President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, July 1, 2016 tendered an unreserved apology to the Nigerian Senate over statements by his special assistant on prosecution, Mr. Okoi Obono-Oblo that the senate lacked the powers to summon the country’s attorney-general.
Buhari’s minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami was summoned to the senate to explain why he dragged the senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki, deputy senate president, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu and two others to court over alleged forgery of the senate standing order, internal rules of the Nigerian senate
President Buhari, speaking through his special assistant on National Assembly matters for the senate, Senator Ita Enang faulted the position of the the attorney general of the federation, AGF, stressing that as an appointee of the president, he was equally answerable to the senate.
It would be recalled that the AGF, for the second time on Thursday, June 29, 2016 shunned the summons of Nigerian senate on the matter of the alleged forgery of the senate standing order.
Buhari’s aide on public prosecution, Okoi Obono-Oblo, who works in the attorney-general’s office, appeared before the Senator David Umaru-led senate committee on judiciary and legal matters had lampooned the senate, saying that the red chambers lacked the powers to summon the minister of justice over a matter that was already in a competent court of law.
Addressing journalists a day after the spite on the senate, Ita Enang said that there was no way the attorney general of the federation would not respect the senators because the lawmakers screened and cleared the ministers as ministerial nominees.
