Saraki’s aide criticizes El-Rufai for his remarks on restructuring

Former Senate President Bukola Saraki’s media advisor, Yusuph Olaniyonu, has criticized remarks made by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai that his principal thwarted the APC’s restructuring plan when he (Saraki) was in office as the head of the chamber.

In an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, El-Rufai accused the former governor of Kwara State of thwarting the APC’s restructuring agenda by amending the constitution.

Olaniyonu, the head of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki media office, responded to the charge by saying in a statement that El-assertions Rufai’s were untrue and “indicative of how the Kaduna State governor is fond of fabricating excuses and swapping blame to justify his failure and that of his party.”

The statement, which was made public early on Saturday, stated that Saraki had been out of office as Senate President for roughly 44 months, and that during that time, “El Rufai and his party have the Senate President and the type of Senate they want, yet they have not done anything to restructure Nigeria.”

The so-called “good” report of his committee has not yet been converted into legislation or received the president’s approval. He also said that his committee had written laws for reorganization.

El-Rufai was also urged in the statement to “inform Nigerians whether Saraki is also the one who is responsible for the high degree of insecurity that has escalated from only the North-East to a problem that has now encompassed the entire Nigeria under the APC government,” it said.

We want him to say whether the former Senate President is to blame for the nation’s collapsing economy, spiraling inflation, high cost of living, extremely low standard of living nationwide, widespread poverty, the change in the value of the Naira from N200 to N740 per dollar, the high rate of youth unemployment, the high rate of oil theft, the alarming rate of government borrowing, and the high rate of disunity.

The statement said, in part, “The attention of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office has been drawn to the interview granted on Wednesday by Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State, where in his customary tantrum-throwing and false-claim-making style, he claimed that Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as Senate President between 2015 and 2019, frustrated the restructuring plan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) through a constitutional amendment process.

“This assertion is not only untrue, but it also shows how the Kaduna State governor enjoys shifting blame and offering justifications for his own failure and that of his party.

“El-Rufai asserted that he and his party prepared a restructuring report and engaged with the National Assembly leadership to amend the constitution in 2018, but as of February 2016, more than two years earlier, the 8th National Assembly had started the process by establishing committees in both chambers. Members of the committees traveled the whole nation, producing reports and proposed legislation.

It continued, “By 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari had started to assent legislation for constitutional amendments, as El Rufai said. 24 of the 32 Constitution Bills that the National Assembly was considering received the necessary number of votes on both houses’ floors. Additionally, only 12 of the 24 measures received the necessary support before being referred to the state Houses of Assembly.

The same El-Rufai was one of the governors that prevented the state Houses of Assembly from passing the majority of the laws. In the end, the President signed five of the twelve Bills that were presented to him in 2018 but declined to do so with seven others.

Even yet, it would be intriguing to see how the governor of Kaduna State has carried out significant restructuring Bills approved by the Saraki-led Eighth National Assembly and enacted into law, including as the Financial Autonomy for State Legislature and Judiciary Act.

“The restructuring agenda must be an afterthought or a less important one on the hierarchy of issues on the APC’s plate if the party was elected to power in 2015 and El Rufai and his allies were talking about amending the constitution to implement restructuring three years later, when the government had less than a year left in its term.

It should be emphasized that 44 months have passed since Saraki stepped down as Senate President, and that throughout that time El Rufai and his party have had the Senate President and sort of Senate they want. Despite this, they have done nothing to reorganize Nigeria. The so-called “good” report of his committee has not yet been converted into legislation or received the president’s approval. He also said that his committee had written laws for reorganization.

“El Rufai should inform Nigerians as to whether Saraki is also to blame for the high degree of insecurity that has spread from the Northeast to the whole country of Nigeria under the APC government.

We want to know if the former Senate President is to blame for Nigeria’s collapsing economy, spiraling inflation, high cost of living, extremely low standard of living nationwide, widespread poverty, the change in the value of the Naira from N200 to N740 per dollar, the high rate of youth unemployment, the high rate of oil theft, the alarming rate of government borrowing, and the high rate of disunity.

Additionally, the governor of Kaduna State was urged in the statement to “explain why the APC administration to which he belongs has not been able to give decent governance to Nigerians and why the party is straining to appeal to voters to reward their failure.”

“As he goes from one television station to another, shouting ugly threats, hurling insults, and spitting falsehoods, we can see that in addition to his role as state governor, he has also taken on the role of spokesman for a faltering presidential campaign.

The day of judgment is rapidly approaching. Nigerians won’t reward failure or swallow cheap falsehoods, it said.