Standing Order; Senate forgery allegation raises issue of criminality – IG

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, has defended police investigation into the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders 2015.

Police Inspector General, Solomon Arase

The police boss defended his action in a preliminary objection opposing a suit filed by the Enugu East senator in the National Assembly, Mr. Gilbert Nnaji, asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain the police and the Attorney-General of the Federation from taking any further step on the allegation.

Nnaji had filed the suit asking the court to stop the police investigation on the grounds that it “is inspired by a devious petition by the Secretary of the Unity Forum Senators, solely aimed at unjustly incriminating the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu.”

But the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the second defendant to the suit, had also filed a similar notice of preliminary objection, asking the court to strike out the suit, which it said ought to have been instituted by Ekweremadu, if truly the police investigation was meant to unjustly incriminate him.

In the preliminary objection filed by the counsel for the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Oloye Torugbene, the police asked the court to strike out the senator’s suit because the plaintiff lacked the legal right to institute the suit.

The police added that the forgery allegation raised “issues of criminality” and “not simply an issue on the floor” of the Senate.

They added that no Nigerian had immunity against investigation and that investigating alleged forgery could not amount to undue interference in the affairs of the Senate.

A counter-affidavit accompanying the preliminary objection and deposed to by an officer in the Legal/Prosecution Section of the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja, Joshua Yohanna, stated, “Every Nigerian can be investigated for crime. There is no immunity against investigation in all civilised countries, Nigeria inclusive.

“Investigating the allegation of forgery can only strengthen the integrity of the Senate and the Senate leadership.”

The police urged the judge to strike out the suit   because the plaintiff had not demonstrated that he had “special interest that is beyond that of every other senator.”

They insisted that they had a duty to investigate allegations of crimes and that their “duty will be impeded” if the court granted the prayers sought by the plaintiff.

The counter-affidavit also read, “The first defendant (the Inspector-General of Police) has a duty and responsibility to investigate all allegations of crime; to determine whether allegations of forgery are made out; who committed the said forgery; and if there is a forgery at all, in the first place.

“Investigating the allegations and determining the culpability or otherwise of the alleged culprits will lead to a just conclusion of the matter.

“Non-investigation of the allegations will engender mistrust amongst the disputing sides.

“The matter at hand is not simply an issue on the floor.

“The matter at hand raises issues of criminality.

“The first defendant (the Inspector-General of Police) owes Nigerians the duty to unearth the truth behind the allegations of forgery.”

The police maintained that the IGP had never taken side on the issue and would remain neutral.

“The first defendant is neutral in this matter.

“The first defendant has not taken sides, will not take sides and does not take sides on issues of this nature at all.”

Justice Gabriel Kolawole on August 4 fixed September 8 for the hearing of an application filed by another Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi seeking to be joined as a defendant in the suit.

Standing Order; Senate forgery allegation raises issue of criminality – IG

Court rejects Saraki"s complaint against suit to sack him, Ekweremadu

A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday rejected a complaint by Senate President Bukola Saraki against a suit seeking to sack him and other principal officers of the Senate elected under the controversial Senate Standing Orders 2015.

Bukola Saraki

His counsel Sikiru Oke told the court yesterday that he appeared for the Senate President “in protest” and has not filed “memorandum of appearance” which must be filed before a lawyer could enter appearance for a party in a case.

The proceedings were in relation to a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/651/2015 filed by senators who are opposed to the emergence of Dr. Saraki as the Senate President.

They are: Senators Abu Ibrahim; Kabir Marafa; Ajayi  Boroffice; Olugbenga Ashafa and Suleiman Hunkuni. Defendants to the suit are Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; the National Assembly, the Clerks of the National Assembly and the Senate.

The plaintiffs seek among other prayers  an order nullifying the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as well as the election of Saraki as the Senate President and that of Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President, for being products of the alleged illegal rules.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole had at the last hearing in the case on July 28, adjourned the case to yesterday for the hearing of the plaintiffs’ motion on notice seeking an order restraining Saraki and other defendants from going ahead to constitute the standing committees of the Senate, pending the determination of their suit challenging the validity of the Senate Standing Orders 2015.

Oke contended that court processes in the case were served on his office instead of being served personally on his client, as prescribed by the Federal High Court Rules 2009.

Plaintiffs’ counsel Dele Adesina (SAN) in a counter argument, contended that there are obligatory provisions of the same court rules which envisages and validates service on Saraki through his office.

Adesina also argued that Oke could not be heard since he had yet to file memorandum of appearance to appear for the first defendant (Saraki).

Ruling, Justice Kolawole upheld Adesina’s position and disqualified Oke from appearing for Saraki during the proceedings.

