One year after Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu emerged as senate president and deputy senate president respectively, the federal government has filed charges against the two men at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, over the alleged forgery of the senate standing rules.
In July 2015, five senators alleged that the 2015 standing rules of the senate which was used to elect Saraki and Ekweremadu a month before was a forged document.
The police was asked to investigate the allegations and a report was submitted to the office of the attorney general of the federation by the police. At the time, President Buhari had not even appointed an attorney-general.
Since then, there has been silence on the federal government side on the future of the case. The five senators – Abu Ibrahim, Kabir Marafa, Ajayi Boroffice, Olugbenga Ashafa and Suleiman Hunkuyi – were in court asking it to remove Saraki and Ekweremadu, but that other case has been grinding slowly.
Suddenly, the federal government woke up on June 10, 2016, and charged Saraki and Ekweremadu to court on allegations of criminal conspiracy and forgery. Also charged were the immediate past clerk to the National Assembly, Abubakar Maikasuwa and the deputy clerk to the National Assembly, Benedict Efeturi.
In its particulars of offence to count one, the federal government alleged that the accused persons committed the offence of Conspiracy, punishable under Section 97 (1) of the Penal Code Law.
The federal government further alleged that Saraki, Ekweremadu and others caused the standing order to be believed as the genuine standing orders, 2015 and circulated same for use during the inauguration of the 8th Senate of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Law.
The charge sheet dated 10th June 2016 was signed by D.E Kaswe Esq., Principal State Counsel on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and backed by an Affidavit of Completion of Investigation deposed to at the Federal High Court Registry, Abuja on the same date by Okara Neji Jonah, a Litigation Officer at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.
Okara maintained that “the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID) has concluded investigation of the case and has forwarded the file to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation for Prosecution”.
Listed as witnesses in the suit, which has been assigned to Hon. Justice Yusuf Haliru for hearing are, Senator Othman Hunkuyi, Senator Ahmed Lawan, Senator Abdullahi Gumel, Senator Kabiru Marafa, Senator Robert Boroffice, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, and Senator Abu Ibrahim, all members of the Senate Unity Forum (SUF), the group of Senators that pushed unsuccessfully for the election of Senator Lawan as the Senate President.
Other witnesses include former Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, currently Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang; Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Dan’Azumi Doma, and Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Senator Ojudu Babafemi.
Hattip to ThisDay
