Bukola Saraki, Nigerian Senate president held a #WorldPressConference Wednesday to address Tuesday’s invasion of the National Assembly by armed security agents alleged to be operatives from the State Security Service.
The conference which lasted about an hour with the presence of principal officers of NASS condemned the siege, saying the tt’s “an assault on democracy.”
“It is a matter of record that yesterday, lawmakers and staff of the National Assembly were prevented from entering the National Assembly Complex by heavily armed security agents of the Department of State Services (DSS). All entries to the Complex were blocked,” Saraki said.
The Senate president who praised members of NASS for their approach towards the invasion said: “The rain fell and the sun rose and Nigerians stood their ground in defense of democracy.”
Saraki was particular about Boma Goodhead, a member of the house of representative who “…looked at the security operatives in the eye and dared them to shoot her.”
Security operatives “cannot be recklessly deployed” on our institutions, the damage control so far does not address how this incident happened in the first place.
The takeover was being planned “for months,” says Saraki, calling for an investigation: “very serious questions remained unanswered, only a full investigation will give us answers to this.”
Saraki doubles down on his message that President Buhari’s government is abusing state powers. In his words, “We did not fight for instruments of state to be used to oppress Nigerians.”
When asked if he will run for President in 2019, Saraki said: “when the time is right I will talk on that issue.”
And when asked if he’ll step down as Senate president after his defection from the ruling party Saraki responded – I was not given this position, I was elected.
Click here to read more on Saraki’s statements.