We Are All On Trial – Senate Reply SGF

According to the Senate, the trial of the duo was a smear campaign by the Presidency to force a leadership change in the upper chamber.

It will be recalled, that the SGF, had warned the Senate leaders to resign their positions, urging them to take a clue from former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buhari, who resigned after he was accused of certificate forgery.

Salisu Buhari was elected speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999, resigned after it was discovered that he lied about his age and also forged the certificate of the University of Toronto, Canada.

According to Babachir, the Senate was not on trial for forgery, but only the Senate President, his deputy and two others being prosecuted.

However, in a swift reaction, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said that the senate was on trial because its presiding officers were involved.

“We note the statement issued by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, 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,” Abdullahi 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?

“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 was mentioned by the petitioners, the statements by those interviewed by the police or even the police report.

On Babachir’s claim that the Senate Leaders should follow in the footsteps of Salisu Buhari, Abdullahi said it is like comparing an apple with an orange.

Abdullahi continued; “Meanwhile, let us refresh 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-farious 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.”