Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar

There is a huge difference between prosecution and persecution. I am all for prosecuting the corrupt, but I believe it is wrong to use the instruments of state to persecute political opponents, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said.

Atiku who was reacting to the trial of the immediate past president of the Senate,  senator Bukola Saraki in a facebook message wrote: “Ordinarily, there’s nothing wrong in prosecuting the immediate past Senate President. He himself has indicated his preparedness to have his day in court.  We however hope that he will be indeed be prosecuted and not persecuted”.

According to him,  “Dr. Bukola Saraki, the immediate past Senate President, is one of the most investigated politicians in Nigeria. He has been investigated and prosecuted all the way to the Supreme Court and has prevailed against his accusers. It was expected that that should have been the end of the matter.”

Atiku noted that the revival of previously investigated cases, and the fact that Dr. Saraki was politically opposed to the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari seems to give strong grounds for objective bystanders to conclude that his current travails have gone beyond prosecution and are now tending towards persecution.

“The laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are made for all and we fought for democracy so that the powers of the state would not be used to suborn tyranny and oppression,” he added

He however urged Saraki to stand firm and take solace in the fact Nigerians still hold the constitution higher than any other authority.