The Senate yesterday invited Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami to appear before it to explain why he took Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to court over alleged forgery.
Saraki, Ekweremadu and two others were arraigned at a Federal High Court, Abuja on Monday to answer charges of alleged forgery of 2015 Standing Rule of the Senate.
Following a motion by Senator Dino Melaye, (Kogi West) entitled “imminent threat to our democracy” the Senate resolved to invite Malami to explain why he allegedly disregarded and reopened the alleged forgery case against Saraki and others when a court of competent jurisdiction had struck it.
The Senate said Justice Gabriel Kolawole of Abuja High Court adjudicated and ruled on the matter affirming that the issue is an internal affair of the Senate.
Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, in a letter NASSIS/CJHL/024/2016/10 dated 27th June, 2016 and addressed to Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice said Malami should appear before it tomorrow to throw light on his role in Saraki and Ekweremadu’s arraignment.
The letter was received in the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice on 28 June, 2016 as stamped.
Also yesterday, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu wrote the United Nations, (UN),the European Union (EU), the United States’ Congress, the European Union (EU) Parliament, Governments of United States, United Kingdom and other foreign missions, over his trial for alleged forgery of the Senate standing rule.
Ekweremadu raised the alarm over what he described as an attempt to truncate Nigeria’s democracy and “silence me as the leader and highest ranking member of the opposition in the country, all in the name of prosecuting an alleged forgery case.”
The two-page document, entitled: “Re: Trumped Up Charges Against the Presiding Officers of the 8th Senate: Nigerian Democracy is in Grave Danger,” a copy of which was sighted by our reporter in Abuja, urged the international community, to “after perusing the facts before them, decide whether or not the trial was justified, or one purely borne out of political vendetta.”
He attached copies of the court summons and other documents relating to the matter to his letter.
Ekweremadu said: “You may further wish to judge for yourself whether this unfolding scenario, coupled with the clampdown on the opposition, such as targeted arrests and indefinite detention of opposition figures and dissenting voices in spite of court pronouncements and in clear violation of the Nigerian constitution, as well as the sustained marginalization of the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones of Nigeria, does not constitute a grave danger to the nation’s hard-won democracy.”
“Moreover, the rules and principles of fair hearing have not been adhered to because the police have not interacted with me or the President of the Senate as at the time of writing this letter.
“You may also wish to judge for yourself whether this trial orchestrated against me is not a political trial, calculated witch-hunt, barefaced intimidation, and a clear attempt to emasculate the parliament and silence me as the leader and highest ranking member of the opposition in Nigeria.
“Meanwhile, it could also be recalled that an attempt was made on my life on November 17, 2015. The Nigerian security agencies did nothing, even though the incident was duly reported“.
