The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday described as baseless and untrue; position of the Senate alleging that the move to arraign the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu and few others over alleged forgery of the senate standing rules.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the AGF on Media and Publicity Comrade Salisu Othman Isah and made available to newsmen, the AGF stated that he is not unaware of the doctrine of separation of powers.
According to the statement, ” the AGF is not unaware of the doctrine of separation of powers and it is also not in doubt that each arm of government is constitutionally vested with distinct powers.
“Looking critically at the doctrine of the separation of powers, it is a practice that exist on a tripod viz, the executive, legislature and judiciary with clearly distinctive functions and responsibilities as captured under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). So, by virtue of this, we are committed to the rule of law and will thus keep to the tenets of the rule of law as enshrined in a constitutional democracy like ours.
“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation is empowered under Section 174 (1) of the Constitution and vested with the power to undertake and initiate criminal proceedings in any court of law in Nigeria. By virtue of this power as the Chief Law Officer of the nation, he has simply initiated criminal proceedings for forgery against the affected principal officers in the Senate for altering the Senate Standing Rules in the Federal High Court.
“It is worthy to note here that the action of the Attorney General of the Federation can stand the test of any law since he did not act on a vacuum. He acted based on a recommendation by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) who having fully satisfied investigative procedure arising from the petition sent to the Nigerian Police by some aggrieved members of the Red Chambers of the National Assembly alleging that the affected officers altered the rules of the Senate for Dr. Bukola Saraki and Ike Ekweremadu to emerge leaders of the Eighth Senate of the National Assembly. And under the 1999 Constitution, only the Attorney General of the Federation has the powers to institute criminal proceedings” the statement added.
It would be recalled that Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Affairs had in a statement dated and signed on June 19, 2016 described the planned arraignment of Saraki and his deputy over the alleged ‘Forgery as an Unconstitutional Violation of Principles of Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances.