FG Makes U-Turn, To File Fresh Charges Against Saraki, Ekweremadu
The Federal Government has revealed plans to press fresh charges against senate president Bukola Saraki and his deputy Ike Ekweremmadu over the forgery of the Senate Standing Rules with which the presiding officers of the Senate were elected on June 9, 2015.
The development comes few days after the federal government surreptitiously withdrew the forgery case against the duo.
The government said it only withdrew the cases in order to file new charges separately and to allow police interrogate suspects and witnesses.
Advertisement
According to Vanguard, an official who pleaded anonymity said, “You can see that under the Criminal Justice Act, the statement of the accused persons and all the witnesses are expected to be filed and it would have been wrong to have pressed ahead with the case when the police are yet to conclude their investigations.
“The Federal Government considered it appropriate to withdraw the case and conclude the investigation and attach both the statements by the accused and the witnesses before filing fresh charges against the suspects.
“We want to strengthen our position and present a solid case against the suspects as required under the Criminal Justice Administration Act.”
Earlier on, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the Office of the Federal Government had no basis to have instituted a law suit against Saraki, Ekweremadu, the Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly, respectively.
Advertisement
The party had said, “We are amused by this sudden realisation of the federal government that the so-called ‘Rule-Forgery Case’ was a shadow chase from the beginning. It was complete nothingness! More so, the claim through the lead counsel, Aliyu Umar (SAN), that the withdrawal was on grounds of respect for the rule of law and hierarchy of the judiciary demonstrates more of comedy on the side of this federal government that has penchant for legal disobedience and abuse of court processes.
“Notwithstanding, this act of withdrawal justifies our earlier position that the APC-led administration is on a vendetta mission and not to govern.”
