Emminent lawyers call for prosecution of Senate rules forgery suspects

The National Assembly Clerk, Salisu Maikasuwa, some senators and any other person found culpable in the illegal amendment to the Senate Standing Order should be prosecuted, some eminent lawyers said yesterday.

The police have declared the Standing Order, which was used for the June 9 election of Dr. Bukola Saraki as the President of the Eighth Senate, a forgery.

Prof. Itsay Sagay,  Yusuf Ali (SAN) and Monday Ubani yesterday called for the prosecution of those who had a hand in the alteration of the standing rules applied to pick the Senate President, his deputy and four principal officers.

But the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in the defunct Second Republic, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), held a contrary position.

 He argued that the police lacked the power to meddle in what he described as the Senate’s internal affairs.

Sagay said he was not surprised by Maikasuwa’s alleged involvement in the matter.

He said the Clerk should be suspended immediately and be put on trial.

His words: “Forgery is forgery. It is a crime. And it is a crime that should be prosecuted. As far as I am concerned, the first thing is that he should be suspended as clerk of the NASS and then should be prosecuted for forgery.

“It has always been my view from the very first day (June 9, 2015) that Saraki fraudulently got himself into Senate presidency, that it would not have been possible without him compromising the clerk of the NASS.

“It was the clerk himself who convoked the little crowd of PDP senators that were there and APC senators that were there.

“In other words, he was the one who got the proceedings started when over 60 of the APC senators were away somewhere else. I am, therefore, not surprised that he was involved in altering the rules of the Senate illegally.”

Ali urged law enforcement agencies to do their work.

 “If a crime has been committed by anybody, the rule of law should take its course,” he said, adding that the  police know the appropriate organ to report to if there is need to prosecute the suspects.

Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Monday Ubani also maintained that all those found culpable in the alleged forgery should be prosecuted.

Ubani said: “The only thing we expect now is that those involved be arraigned and charged to court.  Even if they are senators and are involved in the forgery case, we expect that the appropriate agency should take up that matter  and prosecute them and to also ensure that the case is tried speedily and concluded because it is very important to us.”

Ubani cited China where he said the rule of law will be allowed to take its full course in such a matter to buttress his view for the prosecution of those found culpable.

“China is not a godly nation. They don’t go to church on Sunday. But do you know why China is working today? It is because they allow their laws to work. The rule of law is supreme in China”, he noted, emphasising, “as long as we don’t allow our laws to work, Nigeria would not grow.”

“The moment we begin to obey our laws and do the right thing with our laws, Nigeria will begin to work. Let whoever is culpable be charged to court and be prosecuted successfully.”

another Second Republic lawmaker Dr Junaid Muhammed said if the police report was correct, Maikasuwa should face the music.

Muhammed, a House of Representatives member in the Second Republic, condemned the clerk for his involvement in the conspiracy against due process in the National Assembly.

“Maikasuwa, as a civil servant should have acted in a manner that will support a vibrant institution like the National Assembly, but he has undermined the process of the second era of government,” Muhammed said.

He advised Maikasuwa to go back to his  state if he want to be a politician. “What  he did to undermine the democratic  process is treachery,” Muhammed said.

However, to a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), the police lack the power to meddle in the Senate’s internal affairs.

Akinjide is in doubt if any lawmaker can be prosecuted on the basis of the police report.

He said: “It would have been better to first see the police report and rules which governs the Senate. But don’t forget, the National Assembly is sovereign. You cannot mix National Assembly rules with party rules. They are two different things. I was in parliament for two terms and I know that party rules are different from parliament rules.

“If they break the rules of the National Assembly, they have not committed any offence. Two, this is not a matter for the police. The National Assembly is sovereign, so it is not a matter the police should be investigating.

“It will be absurd in the House of Commons in London or parliament in America for the police to investigate what they did well or didn’t do well. With the greatest respect to the police, I think they are wrong in what they’re doing.”

