Sahara Reporters have alleged that the president of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki has turned the the Emir of Ilorin into a mere houseboy and a puppet. The report alleged that "Increasingly, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, is
becoming a tool in the hands of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki,
SaharaReporters sources in Kwara State say."
Bukola Saraki is currently facing prosecution for alleged false declaration of assets and if found guilty could result in loss of his exalted position as the senate president. He is therefore using a variety of weapons to
fight his political battles, and the most prominent of his battle axes
are the Emir and State Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed, according to Sahara Reporters.
A recent victim of
the onslaught is Alhaji Ibrahim Oniye, Makaman Ilorin, who was
suspended by Governor Ahmed as Chairman of Kwara State Parent-Teachers
Association.
The suspension of Oniye, who was also barred by the Emir
from stepping into his palace, did not come as a shock to many people
in the state.
The man, although blind, is a reputed straight talker,
who is not afraid to speak the truth to those in authority. His
fearless nature was said to be one of the attributes that endeared him
to the late Emir Aliyu Abdulkadir, the 10th Emir of Ilorin, who
appointed him the first Makaman of the Ilorin Emirate in 1993.
Our
sources say what got Oniye into trouble was his decision to tell Alhaji
Sulu-Gambari that more people in Kwara are angry with Saraki and are
actually cursing him. Oniye was said to have told the Emir that those
cursing Saraki are mainly the poor, who see the Senate President as one
who has taken what belongs to them and continues to do so through
Governor Ahmed, who is seen as a stooge.
Alhaji Oniye was said to
have made this observation known to the Emir at a meeting called by the
latter to find out why huge financial outlays on prayers by Saraki
failed to stop the Supreme Court from halting the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT) from going ahead with the Senate President’s prosecution.
In
attendance at the meeting were prominent Muslim clerics and Ilorin
title holders, who preferred to deodorize the real situation until Oniye
spoke and told the meeting about the anger of Kwarans with Saraki.
The treatment of Oniye by the palace and the governor has sparked disquiet in the state and invited scrutiny of the Emir.
SaharaReporters
sources said that as word leaked that Alhaji Oniye had been suspended
and that his PTA chairmanship would be taken away, the political
establishment in Ilorin reversed the decision. By the time
SaharaReporters reached Alhaji Oniye, it was apparent he had ready-made
answers. Carefully picking his words, he denied he had not been
suspended and blamed the news on those that might be jealous of his many
titles and prestigious position within the Ilorin Emirate.
He also
said he was never removed as the PTA chairman at the state level. He
stressed that as he had never been “queried or indicted” for any
malfeasance, he couldn’t have been removed.
Asked if he had spoken
up for teachers whose salaries had remained unpaid in the state, he
waxed philosophical saying he is the “father of all” and then asked
rhetorically if there are no unpaid teachers in Osun, Bauchi, Kano and
other places.
When SaharaReporters pressed Alhaji Oniye regarding the
Saraki trial in Abuja, he gave interesting answers. First, he said it
was his duty not to allow the image of Ilorin to be dragged in the mud
by the trial since Saraki was Ilorin’s son, and later, that he would
advise people not to jubilate over Saraki’s predicament unless he is
pronounced guilty by the tribunal. When our reporter read this portion
of his statement to him he asked that it be taken out completely saying
he had no comment on Saraki because he doesn’t want to be dragged into
politics.
