DISCUSSION TOPIC

President Mahammadu Buhari at the weekend travelled to

Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, on a two-day official visit
that would end on Wednesday. Following the Presidents visit, it
was reported that the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo,
had cancelled his proposed visit to India, scheduled to start on
Monday, after realizing that he and the President would be out of
the country at the same time.

The absence of the first two citizens would have created the
chance for the No.3 man, Senate President Bukola Saraki, to act
as President and preside over the affairs of the country for some
days. This, sources believe, would have cast aspersions on the
integrity of the presidency.

Though the Presidency has refuted this claim, the public

perception is that the Executive is not comfortable with the
Senate Presidency of Bukola Saraki over his asset declaration
imbroglio.

The question then is, if it is a moral stain on the office of the

president for Senator Saraki to act as President in the absence of
the first two citizens, what is the moral justification for him to
preside over the affairs of the Senate, making laws for about 170
million Nigerians with a millstone around his neck?