He directed that the case be transferred to another judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who will take over as the vacation judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja onAugust 10.

He adjourned to August 13.

Justice Kolawole had, in a ruling on July 28, dismissed an exparte application by the plaintiffs in which they had earlier sought a restraining order against the constitution of the senate standing committees.

In the ruling, Justice Kolawole said the disputes arising from the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders constituted internal legislative affair of the Senate which the court would not want to intervene in.

Court rejects Saraki"s complaint against suit to sack him, Ekweremadu

Alleged forgery of Senate standing orders: Court threatens to nullify police report

A Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday said it will nullify the report of investigation of the police on the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Orders 2015, if found out that actions have been taken on the report, during the pendency of the suit, challenging the investigation of the case.

Ekweremadu

The suit was filed on July 23 by Enugu-East Senator in the National Assembly, Gilbert Nnaji but the police was said to have completed their investigation and forwarded its report to the office of Attorney-General of the Federation for legal advice and further action.

The trial Judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole on Tuesday said the police would be made to account for actions, which they had taken on the investigation, since the suit was filed.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase has challenged the powers of the Court to stop the police from carrying out investigation into the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended) even as he said the police have not taken sides on the issue.

The police boss said investigating the allegation of forgery in the Senate can only strengthen the integrity of the upper legislative house and its leadership.

Confirming that the Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended) was forged, the police boss stated in its counter affidavit that, “the present Senate has not enacted any standing orders yet. As at the time of inauguration of this present Senate, no standing orders had been made. Till date, no such standing orders have so far been made.

“The practice is that at inauguration, the incoming Senate uses the standing orders of the preceding Senate. The immediate past Senate did not amend the 2011 standing orders and the 2011 standing orders have not yet been amended,” the Police boss added.

The document, which was deposed to by Joshua Yohanna, of the Legal/Prosecution department, Force CIID, further averred that, “I know that the plaintiff cannot prove that the so-called 2015 standing orders were passed by the preceding Senate.

“That the so-called 2015 standing orders were never made nor passed by the immediate past Senate. The plaintiff knows that the present Senate President was not in a position to have passed the 2015 Senate Standing orders before his inauguration.

“The plaintiff knows that it is only after inauguration that the current Senate could pass the senate standing orders. That what he is branding about is not an authorized Senate standing order.”

Accordingly, the police urged the court to throw out the suit filed against him by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, representing Enugu East on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking to stop the police from investigating the issue, as it is merely a nuisance value.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of the “Unity Forum” who signed the petition to the police, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi has applied to be joined in the suit filed by Nnaji as an interested party.

His  motion dated August 3, 2015 was filed by his counsel, Mamman Osuman pursuant to orders 9 rule 15 (1); order 26 rule 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) rules 2009.

The Inspector General of Police in his memorandum of conditional appearance filed by Elder David Abuo attacked the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit as well as the locus standi of the plaintiff to file the action.

Relying in the case of Hassan V EFCC (2014) 1 NWLR (pt. 1389), the lawyer submitted that, “No court has the power to stop the investigation powers of the Police or EFCC or any agency established, under our laws to investigate crimes whether there is reasonable suspicion of commission of crime or ample evidence of commission of an offence by a suspect.”

Besides, the police argued that the matter at hand raises issues of criminality and the police owe Nigerians the duty to unearth the truth behind the allegations of forgery.

Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff, Peter Nwakolo told to even when the opposition called on the former President to cancel Operation Burst, we informed Abuja that if they do so, they will disrupt the peace and security enjoyed in the state. I commend your performance and professionalism,” Ajimobi said.

Aregbesola urged Major General Ilo to remain professional and uphold the dignity and integrity of the profession so as to command their deserved respect.

Major General Ilo’s operation is to cover Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Edo, Ekiti and Kwara states.

Alleged forgery of Senate standing orders: Court threatens to nullify police report

Standing order used to inaugurate Ekweremadu, Saraki forged - Police

The Nigeria Police have concluded their probe into the forgery of the Senate Standing Order and given a copy of the report to President Muhammadu Buhari,SUNDAY PUNCH can authoritatively report.

Ekweremadu

The President received a copy of the report last week, a highly reliable source in the presidency told one of our correspondents on Saturday.

The Police report confirmed that the Standing Rules used to inaugurate the 8th Assembly were forged, our source said.

In the report, the Police recommended the prosecution of those found culpable of forging the orders, which had been used in the controversial election of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, on June 9, 2015.

The report was said to have indicted the management of the National Assembly, especially the Clerk, Salisu Maikasuwa and recommended the prosecution of the suspects.

