The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Tijani Usman, tells TOBI AWORINDE that the ongoing assets declaration trial of Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is orchestrated by a political cabal
What is your position on the ongoing Code of Conduct Tribunal, which the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, is facing for alleged corruption crimes?
The issue is not one to be debated or discussed upon. We have always stated it; we even led an anti-corruption protest to the (Presidential) Villa and we were received by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina. We presented our position that we will give our maximum support to President Buhari on his anti-corruption crusade.
We are not saying people should not be probed. But if we are doing so, we should do it very holistically. There are lots of people that have embezzled money in time past. We are not holding brief for Saraki at all. If he is found wanting or guilty, he should face the music and suffer the consequences. But sometimes, when one speaks, it is taken the wrong way or misrepresented to mean something else. I don’t want to be misinterpreted. We are for anti-corruption war. Anyone that is found wanting should be brought to book. But there must be a stop to cabalism and godfatherhood, and due process must be followed.
But there were reports saying that your association would hold protests against Saraki’s probe.
There was no such plan for a peaceful protest in support of Saraki. There was no plan at all for that. That should be discarded; that is what I am saying.
So why did the NANS South-West zonal coordinator, Okikiola Ogunsola, come out to say that your position applies to you alone and should not be seen as the view of all Nigerian students?
Firstly, nobody is allowed to speak on behalf of the organisation. He is just a coordinator; he just emerged the winner (of an election) and has not yet been inaugurated. Hence, he has no audacity to speak on behalf of the association. Secondly, even if he has taken a stand on that, the information we gave was misconstrued, thus he equally should come out quickly and say discard his. But he does not have any right to speak on behalf of the association. We are not for Saraki; what we are for is justice to prevail.
What makes you believe Saraki’s trial was orchestrated by a political cabal?
We are looking at it from that perspective because if you say you are probing somebody and you are doing so based on assets not declared as far back as 13 years, then I say there are other (former) governors who have such as well. A good example of this is an ex-governor of Kogi State. Even during the primary (election) stage, he was asked to go to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to get a clearance. But that was ignored and he went ahead to get the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket to contest as the flag bearer. Don’t you think this goes against due process in the fight against corruption?
What we are saying is that we know and are aware that there are a lot of governors that should also be brought to book. (Former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi) Amaechi should equally not be left out of it. Others in the just concluded administration can also be probed. Not just this past administration, previous ones can also be probed. That is why I used the word ‘holistically.’ What we are fighting for is not the issue or the fact that Saraki should not be probed. He should be probed and if he is found wanting, then he should leave. But we want the leadership of the Senate to remain stable so that Nigerians can get the dividends of democracy, which is what they have worked for.
Whether they like it or not, Nigerian students cannot sit aloof. History has it that in 1999, Nigerian students, in collaboration with organised labour and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, fought dictatorship to a standstill. Thus, if something is going wrong, we will not fold our arms and watch as if we cannot comment. We just have to speak up. We are always out to save national democracy.
Before and after President Buhari was elected, he said his party members would not be shielded in his anti-corruption crusade. The President’s supporters argue that Saraki’s trial is evidence of this. Do you also see it from that perspective?
Yes, I see it from that perspective. But he (Buhari) shouldn’t be picking one out of many. We have thousands; we should be able to pick at least five or 10 if we must be very objective at the same time. That is the way I look at it.
You say you are fighting godfatherhood, but Saraki has been accused of being a godfather in his home state, Kwara. Wouldn’t it be a double standard to overlook one for the other?
I am not conversant with his politics in Kwara. I am only conversant with national politics. So don’t drag me back to his political antecedent in his state. I am speaking based on what we can see in national politics, which is obvious to everyone.
First and foremost, can’t the chief executive of the Code of Conduct Bureau or the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal be tried for deceiving Nigerians all this while? Don’t you think there is something wrong about that? This issue would have been addressed and laid to rest 13 years ago to this moment. You don’t think it is political?
Who are the members of this cabal?
I don’t want to mention them, but I know that there is a cartel in the system. When you mention now, people will read meaning into it and the next thing is, ‘You are fighting this person. You are supporting that person.’
Saraki’s moves to get an injunction from a court of equal jurisdiction and later to get one from an Appeal Court have been questioned and it is argued that he was trying to evade justice. What is your comment on that?
I have no comment on that because I don’t know at all if he went to a court of equal jurisdiction with the CCT. I am not aware. Hence, I don’t know and cannot speak on that.
There have been calls for Saraki’s resignation. Do you think those calls are justified?
That is public opinion. If that is the decision of the National Assembly, good and fine. And if it is not, so be it. What we are simply saying is that dividends of democracy should be given to the people and the Senate should remain stable. Conflicts should be resolved so that issues can be discussed and we can forge ahead. We are not saying people found wanting for corruption should not be probed; they should be probed. Asking me whether he should resign; I am not a member of the Senate who will tell him to resign; I am equally not a member that will tell him to remain there. Definitely, there will always be those that are for and those that are against. In my own case, I am neither; I just want to remain neutral in the system for now.
As a body fighting for the welfare of students, why is NANS taking up Saraki’s case?
In whatever we are doing, like I have said to you, we want dividends of democracy given to the Nigerian populace. I further stated that Nigerian students in 1999 were part of those that fought for democracy to come into place. So if there is a problem in the system, Nigerian students should equally be able to comment, except if people want to shy away from the fact that NANS should comment on issues as such. If we could fight for democracy in 1999 and nobody questioned us for doing so, and now they are asking why we are speaking, wouldn’t you say such sentiments are political?
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