Whitney daughter, Bobbi Kristina dies at 22

After six months of her life hanging on the brink, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina has died at the age of 22.
She passed away in the hospice care facility where she’s been since June 24 when her family decided to take her off all meds.
The family says Bobbi Kristina was surrounded by family and, “she is finally at peace in the arms of God.” As has been reported, a specialist had told them there was no chance of recovery.
Kristina was found submerged in her bathtub on January 31, and police believe she was underwater for anywhere between 2 and 5 minutes. Paramedics were able to resuscitate her, but she was in a medically induced coma and placed on life support.
Ultimately, Pat Houston and Bobby, co-guardians for Bobbi Kristina, had to make the decision to withdraw medications. It was a rare moment of agreement for the Browns and Houstons who had battled about Bobbi’s condition throughout her hospitalisation.
Reports has it that the District Attorney has been gearing up for a murder case, and her boyfriend Nick Gordon would be their first person of interest. Police said there were bruises on Bobbi Kristina’s face and body after Gordon and a friend, Max Lomas, found her in the tub.
Whitney died from a drug overdose in 2012 while sitting in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

B’Haram burn down Chief of Army Staff’s family home

Suspected Boko Haram terrorists have burnt down houses, including the family home of the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in his village in Borno State.

At least, two people were killed and eight injured during the attack on Buratai village on Tuesday.

It was learnt that the terrorists killed two auto mechanics and torched some houses during the attack on the community.

“What really happened was that Boko Haram went there. They killed two motorcycle mechanics and torched some houses. It is not a massive attack. It was an isolated opportunistic attack, but the Army is on top of the situation. Troops are on the ground now,” a source stated.

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Meanwhile, additional roads have been cleared of landmines by troops for use by commuters in compliance with the directive by the COAS to troops in the 3 and 7 Divisions of the Nigerian Army.

The acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement that the road linking Biu-Sabon Gari to Damboa in Borno State has been cleared of landmines.

“The public are encouraged to use the road as adequate security measures have been put in place for their safety,” Usman said.

Aisha Buhari Denounce First Lady Position, says She's the wife of the President

Aisha Buhari

Aisha Buhari remark to be addressed as the wife of the President and not the first lady of Nigeria has been greeted with mix reactions. She made these comments during an “Appreciation Dinner” she hosted in honour of the All Progressives Congress (APC) women and youth were she also alleged that officials within the Jonathan administration charged money to people in order to see the President and his wife.
She said: “I will like to inform you that in the past regime, whether it is true or false, only God knows, some people were going round and parading themselves as PAs. If you wanted to see the First Lady, you will pay $30,000, $50,000 and if you are seeing the President, you will pay all that you have gathered in your lifetime.
“I am the wife of the President and will be addressed as such going forward”.
 Hope this is not just playing with words or semantically joining word together.

APC alleges Akwa Ibom REC of plot to impede inspection

The Akwa Ibom State All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Resident Electoral Officer (REC), Mr. Austin Okojie, of planning to scuttle the inspection of electoral materials as ordered by Justice Adedayo Oyebanji of the National and State Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Uyo, the state capital.
Justice Oyebanji, on May 8, granted a prayer by the counsel to the petitioner, Chief Assam Assam (SAN), for the tribunal to grant leave for the inspection of the polling materials to verify the authenticity of 450,0000 votes.
The 450,000 votes were said to have been scored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate in Akwa North West Senatorial District and Governor Godswill Akpabio.
The tribunal also ordered that the inspection be carried out within 10 days in the presence of the respondents or their agents and security agents.
But a chieftain of the APC, Mr. Akanimo Edet, alleged that Okojie had directed 10 Electoral Officers (EOs) in the senatorial district to mix up the senatorial election ballot papers alongside other ballot papers used during the general elections.
Edet said the action was meant to halt the successful inspection of the over 450,000 ballot papers used in the March 28 senatorial poll.
According to him, investigation revealed that efforts by the petitioner, Chief Inibehe Okori, inspect the materials had been undermined by the electoral body on the prompting of Akpabio.
Edet said: “The commissioner had summoned a meeting of the Eos, where he instructed that the senatorial ballot papers should be mixed up with others to make the inspection nearly impossible to cover up the fraud.
“Our Investigation also reveals that there is massive ongoing filling of incidence forms in a bid to make up for the bogus figures declared for Akpabio. This is at variance with the card reader analysis records, which is one of the contentious issues the governor is battling to provide answers to in the tribunal.
“When lawyers to the petitioner went to the electoral commission to facilitate the inspection, as ordered by the tribunal, INEC officials declined to oblige the petitioner the right for inspection. They said the REC and the Head of Operations were not available to approve the inspection. They insisted that the REC who was nowhere to be found must approve the tribunals order.
“The duo making themselves unavailable is part of the conspiracy between the REC and Akpabio to ensure that the inspection does not go unhindered. It is also part of a plot to ensure that the inspection does not take place within the 10 days period allowed by the tribunal. The tribunal has a 180 days lifespan and a total of 35 petitions are before it.”
But Okojie described APC’s allegation as false.
The REC said he had been ill for three days and was in a hospital in Benin, the Edo State capital, for treatment.
He said: “As I am talking with you now, I am in a hospital in Benin. I took ill about three days ago. I have a problem with my health. Which time will I now have to start telling the people to mix up ballot papers to confuse other people?
“That is rubbish. I have not even been able to call any head, nor speak with any electoral officer. I left about three days ago. Even the date for inspection, I did not even know it. It was the legal officer who mentioned it to me a few days ago.
“Then I said if they should go about the inspection, it would take them a long time to go through the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom State. Instead, I asked that all the election materials be brought to the headquarters so that the people could come to one place and inspect the materials. It was a way they could safeguard the idea of time and to ensure that things were done properly. And in these local government areas, we do not have good storage facilities…”

Going to US is like jumping into fire says Kashamu

Senator-elect and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, on Saturday, denied any past trip to the United States and ruled out any possibility of ever visiting the country in the future.

In an interview with Sahara TV, which was closely monitored, the PDP chieftain likened such a visit to leaping into fire.

Asked by the interviewer to clarify his alleged involvement in a United States criminal case as detailed in a popular prison memoir-turned-TV series by American, Piper Kerman, Kashamu refuted the claims.

He said, “I am a Nigerian. I am not running away from my fatherland. If anyone thinks he has a case against me, he should follow due process and we will take it up from there. I am not under any obligation to go to the US to answer the same charges after the true judgment of the British court has exonerated me of the same allegations.

“Asking me to take the next available flight to the US so as to clear my name is like asking me to jump in a fire-may the Almighty rescue me from it. If the US prosecutor could hide important evidence that later exonerated me in the UK court, only God knows what they will do in their country.

“I have done a lot of things to clear my name. I spent four years in detention at the hands of the US authorities to prove my innocence before I was eventually exonerated. This was also in the presence of the US prosecutors and other agencies in various countries, like the Republic of Benin, Nigeria. It was after a rigorous trial with pictorial and documentary evidence that I was discharged.”

Kashamu further explained that the case was taken to London and he was acquitted. He added that his accusers should follow legal process if they believed their claims held water.

“I have cleared my name and myself in London. If anybody believes that they have any other case against me, they should come through due process. I am ready to challenge it. I am ready to face it without any problem.

“I have never in my life put my foot into the United States. I have never demanded for their sticker. I have been a businessman right from 18 years old. Up till today, I continue doing my business. My last submission is that I know nothing about what they are saying over there,” he said.

OPINION: No One Is Afraid Of Buruji Kashamu By Adekoya Boladele

Naturally, I find it nauseating to respond to this recidivist asinine posing as a philanthropist and would have directed him to face his drug trial in the United States just like Asiwaju Tinubu did but for posterity and record purposes, one now have to utter this rebuttal.
It is shameful that in a society like ours, individuals like Kashamu can summon such effrontery to distort such indelible and notorious allegations on his criminality let alone aspire to seek political office. It is more gross that such questionable individual will have to sit in the upper chamber of our country's legislative house to make laws and rules that may be used to bring his peers to justice.
I understand to individuals like him, integrity remains oblivious having been traded in the Hulls, on one of his numerous voyage to deliver the crystalline compound, so he may find it hard to believe there are still individuals in the world who expresses themselves without being paid to do so and no volume of parochial write ups can take the place of undiluted conviction.
I am from Ogun East and possess the locus to demand that an alleged fugitive like him, spuriously dragged into the upper chamber to represent my district cleanse himself of the scandalous accusation of drug-related charges. It will be a further dent of whatever is left of the goodwill of this country with someone like him moving round the exalted title of the Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with drug or heroin baggage still as front pocket badge.
If truly Kashamu believes he is innocent of these allegations, I will advice he divert his resources on proving his innocence by visiting the United States, albeit such visit should be embarked upon with adequate backpacks in case of extended stay.
I will be more than willing to organise a mammoth crowd to welcome him at the airport and further organise a grand reception for him if he is acquitted.
Signed
Adekoya Boladale