positioning, and revamping our country.”
