Senate replies SGF: You’re comparing apples and oranges

Comparing the resignation of a speaker in 1999 over certificate scam to the allegation of forgery of senate rules is like comparing an apple with an orange, the senate has said.

Aliyu Abdullahi, senate spokesman, was reacting to the statement of Babachir Lawal, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), that the Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, should resign over the alleged forgery.

Salisu Buhari, who 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.

“Let us refreshen Mr Lawal’s memory about the facts of the 1999 case, Abdullahi said.

“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’s case. Attempts to make the two situations look similar is to present all Nigerians as having no sense of history.”

Abdullahi said contrary to Lawal’s claims, the senate was on trial because its presiding officers were involved.

He also alleged that the action of the executive – which filed the charge of forgery against Saraki and Ekweremadu – was an attempt to criminalise the senate and force a leadership change in the upper legislative chamber.

“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,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

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

Abdullahi emphasised that the executive was not in a position to determine what is the correct standing order of the senate, adding that “the senate president and his deputy were as of 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 criminalise the internal affairs of the senate to create a distraction for the leadership of the senate, force a leadership change and cow the legislators,” he said.

“Those behind this plot find this trial more expedient and important than finding tangible solutions to the multi-various 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.”