POLICE detectives from the Force Criminal Investigation Department on Monday stormed the National Assembly complex in Abuja to quiz officials over the alleged forgery of Senate rules.
The police investigators, led by a Commissioner of Police, who had no name tag, quizzed the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, and some principal officers over alleged forgery
of Senate rules and standing orders.
They also left a message for the Deputy Senate President, Ike EKweremadu, to report at the Force CID Headquarters , Area 10, Garki, Abuja.
But Ekweremadu said on Monday that no amount of harassment would deter him from carrying out his duties as the deputy senate president.
Ekweremadu, who was obviously reacting to the invitation by the police over the alleged forgery of the Senate rules, said in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, that his election as the deputy senate president of the 8th Senate was transparently conducted on the June 9, 2015.
The police action followed a petition by an All Progressives Congress senator, Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna North), to the Inspector-General of Police, in which the lawmaker accused Ekweremadu of forging the Senate rules in order to become the deputy senate president.
Hunkuyi was said to have written the petition in his capacity as the secretary of the Senate Unity Forum.
The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Abayomi Shogunle, a chief superintendent of police, confirmed that the police team met with the clerk in his office.
“I can confirm that the investigating team met with the National Assembly clerk in furtherance of the investigation into the petition alleging a forgery of Senate standing rules,” Shogunle told one of our correspondents on Monday.
The police spokesman said some senators were also questioned.
“The senator who wrote the petition to the IG has adopted it (the petition) as his statement, an indication that he is prepared to stand by the claims and allegations he made in the letter,” he added.
Asked whether the probe was specifically targeted at Ekweremadu, the deputy force spokesman said the letter to the clerk was for him to facilitate a meeting with principal officers and ranking senators at a date and time to be determined, noting that the investigation was not targeted at the deputy senate president.
Shogunle said that contrary to reports, the deputy senate president was not invited by the police.
He said, “Like I said on Sunday, what we did was to write to the clerk to facilitate a meeting with some of the senators to verify the allegations that were made because the police have respect for democratic values.
“When we didn’t get a response from the clerk, the police visited him in his office where they interacted with him and other officials,” he explained.
But Ekweremadu, in the statement by his aide, said since the news of his purported invitation by the Police on Sunday, he had received calls from numerous Nigerians across regional and political divides, who expressed their solidarity.
The statement read in part, “The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has received calls from well meaning Nigerians who have continued to express utter dismay and concern over the unfolding drama in which his life and liberty are being threatened by desperate politicians.
“Senator Ekweremadu wishes to assure all Nigerians and concerned members of the international community that everything is under control and that all democratic steps are being taken to preserve the nation’s democracy and protect the independence of the legislature.
“The deputy president of the Senate further wishes to assure Nigerians that necessary steps are being taken by the security agencies to beef up security around him.
“In all these, however, let it be known that no amount of intimidation or harassment will deter Senator Ekweremadu from carrying out the constitutionally prescribed duties, which on June 9, 2015, PDP and APC Senators willingly elected him in the full glare of the world to perform”
Meanwhile, Senators Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP, Abia North,) and James Manager, (PDP, Delta South) on Monday, cautioned their colleagues in reacting to the alleged forgery of Senate Rule book 2015 for which Ekweremadu had been invited by the police.
They also urged the police to exercise restraints in their handling of a matter they said concerned the internal workings of the Senate.
Ohuabunwa said, “I think the police should be careful in handling this matter because I know that the law is clear that all activities that take place at the National Assembly or on the floor of the Senate or in the chamber cannot be used as evidence against any Senator.”
He explained that since the 2015 rule was handed over to Senators during the inauguration of the Senate, it was wrong to accuse any Senator of having played a role in producing that rule book.
“The whole issue is unfortunate. Some of us do not really understand
what is happening. But some of these things might be politics. Don’t also forget that since the emergence of the deputy senate president, the ruling party has been very uncomfortable,” he said.
Manager on his part said, “That question has been raised and asked by people several times but I think as we move on, the Senate itself will explain how that happened.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has warned against what he described as the intimidation and harassment of the deputy senate president.
In a statement in Abuja on Monday, Mimiko, who is the Governor of Ondo State, urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC to respect the integrity of the National Assembly and the other tiers of government.
He said the opposition party would resist all forms of tyranny and Gestapo tactics in order to protect “our hard- earned democracy which the PDP sustained for 16 years.”
Mimiko also cautioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, not to allow himself to become a puppet in the hands of the APC government, stressing that it would greatly undermine the credibility of the police.
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