Senator Dino Melaye (APC/Kogi West) has blown the lid on an alleged plot by the federal government to “doctor” a police report on forgery charges against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.
The federal government arraigned Messrs. Saraki and Ekweremadu before a Federal Capital Territory, Abuja high court on charges of forgery and conspiracy.
They were arraigned alongside a former Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, and his deputy, Benedict Efeturi, for allegedly forging the Senate standing rules.
The police report, signed by now retired DIG Dan’Azumi J. Doma, confirmed the rules had been altered illegally, but did not directly blame Mr. Saraki for it.
Melaye, in a statement Monday, cited some unnamed contacts in the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, which is prosecuting the Senate leaders, as informing him of a “sinister” attempt by “desperate” individuals to “smuggle” hitherto missing details into the report in order to justify and prove alleged forgery of the standing rules.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT said the names of Saraki and Ekweremadu did not appear in the original police report and that they were never implicated.
The senator, who has been vocal in his support of Saraki and harsh on the federal government, led by his party – APC – said he had lost confidence in the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), whom he accused of having “a personal agenda to achieve an objective for which he has been hired as a counsel by a few aggrieved senators”.
Mr. Melaye said it was already too late for Mr. Malami to meddle with the conclusion reached by the police on the matter, as it had already been published in the media.
“The said police report is already in the public space. The media has published it verbatim. We will be watching them to see how they will smuggle Saraki and Ekweremadu’s names into it.
“This is the height of desperation and we will continue to monitor developments on it. It is clear those who initiated this forgery suit against the leadership of the Senate know that they have made a mistake. They should cut their losses and discontinue the error”, Mr. Melaye said.
He further stated that it was because of the plan to doctor the report that the prosecution – the FG – refused to include the police report in the process they filed in court, adding “We have said it repeatedly that the government and specifically, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami has no case against our presiding officers. They filed the case to distract the two men, embarrass them, force a change of leadership and eventually cow the Senate, in particular, and the National Assembly, in general”.
