ALLEGED FORGERY: Court summons Saraki, Ekweremadu, others

· FG re-filed dismissed suit – Investigation

· South East Reps warn against assult on Ekweremadu

 

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ended speculations over the Feder­al Government’s desire to prosecute the Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and others over alleged forgery of the Upper House’s Standing Rules.

Yesterday, the court formally summoned Saraki, Ekweremadu, former Clerk of the National As­sembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa and the outgoing Deputy Clerk, Ben Efeturi, over their roles in the purported forgery of the Senate Standing Order.

The summons were effected through a substituted service which was pasted on the corridors along the Senate President’s office.

The document read: “By oral application dated 21st June, 2016, moved by D.E. Kaswe, the Princi­pal State Counsel Federal Ministry of Justice in this case praying the court for:

“An order of this Honourable Court granting leave to the com­plainant/applicant to serve the criminal summon on the defend­ants by substituted means to wit by pasting it at the Notice Board of the National Assembly Three Arms Zone, Abuja.

“And after hearing D.E. Kaswe with A.A. Kaltingo Esq, counsel for the complainant/applicant moved the court orally for the above relief.”

Also included in the summons were statements allegedly volun­teered by Maikasuwa and Efetu­ri on their alleged involvement in the incident.

Maikasuwa, in his own state­ment, said: “The Senate Standing Orders used in the 7th Senate was not known to me. The Clerk of the Senate is in position to know. I was not aware of the amendment that was made to the Standing Rules”.

Similarly, Efeturi said the Sen­ate leadership handed the 2015 Standing Rules as amended by their convention and practice to him.

Meanwhile, the Senate, in its first reaction to the allegation, said the production of the Senate Rules was done by the National Assem­bly’s bureaucracy.

It said: “The Rules of the Sen­ate and how the institution elects its leadership are internal affairs. The Rules of a new Senate are pro­vided by the National Assembly’s bureaucracy. It has always been so since 1999.”

But investigations by The AU­THORITY have revealed that the case of alleged forgery of Senate Rules being preferred against its leadership by the Attorney-Gen­eral of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Mala­mi, is the same matter the minister had lost in 2015 in a court as a prac­tising lawyer.

The court papers accessed by The AUTHORITY showed that Malami, in 2015, acted as one of the lawyers to the suit filed by Sen­ator Suleiman Othoman Hunkuyi against the Senate leadership.

The document showed that a suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/646/2015 filed by Senator Gilbert Nnaji and the Inspector-General of Police and the AGF as defendant/respondent and Senator Hunkuyi as applicant, that Malami was a lawyer is not dif­ferent from the one being dusted up by him.

The court papers signed on August 3, 2015 showed the Justice Minister as one of the leading law­yers in the alleged forgery case, but he did not indicate his interest in the present one, pointing to a clear case of conflict of interest.

Other lawyers in the case in­cluded Mike Osuman and Mike Adesina, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) and nine other law­yers in the suit instituted by Sena­tor Nnaji.

The name of the Minister of Justice is third on the list.

The trial judge was Justice Ad­emola Adeniyi who eventually struck out the case. In striking out the case, Justice Ademola had said that the judiciary could not inter­fere in what took place at the hal­lowed chambers of the Senate.

He referred to the case of Sen­ator Abraham Adesanya vs the Fed­eral Government of Nigeria at the Supreme Court, where the apex court upheld the concept of sepa­rations of powers.

At its plenary on Tuesday, the Senate summoned Malami to ap­pear before its Committee on Ju­diciary, Human Rights and Other Related Matters on Thursday to an­swer queries on the alleged forgery of Senate Rules.

The Upper Chamber specifi­cally wanted Malami to explain and justify with evidence the basis for his action and why it does not con­stitute gross misconduct, incompe­tence, contempt of court and abuse of office.

It affirmed that its 2015 Rules were the authentic Rules of the Sen­ate and legally acquired from the leadership of the 7th Senate from Maikasuwa who had the honour to inaugurate and conduct the election that gave birth to the present lead­ership of the 8th Senate.

However, the upper cham­ber had on resumption of plenary on Tuesday went into a two-hour closed-door session whose real ob­jectives were not immediately made known to the press.

These resolutions of the Sen­ate were sequel to Orders 42 and 52 of Senate Rules, raised by Sena­tor Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi West) who said: “I take the leave of this re­spected Senate to move a substan­tive motion immediately, if I enjoy the grace of the Senate. The motion is on the imminent threat to our de­mocracy as it relates to the alleged invitation of our principal officers by the Executive in a court here in Abuja.

Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary cuts in...saying: “Is it the wish of the Senate to hear this motion immediately?” and the Senators unanimously said, “Yeah!”

Melaye thereafter gave an in­sight into his motion saying: “The Nigerian Senate observed the on­going systematic degradation and abuse of office of the leadership of the National Assembly by the Exec­utive arm of government through intimidation and harassment.

“This Senate notes regrettably that the Executive arm of govern­ment as presently constituted is still to come to terms with the constitu­tional tenets of Separation of Pow­ers and the independence of the legislative arm of government.

“My colleagues, Mr. President, this Senate notes also the lack of re­spect for judicial decisions and the resolutions of the National Assem­bly by the Executive which is begin­ning to arrogate itself, unify powers of the federation,” he said.

Seconding the motion, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Akpan, said he was handed over a copy of the Con­stitution and 2015 Standing Orders during accreditation.

The Chairman, Senate Com­mittee on Niger Delta Develop­ment Commission (NDDC), Sen­ator Peter Nwobosh, said there was a laid down procedure for correct­ing anything in the Senate Order.

Senator Isah Misau (APC-Bauchi Central) described the cur­rent development as injustice being done to the judiciary.

He insisted that it was on the basis of the Standing Orders that he was given the privilege by the Senate to ask Malami to take a bow when he came to the Senate for confirmation as minister.

The Chairman, Senate Com­mittee on Services, Senator Ibra­him Gobir, said he was completely in support of the motion.

South East Reps warn against as­sault on Ekweremadu

Meanwhile, the South East Caucus of the House of Represent­atives has condemned what it de­scribed as serial onslaughts against the person and Office of Sen. Ekw­eremadu.

The Caucus said the latest on­slaught is being carried out through trumped-up forgery charges at the Federal Capital Territory High Court.

In a statement issued by the lawmakers, through the Depu­ty Minority Leader and Leader of the South East Caucus, Hon. Chuk­wuka Onyema, the group said that from what “we have read from the newspapers and other media out­lets, the charges being preferred against Senator Ike Ekweremadu in particular, and others in gener­al are charges that cannot be sus­tained in a competent court of law.

“This, no doubt, leaves us with the strong impression that the Fed­eral Government and its agents within the All Progressives Con­gress (APC) are hell-bent on re­moving Senator Ekweremadu and thereby shutting out the South East from the substantive posi­tions of the Federal Government at all costs.

“We are aware that it is a settled matter in law that unless there is an infraction on the constitution, the executive arm and its agencies have no right whatsoever to interfere in the internal affairs of the National Assembly,” Onyema said.