By Ahmed 'Lateef

Against the backdrop of the threat to recall the President of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, from the upper chamber, a forum , the Kwara Consensus Group in Ilorin yesterday took a swipe at those behind the threat.

It said the recall threat was laughable as those who "flew the kite" were merely seeking undeserved attention going by their reckless and wild allegations.

The Herald recalls that a group, Kwara Youth, at a press conference in Ilorin at the weekend, threatened to Saraki over the lingering face-off between the Senate and the Presidency.

But a joint statement issued in Ilorin yesterday by the Kwara Consensus Group and signed by Yinka Dallas (Kwara South), Katun Ibrahim (Kwara North), Mayaki Yusuf (Kwara Central), dismissed the threat, saying the masterminds and they and their pay-masters lack the political clout to even win a councillorship election in the state.

The statement said the threat does not worth dignifying but decided to respond because of the seriousness of the issues it raised, which may hoodwink some non-Kwarans to believe in the allegation.  

It noted that the group, which issued the recall threat, comprised few disgruntled individuals with no pedigree and lacked capacity to speak for either the youths or the people of the State. 

The group said Saraki has been doing a marvellous job of leading the upper chamber by balancing all the tendencies and interests while bills and motions passed so far surpassed the record of the previous senate.

The Kwara Consensus Group said, "We have just been alerted to a very irresponsible statement issued by a faceless group which styles itself as Kwara Youth Stakeholders Forum. In it, the group threatened to spearhead the recall of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki from the Senate for being an encumbrance to the federal government and for not, in their own words, "feeling the impact of having a Senate President from our State.

"Ordinarily, we do not think it is proper to dignify such a group of misfits and no bodies with a response. These days, anyone with an access to a computer and internet can make wild and reckless allegations. 

"But we have elected to respond to this group because of the seriousness of the issues it raised and because some non-Kwarans may believe that there are elements of truth in its statement.

"Firstly, we wish to state that the Kwara Youth Stakeholders Forum is a mere paper-tiger with no clout whatsoever in Kwara State. Until they issued their obnoxious statement, no one had heard of the group, which as it emerged, is made up of few disgruntled individuals with no pedigree.  They therefore do not speak for the youths or people of Kwara State. 

"Secondly, they lack rudimentary understanding of how democracy works in our nation. Their statement reveals their ignorance of the true powers and function of the Senate. To enlighten them a little, the Senate is not a rubber stamp. It is constitutionally empowered to serve as check to the executive through its oversight functions, which it has done to various degrees over the years. 

"The current Senate President, Dr Saraki has stated severally that he has no personal issues with the President or Acting President, but leading the Senate to play the role envisaged for it by the framers of our constitution. To buttress this, we recall that all the ministerial nominees of Mr President were cleared by the Senate, despite the serious protests from the PDP.

"Over the years, we have witnessed disagreements and tension between the executive and legislative arms. There is nothing new about this and it is not exclusive to the 8th Senate led by Dr. Saraki. In fact, this should be the norm in any thriving democracy, suggesting that both arms of government are alive to their responsibilities. 

"If anything, we believe that the current Senate President has done a marvellous job of leading the upper chamber, balancing all the tendencies and interests, while ensuring that more bills and motions are passed than at any other time, at this same point in, in the Senate. 

"There is therefore no basis to fault the leadership of the Senate by Dr Saraki. We true Kwarans are happy with his leadership style and especially proud of the development he has attracted to our state by being in the Senate.

"We actually believe the 'threat' of recall by this group is laughable, for they and their pay-masters lack the political clout to even win a councillorship election in Kwara State, not to talk of recalling the number 3 citizen in Nigeria. 

"Finally, we call on the media not to taken in by groups such as the one that issued the statement, which are merely seeking undeserved attention with reckless and wild allegations".