Things are not looking fine for the Senate
President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike
Ekweremadu over the forgery allegation case.
According to officials of the Ministry of Justice,
the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; his deputy,
Ike Ekweremadu, and others accused of forgery of
the Standing Rule of the Senate 2015 , are to be
arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory High
Court on Tuesday (today).
the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; his deputy,
Ike Ekweremadu, and others accused of forgery of
the Standing Rule of the Senate 2015 , are to be
arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory High
Court on Tuesday (today).
The two and others accused have been served a
notice that the arraignment would take place on
Tuesday. This is coming as Saraki will also be
appearing before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for
his ongoing trial on the same day.
“I can only tell you about the case I’m involved in.
I don’t know about the CCT trial. But I can tell you
that we have tomorrow (Tuesday) as the date of
arraignment in respect of the forgery case,” a top
ministry official told The PUNCH.
According to Punch, it was learnt that the case was
assigned to Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Jabi
Division of the FCT High Court last Friday.
However, it is still uncertain if the accused persons
will appear in court. This is coming as officials of
the High Court of the FCT in Jabi, Abuja, where the
accused persons are to be arraigned, confirmed to
one of our correspondents on Monday morning that
they had not been served.
“We have not served the charges on the accused
persons, but we will serve them before the end of
today (Monday),” one of the sources said.
Also, Saraki and Ekweremadu, on Monday, said
they had yet to be served the court process
concerning the suit instituted against them by the
Federal Government.
Saraki, who spoke through his Special Adviser,
Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said, “Up
till now, we have not been served.”
Also, Ekweremadu, who equally spoke through his
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Uche
Anichukwu, said, “We have not received any court
papers.”
Saraki, Ekweremadu, a former Clerk to the National
Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, and his then deputy,
Benedict Efeturi, were on June 10, charged with
two counts of criminal conspiracy and forgery of
the Standing Rules used for the leadership election
of the presiding officers of the Senate in June,
2015.
The Federal Government stated that the offence of
conspiracy was punishable under Section 97 (1) of
the Penal Code Act; and offence of forgery with
“fraudulent intent” punishable under Section 364 of
the same law.
It was alleged that the 2011 version of the Senate
Orders was secretly altered by some individuals to
produce the 2015 edition.
It was alleged that Rules 3 (3) (e) and (k) in the
2015 edition of the orders were not amended in
accordance with the provisions of Rule 110 (1) (2)
(3) (4) (5) of the 2011 Orders.
While the 2011 Order Rule 3 (3) (e) provides for
manual voting and open ballot in the election of
the Senate President and the Deputy Senate
President, the 2015 Orders allow electronic and
secret ballot voting in the said elections.
Also, while Rule 3 (3) (k) of the 2011 Order makes
it mandatory for all members to participate in the
process of electing the Senate President and
Deputy Senate President, the reverse is the case in
the 2015 Orders.
The 2011 Orders, Rule 3 (3) (k) reads, “All
Senators-elect shall participate in the nomination
and voting for President and Deputy President of
the Senate.”
But a similar provision in Rule 3 (3) (i) in the 2015
Orders reads, “ All Senator-elect are entitled to
participate in the voting for Senate President and
Deputy Senate President.”
