Senate President Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki is in the eye of the storm these days. Too many contentious issues on the national scene spiral towards this former governor of Kwara State. Saraki sat down exclusively with Daily Trust on Sunday for an hour and discussed a wide range of issues. Excerpts:

Why did you suspend Senator Ali Ndume for six months when according to some lawyers the rules provide for no more than two weeks’ suspension?

Again, we followed the process. He came on a matter of privilege. The matter was referred to Ethics Committee, which is our body that looks into behaviours, petitions, etc. They reviewed it; we all went and made our case before them, they listened to everybody and reached their conclusion. They submitted their report, it was debated, and a decision was taken. I do not know of any law or any rule that was disregarded by the Senate. Due process was followed. It is not the first time that a member of the Senate or the House was suspended. I think right now there is a member of the House who is on suspension for a year or so, so when people get up and say nobody can be suspended for more than two weeks...Of course there are always interests. If I am from Borno South, of course I want my representative back but if you give a committee an assignment and they do it and Senate takes a decision based on it, I think we should respect that. 

But by raising the issue and getting it referred to Ethics committee, Ndume gave Dino Melaye and you a chance to clear yourselves of the allegations so you should be grateful to him.

No, I don’t think so because the issue of the car, when it came up, the management issued a statement. When government appointees buy an official car, it is not their car. Government provides a car to you by virtue of your job. The National Assembly Management said no car was imported in Senator Saraki’s name, and Senator Ndume knew that. Even if you think that your colleague is not qualified, did he call him and say ‘Colleague, is it true that you don’t have a genuine certificate?’ There are many ways of addressing these issues. Coming to the [Senate] floor escalated the whole issue. What the committee was saying was did you check this thing very well before you came to the floor and said your privilege was... So it is not that he gave me an opportunity to prove it because the management had already said that no car was brought in under my name, and Ndume knew it. He brought the issue to embarrass both myself and the institution. I am not an importer. I don’t agree with you that he gave us a chance to clear ourselves because we had already been cleared.

So where is this car right now?

We will only know where it is when it is delivered but honestly, for now, I don’t know where it is.

Are you likely to forgive Ndume because people are even demonstrating to the gate of the National Assembly?

I wish I have all these powers. I am only the presiding officer. I was not the one who approved his suspension with a memo, like they do in the Executive Branch, so you cannot send another memo to me and say, ‘Please review it.’ He was suspended at the Senate plenary, so all the senators must sit again and look at it. All I can say is that this Senate has a large heart. We used to have dissenting voices before but we are now back as one family. Sooner or later we may have a political solution somewhere and Ndume may be back in the fold.