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| Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu |
ATTORNEY
General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN)
yesterday urged the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and three others accused of
forging Senate Order 2011 to the court rather than accusing the executive of
intimidation.
Malami
said that dragging the officers to the court of law was part of the duties
spelt out on his office adding that the court is not the property of the
executive and therefore will not hesitate to strike out the matter for lack of
merit if the claims that dragging of the accused senate officials to court
amounted to an abuse of the principle of separation of powers...
Saraki,
his deputy Ike Ekweremadu, former Clerk of the National Assembly Salisu Maikasuwa
and Clerk of the Senate, Bernard Efeturi had accused the executive of autocracy
and attempt to intimidate the senate stating that the alleged forgery of the
Senate Rules were internal affairs of the upper chamber and asked the executive
not to interfere.
However, Malami,
in a statement last night by his media aide, Salihu Isah, said it was within
his constitutional powers to initiate criminal proceedings against anybody
where any of the investigating agencies has established a prima facie case against
such suspect.
“It is
not in doubt that each arm of government is constitutionally-vested with
distinct powers. Looking critically at the doctrine of the separation of
powers, it is a practice that exists on a tripod viz, the executive,
legislature and judiciary with clearly distinctive functions and
responsibilities as captured under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“So, by
virtue of this, we are committed to the rule of law and will thus keep to the
tenets of the rule of law as enshrined in a constitutional democracy like ours.
“The
Office of the Attorney General of the Federation is empowered under Section 174
(1) of the Constitution and vested with the power to undertake and initiate
criminal proceedings in any court of law in Nigeria.
“By
virtue of this power as the Chief Law Officer of the nation, he has simply
initiated criminal proceedings for forgery against the affected principal
officers in the Senate for altering the Senate Standing Rules in the Federal
High Court.
“It is
worthy to note here that the action of the Attorney General of the Federation
can stand the test of any law since he did not act on a vacuum.
“He acted
based on a recommendation by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) who having
fully satisfied investigative procedure arising from the petition, sent to the
Nigerian Police by some aggrieved members of the Red Chambers of the National
Assembly, alleging that the affected officers altered the rules of the Senate
for Dr. Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu to emerge leaders of the Eighth Senate
of the National Assembly.
“Under
the 1999 Constitution, only the Attorney General of the Federation has the
powers to institute criminal proceedings.
“For the
benefit of doubt, as stated above, there was a petition bordering on
allegations of forgery against the defendants, the petition was investigated by
the police and the police recommended the case for prosecution.
“At this
point, the question is how initiation of criminal proceedings against Dr Bukola
Saraki, Ike Ekweremadu, Salisu Maikasuwa and Bernard Efeturi violated the
principle of separation of powers as contained in the Constitution?
“The
action of the Attorney General of the Federation cannot obviously be said to be
a coup against the National Assembly as the Senate has claimed.
“By
preferring the charge, the accused persons are entitled to fair hearing under
the law while the prosecution is obligated to prove its case against them
beyond reasonable doubts. “Therefore, the Attorney General of the Federation
has not violated any known law in the land. Or is the Senate suggesting that
its principal officers, members and staff of the National Assembly are above
the law or enjoy same immunity as do the nation’s President and Governors?
“It is
common knowledge over the years since the nation embraced democratic system of
governance and backed by the current Constitution those elected officers of
government who are exempted from legal encumbrances whether it is civil or
criminal are known to all.
“It is
pertinent to be reminded too, that forgery of the Senate Standing Rules cannot
be described as the internal business of the National Assembly that is
exclusively only in its purview.
“The
Attorney General of the Federation cannot therefore be faulted for his decision
to initiate legal actions against the accused for alleged forgery after a
thorough police investigation of the issue whether there was an amendment of
the Senate Standing Rules in 2015 or not.
“The case
of Adesanya vs Senate which has been seriously touted in its press statement
does not support them and they should rather take their plea and defend the
action accordingly. We assure Nigerians that the Attorney General of the
Federation will continue to be committed to the rule of law at all times.
“On this
particular forgery case, we believe he should rather be commended for his
foresight and political will to carry out his constitutional role to the letter
and not to be vilified under any guise”, he said.
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