An aide of the Kwara state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed has said that Nigeria’s senate president, Bukola Saraki, has accused the governor of leaving him vulnerable and open to an attack by an irate mob as he arrived for Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers yesterday, September 24, at the Eid Prayer Grounds in Ilorin, Kwara state.
Following news reports that Saraki, was attacked at the prayer ground during theprayers to mark the Eid-el-Kabir in Ilorin the embattled former governor has denied the reports.
The senate president was reportedly stoned with rocks and water sachets in Ilorin, as he arrived for prayers.
Bukola Saraki arriving for Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers
According to Sahara Reporters, Governor Ahmed who confided in aides and the traditional ruler of Ilorin said that the Saraki made himself the target of an angry crowd because he failed to listen to security reports and advice urging him to stay away from Ilorin during the Sallah holiday.
A security source who corroborated the governor’s statement said security agencies in the state had been aware of people’s anger against the governor and Saraki, especially as information circulated among residents about the size of the senator’s assets and personal wealth.
He added that many people in the state, including unemployed youth and workers who are owed arrears of salaries, felt that the Saraki family had exploited them for years.
A reporter who spoke SaharaReporters said rumors circulated widely that Governor Ahmed had given the senate president N1 billion from Federal bailout funds which was meant to clear several months of salary arrears to workers in the state.
One of Governor Ahmed’s aide said he expressed his concerns to the governor that he had seen piles of stones hidden in drainages around the prayer ground, the aide of the governor in turn told Saraki.
Saraki who reportedly ignored all the security warnings ordered Governor Ahmed to arrange a series of high profile events for him in the state capital.
It was gathered that, a night before the Sallah prayers, the Kwara state governor told Saraki that he would not attend Eid prayers at the Ilorin on grounds of adverse security reports. Saraki was not deterred, instead, he ordered his aides to scout the length and breadth of Ilorin and surrounding towns in order to mobilize a huge crowd to show up and sing his praises at the prayer grounds.
The trial of the senate president commenced at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Abuja, on Tuesday, September 22. He pleaded not guilty to the 13 count charge brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CBB).