AGF says he acted on IG’s recommendation in Senate leadership probe

Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice‎, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has dismissed statement by the Senate leadership, describing moves to probe the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Rule as unconstitutional violation of principles of separation of powers, checks and balances.

The AGF in a statement issued yesterday through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr.‎ Salihu Isah, described the statement as mere falsehood designed to whip up sentiments of Nigerians.

He noted that he acted within the powers conferred on him when he filed a two-count charge of forgery and conspiracy against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his deputy Ike Ekweremadu and two others, saying he acted on the recommendation sent to him by the just retired Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.

The AGF while asking the Senators to prepare for their trial,‎ also debunked the allegation that filing the charges amounted to abuse of the principle of separation of powers.

According to the Minister, his office was empowered under Section 174 (1) of the Constitution to undertake and initiate criminal proceedings in any court of law in Nigeria.

He also faulted the argument of the Senate that what transpired was an amendment of the Standing Rules rather than forgery.“Forgery of the Senate Standing Rules cannot be described as the internal business of the National Assembly that is exclusively only in its purview.

“The Attorney General of the Federation cannot therefore be faulted for his decision to initiate legal actions against the accused for alleged forgery after a thorough Police investigation of the issue, whether there was an amendment of the Senate Standing Rules in 2015 or not,” he stated.

“We assure Nigerians that the Attorney General of the Federation will continue to be committed to the rule of law at all times. On this particular forgery case, we believe he should rather be commended for his foresight and political will to carry out his constitutional role to the letter and not to be vilified under any guise.”