Biodun Baba, the 37-year-old primary school teacher who was taken to court for allegedly abusing Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, says he has no regret over his actions.
In an interview with Punch, Baba denied abusing Saraki, saying he only commented on a Facebook post by Akogun Oyedepo, the factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the State.
According to Baba, Oyedepo had made a Facebook status update about Saraki being discharged and acquitted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, and he commented saying “that if somebody believes that he is above everybody, he is not above the judgment of God. If Saraki has been discharged by the CCT, has he been discharged by God?”
The comments particularly infuriated Abdulazeez Azeez, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC_, who went to the elders of the party to report Baba, saying he abused the Senate President.
On another occasion, Baba said he shared a Facebook post titled ‘Presidency, Osinbajo replies Saraki on Magu issue’.
Asked if he regretted the action, he said: “No, I do not regret my action.”
“Some people lied against me, saying I wrote a letter of apology, in an attempt to swing the case in their direction.
“A letter was hurriedly written a night before the day I was to appear in court alleging that I had apologised. The letter went viral and people shared it on social media.
“Unfortunately, when I appeared in court the next day, they did not come with that letter, I was expecting them to say in the court that I had apologised but that did not happen.
“Even the online medium that published the fake apology letter refused to present the actual letter that I allegedly wrote and signed. At no time did I write any apology letter. I posted the message on my Facebook page based on my conviction.
“I expect my children to follow my example as I believe that I did the right thing. I was guided by the provisions of the law and I did not go outside the law to do anything. We should put government on their toes.”
Baba also said three days after he was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), he was called to the state education secretariat and informed that he had been fired from his job.
“I got a call from my headmaster that the Secretary of the Local Government Area Education Primary School had said he should fire me.
“I immediately went to the secretary to confirm whether it was true or not. When I got there, he confirmed that the secretary was asked to fire me. My parents and family members were worried that they would fire me from my job. They took me to Oniwa to beg him.
“Initially, I refused to follow them, but they prevailed on me. At the end of the day, he agreed to look into the case.”
Baba said he was grateful to the over 30 lawyers that came to represent him in court free of charge.
“We had about 30 lawyers who represented me on the first day that I appeared in court. The lead lawyer is Mr Sambo Muritala,” he said.
“The legal team appeared pro bono. We did not pay them anything. We got in touch with one of them and he mobilised the rest.
“Even those who were not in court rushed from wherever they were to appear in court. Some of them were not dressed in their regalia; they were in the court to support their colleagues who handled my case.
“There was no way I could have afforded their money if they had charged me (and) if they did not come to help me, I would have either been remanded in the Oke-Kura Prison or Mandala Prison.”
