The Presidency on Sunday said President Muhammadu Buhari would not stop the prosecution of anybody indicted in the report of the Nigeria Police on the forgery of the Senate Standing Order.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this on Sunday in an exclusive interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja.
Shehu said Buhari believed in the rule of law and would not do anything that would derail any judicial process, stressing that those who were constitutionally saddled with the process did not need the President’s clearance to do their job.
He said, “They do not need the President’s clearance to prosecute anybody found guilty of any investigation. President Muhammadu Buhari, as all Nigerians know, believes very strongly in the rule of law.
“The President will therefore not do anything that will stop the judicial process. He won’t stop it (the trial of suspects in the Senate forgery case).”
There were reports on Sunday that the police investigation had confirmed that the Senate standing order was forged and that the police had recommended that some staff of the National Assembly should be prosecuted.
The police had invited the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and some other National Assembly officials over a petition alleging that the Senate standing rules were tampered with in the conduct of the election of Senate President Bukola Saraki, Ekweremadu and other principal officers on June 9.
Though the Director (Information), Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Charles Nwodo, could not confirm to The PUNCH if the report had been submitted to the ministry for prosecution to begin, some lawyers on Sunday said the alleged offence was criminal and that culprits would be made to face the wrath of the law.
A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Jiti Ogunye, said considering the enormity of the alleged crime, government should go ahead to take the appropriate action on the report regardless of any political interpretation given to it.
Ogunye said, “The release of the report vindicates the widely held view that what took place in the National Assembly towards June 9 and in particular the election in the Senate on that day following the proclamation of the National Assembly was a sham.
“This report tells us that a lot of ugliness is going on in our public life. Because we are not talking about Students’ Union parliament or a private document, we are talking about the National Assembly of Nigeria.
“So if the bureaucracy of the National Assembly can be enmeshed in lawmaking forgery, the implication of that is that Nigeria is a nation of forgers. That would then mean that these people can also forge laws.
“With the report, the law should take its course whether you are a clerk of the National Assembly or a senator of the National Assembly.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Norrison Quakers, said, “First of all, it is a criminal offence. And the law has to take its course. The penalty is a fine and a term of imprisonment; either or both. Any lawmaker who is involved in the forgery allegation, that has now been substantiated that indeed the document was forged, will have to answer criminal allegations and face prosecution.
“What the law prescribes as penalty for the offence of forgery is a minimum of four years imprisonment; it is about four or more.”
Another Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Wahab Shittu, said, “First of all, I want to believe that no lawmaker would be involved in such a shameful act; but if it is proven that any lawmaker is involved, it is a criminal offence.
“Depending on the legislation under which they are arraigned, there is an element of forgery scattered in all our legislations. We have forgery under the EFCC Act; we have forgery under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act; we have forgery under the Criminal Code. It (the punishment) depends on the enabling legislation under which they are charged.”
