President of the Senate Bukola Saraki in a press statement Monday says the leaders of the Nigerian Senate reiterate their innocence against the charges filed by the Attorney General of the Federal Government of Nigeria at the Federal Capital Territory High Court on the allegations of forgery of the Senate Standing Rules document. In their view says Doctor Saraki, the charges filed by the Attorney General represent a violation of the principle of the Separation of Powers between the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The statement reads further that it is farcical to allege that a criminal act occurred during Senate procedural actions and the mere suggestion demonstrates a desperate overreach by the office of the Attorney General. He says these trumped up charges are only another phase in the relentless persecution of the leadership of the Senate. This misguided action according to him by the Attorney General begs the question of how this promotes the public interest and benefit the nation At a time when the whole of government should be working together to meet Nigeria’s many challenges.
Dr. Saraki says that the Senate is again been distracted by the Executive Branch’s inability to move beyond a leadership election among Senate peers as It was not an election of Senate peers and Executive Branch participants. According to him, over the past year the Senate has worked to foster good relations with the Executive Branch. It is in all of our collective interests to put aside divisions and get on with the nation’s business rather than risk alienating and losing the support of the very people who have entrusted their national leaders to seek new and creative ways to promote a secure and prosperous Nigeria.
However, what has become clear is that there is now a government within the government of President Buhari who have seized the apparatus of Executive powers to pursue their nefarious agenda Doctor SARAKI adds. The suit filed on behalf of the Federal Government suggests that perhaps some forces in the Federal Republic have not fully embraced the fact that the Senate’s rules and procedures govern how the legislative body adjudicates and resolves its own disputes.
