From Lola Ajagbe, Atlanta Georgia/
Friday’s Supreme Court ruling on Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has been condemned by a presidential aspirant and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Mr Omoyele Sowore, as a charade.
The court ruled last Friday that Saraki had no case to answer before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the apex court in Abuja upheld Saraki’s appeal and discharged him of the remaining three charges against him in the case of false declaration of assets.
Sowore, however, said that the Supreme Court acquittal of Saraki followed the precedence of former Governor James Ibori’s clearance by Nigeria’s judiciary.
Insisting that there is no better time to take Nigeria back from bad governance and oppression than now, Sowore said, “This is the best time. People need someone who can make the country better. No religion or ethnic barrier.”
Sowore spoke at a town hall meeting in Marietta, Atlanta, Georgia same day Saraki’s judgment was given. He said that after the judiciary in Nigeria dismissed the money laundering charges against Ibori, the British court tried him and found him guilty and jailed him.
He urged Nigerians to vote right in order to “take Nigeria back from backwardness” hence his movement’s slogan, ‘Take it Back’.
Sowore added that the mass exodus of Nigerians from their country to other countries to become second-class citizens was due to the unchecked corruption at home.
He added that he would tackle this as President of Nigeria next year.
“If the Titanic is taken to Nigeria, and the people are asked to board it, within two hours, it would still be full, even senators would board because Nigeria is being governed by people who hate Nigeria,” he said, adding that oppression had been “part of us for too long that we fall in love with our oppressors”.
Sowore also made a case for diaspora voting.
“You can drive nice cars that are heading in no direction, wear nice clothes to cover your worries but you know you have no place here. You can’t blame the Americans; they are even nice because they tolerate us. We can’t even tolerate ourselves… Everybody is holding on to religion because the government is a destroyer of hope. We are also holding on to soccer; we base our hopes of foreign soccer clubs; we hold on to music, all sorts of dance. We must hold on to something. No electricity, no infrastructure, you buy expensive cars where you have no good roads to drive them. Nigerians are proud to showcase their nice houses in Dubai… Nigerian money shift to London, Atlanta, etc, we tell this stories all the time not because you don’t know it, but to refresh your memories.
“If 500 people die in Nigeria today, Nigeria will move to the next story but if seven people die in France today, Nigeria would be the first to mourn, lower their flags. How much longer can your memories accommodate bad news? No matter how far we run away from Nigeria, we are tied to Nigeria. We have to bond together and take it back from oppressors. ”
He urged Nigerians abroad to call their families at home to vote right by voting for him. He recalled that Nigerians in the diaspora are responsible for many family expenses at home including provision of borehole, electricity generating set, education, health care, yet when the government is naming investors, they are never mentioned.
“Diaspora voting, during Nigeria’s elections, should have been the priority of any reasonable government, but they don’t want that because they can’t bribe you. That is why we should come together.
“One of the things I would do as president of Nigeria is diaspora voting.”
Sowore, who said he would announce his political party soon, solicited financial support for his Movement.
“Nigeria’s space to do well has been closed down,” he said. “If you go home now with a proposal, what is in it for them. If you say you want to help the country, they will look at you as if you are crazy…Your proposal would later be given to someone else to execute based on their arrangement. If you want Nigeria to be okay, you must invest in our Movement. We have to imbibe the culture of investing in what we believe in, even Nigerians donated to Obama’s campaign, yet he didn’t do anything for Nigeria. He did not even visit Nigeria. Trump is even better than Obama…”
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