The Chairman, Senate Ad hoc Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Dino Melaye, has said he escorted Mrs. Toyin Saraki, wife of Senate President Bukola Saraki, to face the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s interrogators as “as a private investigator and an anti-corruption crusader”.
In a statement on Friday, entitled ‘Stand up for what you... believe in regardless of the popularity or acceptance of your belief’, Melaye stated that he had no regret for his action.
The Senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly added that he followed Mrs. Saraki to the EFCC to find out the extent of culpability of his “sister and friend” since she was not told the content of the petition against her.
Melaye claimed that he was arrested 14 times in one year by the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan as a result of his commitment to seeing a country where his unborn grandchildren would dwell in a nation where life was already structured for them.
He said, “The invitation of Mrs. Toyin Saraki by the EFCC, however, is not a criminal indictment. I will not abandon my friend because of mere EFCC invitation. I also went there as a private investigator and an anti-corruption crusader to find out the extent of culpability of my sister and friend since she was not told the content of the petition against her before her appearance before the EFCC.
“I will start by saying that my struggle to fight corruption in Nigeria was not an assignment or a paid job. It was borne out of passion and desire to build a new Nigeria where justice, equity and egalitarianism becomes a new order.
“I was arrested 14 times in one year by the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan because I desire a country where my grandchildren (that I may never know) will dwell in a nation where life is already structured for them. I cannot throw away my sacrifice of being beaten and my clothes torn on the floor of the House of Representatives because of fighting against corruption. I have come too far to compromise my stand on corruption and corrupt persons.
“I make bold here to challenge anybody who will controvert the truth that I have never done any government contract, either at the LG, state or federal levels. It is not criminal to do so, but he who must come to equity must come with clean hands. I have made sacrifices to the extent of escaping assassination.
“Will my fellow citizens forget all these too quickly on the altar of loyalty to friends, family and loved ones? My loyalty to friends is not only when the going is good. I will be there even when the roads are rough.”
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