The Secretary to the
Nigerian Government,
Babachir Lawal, has said the
Attorney General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami,
acted right in arraigning top
officers of the Senate for
alleged forgery of Senate
Rules used in electing them
to office.
He however denied that the
President Muhammadu
Buhari-led federal
government had a hand in
the current trial of President
of the Senate, Bukola Saraki
and his deputy, Ike
Ekweremadu.
A former Clerk of the
National Assembly, Salisu
Maikasuwa, and a Deputy
Clerk of the National
Assembly, Ben Efeturi, are
also on trial over the matter.
Mr. Lawal, who said he was
familiar with the issue for
which Messrs Saraki and
Ekweremadu were being
tried, said the AGF merely
acted on a petition forwarded
to his office about a year
ago when the two senate
leaders were elected.
The SGF, who made this
remarks in Yola on Saturday
while fielding questions from
journalists, said instead of
turning the federal
government into a punching
back, Messrs Saraki and
Ekweremadu should rather
allow justice to take its
cause.
He advised the lawmakers to
stop making their trials
appear as if it was a battle
between the executive and
the legislative arms of
government.
“The Federal government is
now everyone’s punching
bag,” Mr. Lawal said. “But I
don’t know why are they
blaming the Federal
Government or any person
for this.
“When this issue started, I
was in the party as the
National Vice Chairman, that
was in June. After the
election and emergence of
the leadership of the senate,
some senators petitioned the
police that the document
used to conduct such election
was forged.So the police
received the petition and
sent their recommendation to
the Attorney General of the
Federation who in turn
decided that a prima facie
case of forgery was
established and decided to
prosecute those involved.
‘’It’s the duty of the
attorney general to
prosecute where a crime is
committed. So,where is FG
role in this?
He expressed concern that
since their arraignment and
subsequent granting of bail,
Messrs Saraki and
Ekweremadu had issued
separate statements that
contained messages “far
from being complementary to
the person and government
of President Muhammadu
Buhari.”
“From their statements, the
two leaders of the Senate
also gave this erroneous
impression that by their
arraignment, it is the entire
Senate and indeed, the
legislative arm of
government that is on trial.
They want the public to
believe that their
prosecution by the FG is in
utter disregard for the
constitutional provisions of
separation of powers and
that preferring the forgery
case against them is a
vendetta exercise.

maupe:

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/206323-face-trial-dont-make-buhari-punching-bag-sgf-tells-saraki-ekweremadu.html

Rikov:
Nice action by the AGF.... but why hasn't he taken any step towards verifying Mr President's fake WAEC result issue?..... Saraki is correct anyway.