The Federal Government will
rely on the testimony of 15
witnesses, among them
Senators and National
Assembly bureaucrats, at the
trial of the President of the
Senate, Bukola Saraki, his
deputy, Ike Ekweremadu and
other alleged conspirators
over the ongoing case of
alleged forgery.
Messrs. Saraki and
Ekweremadu, alongside the
former Clerk to the National
Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa
and his deputy, Benedict
Efeturi, are accused of
forging the Senate Standing
Rules with which the upper
chamber’s presiding officers
were elected last year.
The four accused persons
were on June 27 arraigned
before Justice Haliru Yusuf
of the Federal Capital
Territory High Court, Jabi, on
a two-count charge of
conspiracy and forgery,
contrary to Sections 97 and
362 of the Penal Code Law
respectively.
They were however granted
bail before the court
adjourned its proceedings to
July 12.
Prosecution’s case
against Saraki and his
alleged conspirators
According to court documents
obtained by PREMIUM TIMES,
“it is the prosecution’s case
against the defendants that
sometimes about the 9th day
of June, 2015, the
defendants conspired among
themselves to forge and
indeed actually forged the
Senate Standing Order 2011
(as amended) and caused the
said forged document to be
circulated among elected
senators for use during the
inauguration of the
8thSenate of the National
Assembly of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.”
The document –
prosecution’s case summary
– was signed by a Principal
State Counsel, D.E Kaswe on
behalf of the Minister of
Justice and Attorney-General
of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami, and is among
documents filed before the
Abuja High Court.
“It is the forged document
that was used in the
inauguration of the 8th
National Assembly which
paved the way for the
election that ushered in the
present leadership of the
Senate,” added the
document.
Lawyers in the case told
PREMIUM TIMES that the
government planned to
prove its case by tendering
the 2011 and 2015 rules
before the court before then
proceeding to call 14
witnesses who statements
had already been filed.
Below are the fourteen
witnesses to be called and
what they will tell the court.
Fourteen witnesses and what
they will tell the court
1. Suleiman Hukunyi –
He is the secretary of the
Unity Forum, the Senate
caucus consisting of All
Progressives Congress
lawmakers who opposed the
election of Mr. Saraki,
preferring Ahmed Lawan
instead. Days after the
election of Messrs Saraki
and Ekweremadu as the
Senate presiding officers, he
petitioned the Inspector
General of Police, demanding
criminal investigation into the
allegation of forgery of
Senate Rules. The main
thrust of the petition which
would later land Mr. Saraki
and his alleged conspirators
in trouble was that the
Standing Rules used for 2015
inauguration “purports to
allow for secret instead of
the open ballot system that
has been prevalent in all
Senate elections as permitted
by the extant rules.” The
infraction, he told the Police,
arose from the “fraudulent
production of rules without
an approved consideration
by the 7th Senate.”
Mr. Hukunyi, according
prosecution’s documents,
including proof of evidence
filed before the court, will
testify how the “forged”
Rules were distributed to the
Senators and also “tender
some exhibits.”
2. Ita Enang – Now
presidential senior assistant
on Senate matters, he was in
the 7thSenate, representing
Akwa Ibom North, and
serving as the Chairman of
the Rules and Business. In
January, he was accused of
complicity in the “missing”
2016 budget during the
budget impasse. Specifically,
he was accused of
“doctoring” the budget
proposal which had earlier
been presented by President
Muhammadu Buhari.
Contacted in the wake of the
allegation by PREMIUM TIMES,
he said he was between “my
two bosses,” preferring not
to refute or admit the charge.