FG Charges Saraki, Ekweremadu and others With Forgery

Also charged with the two presiding
officers are the immediate former Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji
Salisu Maikasuwa and his deputy, Mr. Bennedict Efeturi.The police
report on the issue exclusively reported by Vanguard on July 27, 2015,
had referred the case to the Attorney General of the Federation for
further advice whether the case should be treated as a criminal case or
part of the internal affairs of the Senate.

The case against the
quartet marked CR/219/16 between the Federal Government of Nigeria
(Complainant) and Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa, Benedict Efeturi, Dr.
Olubukola Saraki, and Ike Ekweremadu (Defendants), has been assigned to
Justice Yusuf Haliru of the Federal High Court, Abuja.It was further
gathered that the suit borders on a two-count charge of “Criminal
Conspiracy, contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code Law” and “Forgery
contrary to 362 of the Penal Code Law,” against Ekweremadu and others.

Yesterday
aides of Senator Saraki and Ekweremadu denied formal knowledge of their
principals being under investigation even if they claimed to have
sensed the impending case against them.Specifically, an aide of Senator
Saraki said yesterday:“We are aware of the new case, but he (Saraki) has
neither been invited nor questioned on the case.

”In the
affidavit attached to the case file, which was filed on June 10, 2016,
the investigative police officer swore that the investigation into the
case had been concluded, a development associates of the two presiding
officer queried asserting shockthat the two presiding officers were not
questioned before the conclusion of the investigation.

An
invitation letter dated June 6, 2016, said tohave been written to the
two men was as at yesterday yet to be delivered, Ekweremadu, his special
adviser on media, Uche Anichukwu said yesterday.The case followed a
petition written to the police by Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, APC, Kaduna
North, on behalf of the Senate Unity Forum, SUF in which he alleged that
the Senate Standing Rule, 2015 used in the election of Senators Saraki
and Ekweremadu as presiding officers was forged.

The petition
prompted police investigations led by Deputy Inspector General of
Police, DIG Dan‘Azumi Doma.In the course of the investigation, the
police team quizzed several senators all of them associates of Senator
Hunkuyi and some Senate bureaucrats, however, neither Saraki, nor
Ekweremadu were questioned on the issue.Those questioned were Senators
Suleiman Hunkuyi, Secretary of the Senate Unity Forumwho wrote the
petition to the police, Ahmad Lawan, Abdullahi Gumel, Kabiru Marafa,
Gbenga Ashafa, Robert Boroffice and Abu Ibrahim.
Also questioned were
Senator Ita Enang, whoserved as chairman of the Business and Rules
Committee in the 7th and is presently special assistant to the
president, Senate, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who is now a Political
Adviser to the President, and Solomon Ewuga, all of whom are members
ofthe APC. No member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP or member of
the Likemind Group associated with the Senate President were questioned
according to the police report.The report on the investigations obtained
by Vanguard and exclusively published on July 27 did not mention Saraki
or Ekweremadu or their offices or being among those that the police
spoke to in the course of the investigation.
Maikasuwa, who was the
CNA at the time of the election and who presided over the election, was
quoted in the report to have said that “he did not refer to any Senate
Standing Order/Rules but used the normal procedures for the opening of a
new parliament.”Efeturi, his deputy had said that the production of the
2015 Standing Rules was inline with convention, saying that the same
procedure was used in the production of the Standing Rules in 2003, 2007
and 2011.
In the suit against the quartet marked CR/219/16 between
the Federal Government of Nigeria (Complainant) and Salisu Abubakar
Maikasuwa, Benedict Efeturi, Dr. Olubukola Saraki, and Ike Ekweremadu
(Defendants), the Federal Government charges them of “Criminal
Conspiracy, contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code Law” and “Forgery
contraryto 362 of the Penal Code Law.
”The two count charges read
thus:Count One reads: “That you Salisu Abubakar Maikasuwa, Benedict
Efeturi, Dr. Olubukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu on or about the 9th of
June, 2015, at the National Assembly Complex, Three Arm Zone, Abuja
within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst
yourselves, to forge the Senate Standing Order, 2011 (as amended) and
you thereby committed the offence of Conspiracy, punishable under
Section 97 (1) of the Penal Code Law.Count Two reads: “That you Salisu
Abubakar Maikasuwa, Benedict Efeturi, Dr. Olubukola Saraki and Ike
Ekweremadu on or about the 9th of June, 2015, at the National Assembly
Complex, Three Arm Zone, Abuja within the Jurisdiction of this
Honourable Court, with fraudulent intent forged the Senate Standing
Order 2011 (as amended) causing it to be believed as the genuine
Standing Order, 2015and circulated same for use during the inauguration
of the 8th Senate of the NationalAssembly of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, when you knew that the said Order was not made in compliance
the procedure for amendment of the Senate Order, you thereby committed
an offence punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Law”.