By Ahmad Umar
Senator representing West Senatorial District of Nasarawa State, North central Nigeria, Abdullahi Adamu has described Senate President Bukola Saraki as “a drowning man” who is clutching at straws to salvage his dwindling reputation.
Senator Adamu who was reacting to Senator Saraki’s allegation that he (Adamu) is “a mischievous liar”, stated that the Senate President actually “turned reality on its head”, “because he (Saraki) is the actual liar”.
Senator Saraki had in a recent statement issued by his media aide, alleged that the former Nasarawa State governor’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari was half-hearted and only prompted by Senator Adamu’s imminent prosecution for alleged corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Senate president was quoted as saying, “I have deliberately ignored the antics of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, especially his constant media attack on me and the Senate since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) dusted his file on alleged case of corruption and also went ahead to arraign his son in court”, adding that “He (Adamu) feels the best way to play his self-survival game and ingratiate himself to the government in order to save his skin is for him to be seen to be fighting Saraki….”
However, reacting to Senator Saraki’s allegations during an interaction with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, Senator Adamu maintained that the Senate president’s attack on him “only goes to show the extent to which he (Saraki) is desperately struggling to salvage his bad situation”.
According to Adamu: “He (Saraki) is being dishonest about this EFCC talk simply because he hopes to smear me in order to burnish his own diminishing reputation. For the avoidance of doubt, this case that was in the Federal High Court in Lafia was discharged since 28thof June, 2016, and the Senate president is very much aware of this. However, because he sees me as one of those who have contributed to the current heat he’s receiving, he mischievously turned the reality on its head”.
Commenting on Senator Saraki’s reference to an EFCC case against his son, Senator Adamu said: “My son was legitimately awarded a contract by the Kano State Government, and he executed that 100%, including payment of VAT and other charges. But somehow, he had a disagreement with one of his partners who then petitioned the EFCC.
“I wouldn’t want to go into the details of that case because it’ll be prejudicial to the pending matter in court. But the most important thing here is that this case has nothing to do with me, and my son who is an adult is in a position to defend himself”, the senator explained.
Adamu, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, reiterated that “clutching at straws won’t help him (Saraki) especially now that the entire nation has seen through his chicanery and guile”, stressing that “I’ve always told the leadership of our party that the Senate President will defect no matter what anyone does; so for us, there’s no big deal about his defection”.
On the Senate president’s rumoured presidential ambition, the ex Nasarawa governor also that “as a Nigerian, he (Saraki) has a right to contest for any position he deems fit, but good counselling would’ve dictated to him the need to bid his time, especially because he’s still young”, stressing that there is absolutely no basis for anyone to make comparison between Saraki and President Buhari.
