Saraki may be excluded from national award nominees as Buhari’s cabal label him ‘Enemy of the Administration’
A power bloc, popularly called the cabal in the Presidential Villa may have reportedly succeeded in excluding the immediate past Senate President, Bukola Sarak, from those to be honoured by President Muhammadu Buhari with a national award during events to mark Nigeria’s 62nd independence anniversary.
Vondigest gathered that a Vice President, Senate President, and Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) are normally given national titles either on the assumption of office or when national awards are being generally bestowed on recipients.
According to The PUNCH, the committee set up by the Federal Government to recommend deserving Nigerians to the Presidency, enlisted Saraki, but he was denied a place on the list by a cabal in the presidency.
The Aso Villa power bloc reportedly labelled Saraki an “enemy of the administration,” arguing that the All Progressives Congress-led government should rather give it to other deserving Nigerians.
Kicking against the position of the cabal, another group argued that though Saraki’s opposition to some of the policy decisions taken by Buhari while serving as Senate President was well documented; he should not be denied a place in the 2022 honour list.
The group pointed out that Saraki’s successor, Senator Ahmad Lawan is also set to bag the prestigious award next week.
According to the group, Bukola Saraki is more popular with the people and is credited to have achieved more while in office.
The group stated that the former Senate President deserves the award based on his achievement in office and that the award should not be seen to be politicised by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
However, the Aso Villa power bloc prevailed and Saraki is now reportedly set to miss out unless a dramatic twist in fate plays out.
Speaking to Punch, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) urged Buhari to right the error before the date of the event, adding that the Vice President and Senate President are usually given the honour of the Grand Commander Order of the Niger (GCON).
He said, “by protocols and convention, Vice President and Senate President are usually conferred with the national honour of GCON. I want to believe that the President’s attention was not drawn to it. He can still amend the situation by including his name before the date of the award because this is beyond politics.”
This online platform recalls that former Senate Presidents, Pius Anyim and David Mark, as well as ex- CJN, Walter Onnoghen all had the GCON conferred on them in compliance with the convention.
Meanwhile, former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has stated that his silence on the recent happenings in the People’s Democratic Party does not translate to him opposing the party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Saraki, in a series of tweets on his official Twitter account on Saturday evening, noted that he had been on his annual vacation, and had returned on Friday. He said he headed straight to the celebration of the 35th year celebration of the creation of Akwa-Ibom State.
Source- PUNCH
