By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

In what appears as pyrrhic victory for Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, the forgery case against them, which the Federal Government surreptitiously withdrew last week, is to be filed afresh by the same government.

However, according to findings by Vanguard, the government will charge the two Senate leaders individually as opposed to the previous one where they were jointly docked.

A top Justice Ministry official told Vanguard last night that the case was primarily withdrawn because the Nigeria Police Force, handling the case, was yet to conclude its investigation.

In fact, as the source pointed out, the NPF is yet to interrogate Saraki and Ekweremadu and other officials of the National Assembly said to have masterminded the forgery of the Senate
Rules used in conducting the inauguration of the 8th NASS.

“You can see that under the Criminal Justice Act, the statement of the accused persons and all the witnesses are expected to be filed and it would have been wrong to have pressed ahead with the case when the police are yet to conclude their investigations,” the MoJ official pointed out.

“The federal government considered it appropriate to withdraw the case and conclude the investigation and attach both the statements by the accused and the witnesses before filing fresh charges against the suspects.

“We want to strengthen our position and present a solid case against the suspects as required under the Criminal Justice Administration Act,” the official told Vanguard.

However when contacted, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, confirmed that a fresh charge would only be pressed against the suspects when the government was ready and declined to say.
“I will get back to you on the matter when we are ready,” Malami said.

The fresh determination by the government to file charges against the Senate gladiators, appears to have short lived their celebration of the initial abrogation of the charges filed against them.

The withdrawal of the charges had elicited nationwide commentary, fuelling speculations that the Presidency, fingered as the arrowhead of the case, had opted to make peace with the NASS leadership, which it fell out with as a result of their emergence last year.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, APC National Leader, Asiwaju Tinubu and other Nigerian leaders promptly lauded the move once it was announced.

But the optimism of the leaders appears to have been shortlived with the plan to slam the Senators with fresh charges.

However when contacted, the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, confirmed that a fresh charge would only be pressed against the suspects when the government was ready and declined to say.
“I will get back to you on the matter when we are ready,” Malami said.

freeze001:
This is what to look out for :



Until they are ready. So they know that witnesses and accused persons ought to be questioned and statements attached before filing an action? So why the hurry to appeae busy and impress gullible zombies when they have not complied with basic requirements?

Why do they find it more convenient to circumvent the
rights of their latest victims and then rush straight to the press/courts? If the court had thrown out such thoroughly defective processes before they received some sense they would say d judges were corrupt yet they're the ones that fail to do the to right thing despite the huge salaries n emoluments they collect.

If not for the fact that the CCT President is completely biased, d matter against Saraki would have also been dismissed as being the same issue against Tinubu for failure to inform and question the accused before charging him. Instead he said he was mistaken and overruled himself. If he finishes his jamboree now and his decision gets quashed on appeal for this fundamental flaw, idiots will still say the judges were corrupt.

razortruth:
I was already getting worried when you became scarce in nairaland. Thinking whether the forces of darkness in the land 'evacuated' you. Welcome back!

freeze001:


Nna nwannem there was an evacuation but even afterwards I actually froze for a bit until the issue with d judges...crazy stuff I tell ya. Thanks a lot! Howdy?

MrDavidson:
That was expected. I knew deep within me that that cannot be the end of the case. The people who congratulated them were too hasty to have done that. These two people need to be used as examples for other politicians. Forgery - anywhere in the world - is a grievous crime.