Committee on Media and
Publicity, led by Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, in response to SGF, said the Senate
was being targeted to intimidate the legislature and force a leadership change.
The Senate has reacted to
the Presidency’s position, insisting that the current trial of Bukola Saraki
and Ike Ekweremadu was aimed at forcing a leadership change in the upper
chamber.
In a statement last night,
Abdullahi, who is a Saraki loyalist, said:
“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 was mentioned
by the petitioners, the statements by those interviewed by the police or even
the police report.
“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 an orange. Also, neither Saraki nor Ekweremadu is below
the age requirement for their present positions 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.”
But the Attorney General
has insisted that forgery anywhere in the country will be dealt with, either in
the senate, judiciary or executive.
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