The Centre for the Advancement of Literacy and Leadership (CALL) has alleged that the forgery suit instituted against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, by the Federal Government, was designed to ground the Senate.
In a statement signed by the Executive Director of the Centre, Mazi Bismarck Oji, the group stressed that the Assistant Force Public Relations Officer (AFPRO), Mr. Abayomi Shogunle, had in July last year, told newsmen at the Force Headquarters that though the police team met with the ex-Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, they neither invited nor interrogated Senator Ekweremadu.
“The most annoying part of the whole thing is the reported recent letter to the CNA tagged “reminder” and also referring to a purported letter of July 2015. You can only remind what has been earlier attempted or requested; and if you said you did not invite them, what then are you reminding?” the group said.
“It is even worse to try to obtain from the backdoor a statement after you have filed charges, because it shows somebody is desperate to nail somebody.
“From what they have filed at the court and the police report, there is no statement that Saraki or Ekweremadu made on the alleged forgery; there is no particular role those interrogated accused Saraki or Ekweremadu of playing in the alleged forgery. Even the Senate unity Forum did not mention them in their petition. So, how did the Office of the Attorney-General zero in on Saraki and Ekweremadu?
“And if you are talking about the leadership of the 7th Senate, Ekweremadu was not the Senate President or the Senate Majority Leader or Chairman of the Committee on Business and Rules. So, why is every other member of the leadership of the 7th Senate missing? Again, was Saraki a member of the leadership of the 7thSenate?”
Oji said the Federal Government was desperate to put Ekweremadu in the dock in order to embarrass him, silence the opposition, and cripple the institution of the Senate.
He also said there were fears that Senator Ekweremadu was also being persecuted for condemning the alleged massacre of pro-Biafra demonstrators by Nigerian security forces.
