The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, yesterday, challenged the powers of the Federal High Court to stop the police from investigating the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended), even as he said the police was not taking sides on the matter.
The police boss stated that rather, investigating the alleged forgery in the Senate would strengthen the integrity of the upper legislative house and its leadership.
Also, Arase submitted that neither the Senate President and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, nor any other Nigerian citizen,has immunity over criminal investigations.
Confirming that the Senate Standing Order 2015 (as amended) was forged, the police stated in its counter affidavit: “The present Senate has not enacted any standing orders yet.
“As at the time of inauguration of this present Senate, no standing orders have been made. Till date, no such standing orders have so far been made.
“The practice is that at inauguration, the incoming Senate uses the standing orders of the preceding Senate.
“The Immediate past Senate did not amend the 2011 standing orders and the 2011 standing orders have not yet been amended.”
The document, which was deposed to by Joshua Yohanna, of the Legal/Prosecution Department, Force CIID, further averred:
“I know that the plaintiff cannot prove that the so-called 2015 standing orders were passed by the preceding Senate.
“That the so-called 2015 standing orders were never made nor passed by the immediate past Senate.
“The plaintiff knows that the present Senate President was not in a position to have passed the 2015 Senate Standing Orders before his inauguration.”
“The plaintiff knows that it is only after inauguration that the current Senate could pass the Senate standing orders. That what he is bandying about is not an authorized Senate standing order.”
Accordingly, the police urged the Judge of the court, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, to throw out the suit filed by Senator Gilbert Nnaji, representing Enugu East, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP], seeking to stop the police from investigating the issue, as it is merely of a nuisance value.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of the “Unity Forum”, who signed the petition to the police, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, has applied to be joined in the suit filed by Nnaji as an interested party.
His motion dated August 3, 2015, was filed by his counsel, Mamman Osuman [SAN] pursuant to orders 9 rule 15 [1], order 26 rule 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Federal High Court [Civil Procedure] Rules 2009.
In the said application, Hunkuyi submitted that as a member of the current eight Senate of the National Assembly and the initiator of the petition, he has sufficient interest in the suit to entitle him to be joined as third defendant.
Osuman submitted that, “where an applicant seeking to be joined as a party in a proceeding establishes that he/it has an interest in the subject matter of an action and/or in the eventual result or outcome of such an action, the application for joinder ought to be granted as per the Supreme Court decision in Ige vs Farinde [1994] 7 NWLR] [pt. 354] 42 at page 65.”
The Inspector General of Police in his memorandum of conditional appearance filed by Elder David Abuo, attacked the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit and the locus standi of the plaintiff to file the action.
Relying on the case of Hassan vs EFCC [2014] 1 NWLR [pt. 1389], the lawyer submitted: “No court has the power to stop the investigation powers of the Police or EFCC or any agency established, under our laws to investigate crimes, whether there is reasonable suspicion of commission of crime or ample evidence of commission of an offence by a suspect.”
Besides, the police argued that the matter at hand raises issues of criminality and the force owes Nigerians the duty to unearth the truth behind the allegations of forgery.
In addition, Abuo contended that the plaintiff has not shown what he has suffered or lost in this action as he is neither the Senate President nor Deputy Senate President and not an officer of the Senate.
He further argued that every Nigerian citizen can be investigated for crime as there is no immunity against investigation in all civilized countries, Nigeria inclusive.
Earlier, counsel to the plaintiff, Peter Nwakolo, told the court that he needed time to respond to the notice of preliminary objections filed by the Inspector General of Police and the application for joinder.
In his ruling, Justice Kolawole, who said he could not make an order for status quo to be maintained, because it could be misinterpreted, adjourned proceedings to August 8, 2015, when it would be heard by another Judge of the court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola.
The Sun.
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