30th June, 2016
The Federal Government has hit back at the Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, over statements they made last Tuesday after they were arraigned for allegedly forging the Standing Rules of the upper legislative chamber.
The government said it would be better for Saraki and Ekweremadu to either honourably resign or face the judicial process.
The Guardian reports that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, said statements issued by both Senate leaders targeting the government and President Muhammadu Buhari as an individual as if the executive arm was the initiator of the forgery case against them was not acceptable.
Lawal who also signed a statement yesterday said the separate comments by “the two leaders of the Senate also gave this erroneous impression that by their arraignment, it is the entire Senate and indeed, the legislative arm of government that is on trial. They want the public to believe that their prosecution is in utter disregard by the executive arm of government for the constitutional provisions of separation of powers and that preferring the forgery case against them is a vendetta exercise.”
He said the two separate statements conveyed ‘‘messages that are far from being complementary to the person and government of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
“Senator Saraki in his statement clearly insinuated that Mr. President is not in control of his administration and that a cabal now runs the federal administration.
“On the part of Senator Ekweremadu, he insists that President Buhari is exhibiting dictatorial tendencies that can derail our democracy.”
Although he said the case is in court and the judicial process must be allowed to take its course, Lawal absolved the executive arm of government of blame, saying: “It is important to emphasize that this case involves only the four accused persons and should not be presented to the unsuspecting public as involving the entire Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.