Saraki not beneficiary of ‘forged’ senate rules – Melaye
- Mumini Abdulkareem
- Jul 23, 2015
- 3 min read
The senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye has dismissed threat raised by some of his colleagues on the legitimacy of the seat of the Senate President.
Melaye, who was speaking on an AIT programme “Focus Nigeria” on Tuesday monitored in Ilorin, maintained that Senator Bukola Saraki is not a beneficiary of any of the allegedly forged rules of the senate since there was no election in his case.
He added that the police should be allowed and encouraged to thoroughly investigate the matter and bring the offenders to book if any.
The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding selection of its principal officers reached a climax last week, with the 'Unity Forum' senators, a faction loyal to Senator Ahmed Lawal, accusing the 'Like Minds' senators and Senate President, Bukola Saraki of conniving to forge the senate rules in order to inaugurate the 8th National Assembly.
The Unity Forum Senators further threatened to approach the court to seek redress in the matter.
But Senator Melaye, while allaying fears regarding the issue, called on his aggrieved colleagues to put the interest of the nation first and position themselves to help President Muhammadu Buhari achieve the change the party promised the electorates.
He therefore called on his colleagues in the APC to, quoting section 60 of the senate rules, which gives the Upper Chamber the power to regulate its own rules, Melaye said what is appropriate in the present situation is for the Senate President to set up a committee after the call for amendment by senators rather than heading to the court.
“Saraki is not a beneficiary of the alleged forged document because there was no election in his case. None of these amended rules has any concomitant effect or impact on him (Saraki)” he added.
On the election of the Deputy Senate President, the spokesman for the 'Like Minds' Senators said “The Senate President has the power to constitute a committee to find out what and who tampered with the rules.
“Senators have the opportunity to point out the areas that have been tampered with and they also have the power by the Rules and Standing Orders of the senate to call for an amendment because section 60 has given us the power to regulate our rules.
“As a first time senator, when I was doing my documentation two days before the inauguration, I was given a copy of the rules and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I have no power to amend it. Let the police do their job and anybody that is found wanting on the issue, let the character be prosecuted either in the bureaucracy or in the senate.
“We have a number of obnoxious laws in this country that we need to either abrogate or amend in terms of policy formation and implementation to make sure that we move forward. We need to also position ourselves to help Mr President from the satanic manifestations of the past rather than continue to raise issues A, B and C.
“If there is sincerity of purpose and commitment, I am more interested in what the general public will benefit from our service. If we go on fighting, dividing ourselves and creating confusion, it is the people who voted us into power that will suffer.”
While maintaining that the issue at hand is not as big as it is made to be seen by his colleagues, the senator said it's high time the senate makes it clear that bureaucracy lacks the power to tamper with senate rules to avoid similar incidence in the future.
“This issue should not create a major distraction in the senate from the primary purpose of why we are at the National Assembly.
“The senate will now have to make it in print clearly that the bureaucracy has no authority or power to tamper with the rules of the senate.
“Once it is expressly stated, unlike what we have now, this mistake or deliberate act will not repeat itself again in the future”, he submitted.
Comments