Saraki, ?in a statement he personally signed and released to the media shortly after he was arraigned ?along three others yesterday said that “what has become clear is that there is now a government within the government of President Buhari who has seized the apparatus of Executive powers to pursue their nefarious agenda.?”

He also announced his readiness to be sent to prison for his stand in defence of democracy. Saraki said his trial was part of the continuous persecution by some persons in and outside government. He said: “?This latest onslaught on the Legislature represents a clear and present danger to the democracy Nigerians fought hard to win and preserve. The suit filed on behalf of the Federal government suggests that perhaps some forces in the Federal Republic have not fully embraced the fact that the Senate’s rules and procedures govern how the legislative body adjudicates and resolves its own disputes.
“Let it be abundantly clear, both as a citizen and as a foremost legislator, I will continue to rise above all the persecution and distraction that have been visited on me. In the words of Martin Luther King Junior, ‘the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at a time of challenge and controversy’”.
The Senate president ?”will remain true and committed to the responsibilities that my citizenship and my office impose on me. Without doubt, the highest of those responsibilities is the steadfast refusal to surrender to the subversion of our democracy and the desecration of the Senate.”
On his readiness to go to jail in defence of democracy, Saraki said: “This is a cross I am prepared to carry. If yielding to the nefarious agenda of a few individuals who are bent on undermining our democracy and destabilising the Federal Government to satisfy their selfish interests is the alternative to losing my personal freedom, let the doors of jails be thrown open and I shall be a happy guest.” ?

According to Saraki, the trial is an attempt to divert attention from the important issue of delivering good governance to the expectation of Nigerians who are in dire need of policies that will take them away from deepening economic hardship.”

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