THE Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has advised the senate president, Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, to leave National Assembly out of their court trials.



Mr. Lawal, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, faulted statements credited to the two leaders of the Senate after their arraignment, which according to him, gave the erroneous impression that the entire Senate was on trial.

The statement said Mr. Saraki had insinuated that a cabal was currently running the government and that President Muhammadu Buhari was not in control of his administration.

It said Mr. Ekweremadu had insisted that Mr. Buhari was exhibiting dictatorial tendencies that could derail the nation’s democracy.

“It is important to emphasise that this case involved only the four accused persons and should not be presented to the unsuspecting public as involving the entire Senate.

“The complaint leading to the forgery investigation was reported to the Police by some aggrieved Senators, who specifically accused certain persons.

“It is not the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that is involved and definitely not the House of Representatives,” the statement said.

According to the statement, bringing the National Assembly as a body into this court case is totally unwarranted and can only be for other purposes and reasons outside the investigation and legal proceedings.

“A case of forgery is usually preferred against individuals as was the case with a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who was accused of certificate forgery.

“What he did was to resign, honourably,” the statement added.

The statement said the country’s democracy was still evolving and being deepened, adding that the rule of law was supreme to the present administration.

The statement came two days after President Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, lashed at Mr. Saraki’s comments that the Buhari government had been hijacked.

Messrs. Saraki and Ekweremadu were on Monday arraigned before a Federal High Court over allegation of forgery of Senate Rules.

The trial continues.

Senate Faults SGF, Raises Fear Over Judicial Independence

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Senate has faulted the claim by  Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr. David Babachir Lawal that the Senate was not the target of the on going forgery case against Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy,Ike Ekwermadu and two others.

A statement Wednesday by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi,  Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity said “We disagree with him on this position and we maintain our earlier stand that it is the Senate that is the target of the present attempt to intimidate the legislature to force a leadership change in the Senate.

“Mr. Babachir Lawal should tell us how reasonable it is to conclude that when the President of Nigeria and the Vice President are being jointly tried in a suit whose outcome can remove them from office, it is not the Buhari Government that is being targeted,” the Senate said.

The Senate has also  seems to have  fears of probable interference by the plotters of the events  as it   expressed hope that the judiciary will be allowed to give independent verdict in the case. “Those behind this plot find this trial more expedient and important than finding tangible solutions to the multi-various socio-economic problems bedeviling the country. However, we are sure they will fail in this attempt. We only hope they will allow the judiciary to truly and creditably perform its duties and give independent verdict on the case,” the statement said.

The full statement reads thus : We note the statement issued by the Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr. David Babachir Lawal that the Senate is not the one on trial in the Forgery case instituted by the Attorney General of the Federation against the Senate President and his Deputy.

“We disagree with him on this position and we maintain our earlier stand that it is the Senate that is the target of the present attempt to intimidate the legislature to force a leadership change in the Senate.

“Mr. Babachir Lawal should tell us how reasonable it is to conclude that when the President of Nigeria and the Vice President are being jointly tried in a suit whose outcome can remove them from office, it is not the Buhari Government that is being targeted.

“It is also imperative to clearly state that contrary to the claim by the SGF, neither the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki nor Senator Ike Ekweremadu were mentioned by the petitioners, the statements by those interviewed by the police or even the police report.

“Meanwhile, let us refreshen Mr. Lawal’s  memory about the facts of the 1999 case. It is obvious that the Senate President and his deputy are not being accused of certificate forgery as it happened in ex-Speaker Salisu Buhari’s case. Therefore, nobody should compare an apple with orange. Also, neither Saraki nor Ekweremadu is below the age requirement for their present  position as it was alleged in the Buhari case. Attempts to make the two situations look similar is to present all Nigerians as having no sense of history.

“We also know that nobody can be accused of forging his own signature. The executive is in no position to determine what is the correct Standing Orders of the Senate. The Senate President and his Deputy were as at the morning of the June 9, 2015 inauguration of the Senate mere Senators-elect and could therefore not have been in a position to influence any alteration in the rule book.

“The Senate as an institution, and indeed the National Assembly, has spoken about their understanding of the present assault on their independence by the executive’. We maintain that this trial is a design by the Executive to criminalize the internal affairs of the Senate to create a distraction for the leadership of the Senate, force a leadership change and cow the legislators.

“Those behind this plot find this trial more expedient and important than finding tangible solutions to the multi-various socio-economic problems bedeviling the country. However, we are sure they will fail in this attempt. We only hope they will allow the judiciary to truly and creditably perform its duties and give independent verdict on the case.

http://.com/forgery-fg-suggests-resignation-as-senate-kicks-raises-fear-over-judicial-independence/

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