Acting on a petition by Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi (All Progressives Congress, Kaduna State), the Police had on July 6 quizzed Ekweremadu and Maikasuwa over an alleged forgery of the standing orders.

The petition alleged that some parts of the 2015 Senate Orders were different from the one ratified by the 6th Senate in 2010, which was used by the 7th Senate, as Standing Orders 2011.

The Police, on the strength of the petition, had subsequently quizzed the leadership of the 7th Senate, including former Senate President, Senator David Mark; his deputy (now Saraki’s deputy), Ike Ekweremadu; former Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba; and the former Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang.

The Clerk to the National Assembly, Maikasuwa, who is the custodian of the Senate Standing Order was also invited for questioning by the police.

Bukola Saraki

According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, handed over copy of the investigative report to Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja last Sunday.

The source said, “I can confirm to you that the President has a copy of the Police’s investigation report on the Senate forgery and I can also authoritatively tell you that the report confirmed that the Senate rules were forged. Notable among those recommended for prosecution in the National Assembly is the Clerk because he is the one that keeps the Standing Orders.”

When asked if the Directorate of Public Prosecution had received a copy of the Police report, the source said he couldn’t confirm that.

SUNDAY PUNCH’s study of the controversial 2015 Senate Standing Orders, Rule 3, as contained on page four of the document, which has to do with the election of presiding officers, had shown that it is different from the 2011 Senate Order.

Rules 3(e) (i) and (ii) have been included in the 2015 document to accommodate electronic voting and secret ballot, whereas secret ballot and ballot papers were not specifically mentioned in the 2011 Standing Orders.

The Senate Order 3 (e) (ii) of 2011 states, “Voting shall be conducted by the Clerks-at-the Table, using the Division List of the Senate with the Tellers in attendance. The Clerk of the Senate shall submit the result of the division to the Clerk of the National Assembly.

“(iii) The Clerk shall then declare the Senator-elect who has received the greater number of votes, elected as President of the Senate.”

The same section in the 2015 Senate Order however reads, “Voting by secret ballot which shall be conducted by the Clerk-at-Table using the list of the Senators-elect of the Senate, who shall each be given a ballot paper to cast his vote with the proposers and seconder as Teller. The Clerk of the Senate shall submit the result of the voting to the Clerk of the National Assembly who shall then declare Senator-elect who has received the highest number of votes as Senate President-elect.”

Apart from the ‘alteration’ to the procedure for election, Order 95 of the 2011 rule on the chairmanship and membership of the committees is also different in the 2015 version.

In the 2011 document, provisions in Order 95 read, “The membership of all committees shall not be less than 11 and not more than 13 senators. (2) No senator shall serve in more than three committees (3) No committee chairman shall serve in more than one other committee.”

However, a new insertion in the amended version reads, “The appointment of Senators as Chairmen and members of committees shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the six geopolitical zones of the country and there shall be no predominance of senators from a few geo-political zones.”

In SUNDAY PUNCH’s exclusive report on the scandal, which was published on July 19, some senators who served in the 7th Senate had disowned the 2015 edition of the Senate Standing Orders (as amended).

Similarly, members of the current 8th Senate across parties had also denied being part of any amendment process.

The senators, who were from both the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said they were not aware of any amendments to the 2011 Senate Standing Orders.

For instance, Senator Victor Lar (PDP, Plateau-South) had declared, “As of the time we left the (7th) Senate, there were no alterations (to the Senate Standing Orders).”

Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business in 7th Senate, Senator Ita Enang, stated that the Standing Orders that was used and closed within the 7th Senate was the Standing Orders that should have been used for the inauguration of the 8th Senate.

Enang, who was in the PDP when he was in the Senate but later defected to the APC, had stated, “I made proposal for amendments between 2011 and 2015, I laid the report on the floor, but we did not consider the report. We did not amend the Standing Orders.

“Before we left, I had approved the reprinting of the Standing Orders and the reprinting did not include inserting anything which was not in the old one. Reprinting is, simply reproduce what we have because there are no more copies.”

Some senior legal practitioners had told SUNDAY PUNCH that forging a document like the Standing Rule of the Senate was a felony, which, according to them, is a criminal offence against the state that attracts a penalty of three years jail term, a fine or both.

However, when contacted on Saturday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, did not confirm if the President had received a copy of the report.

“The Police are still working on the report. Investigation is still going on,” he said.

Director (Information), Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Charles Nwodo, responding to an inquiry by one of our correspondents on Saturday night also said he was not aware of the if the DPP had received a copy of the report.

Standing order used to inaugurate Ekweremadu, Saraki forged - Police