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| Senator Ekweremadu, Deputy Seanate President, Nigeria |
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By Patrick Egwu & Ifunanya
Ozougwu, Enugu
(Enugu, Nigeria)Ohaneze Ndigbo National youth wing, has called on the federal
government to stop persecuting the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike
Ekweremadu, over the alleged forgery of the senate standing rule.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth who made the call after an emergency meeting
held recently said that, Chief Ekweremadu, in their estimation, is being
vilified because he is an Igboman, and therefore, appealed that the persecution
should stop forthwith.
In a release signed by the National President of the Ohanaeze
Ndigbo Youth Wing, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, posited that Ekweremadu is being
persecuted for no just cause by the Federal Government using the instruments of
the judiciary.
The released pointed out that they have looked into the case very
well and have come to the conclusion that Ekweremadu is not culpable and should
be let off the hook.
The Ohanaeze Youth Wing is also convinced that the federal
government is using the Attorney General of the Federation to make a mountain
out of a mole seeing that Ekweremadu is clean.
The release reads as follows: "having considered all the
facts of the matter, the Ohaneze youth wing is convinced that the Deputy Senate
President- Senator Ike Ekweremadu, CFR, is being persecuted by the federal
government using the instruments of the judiciary.
"All available evidence points to the fact that Ekweremadu's
prosecution nay persecution is politically motivated because he is an Igbo man,
belongs to President Buhari’s 5 per cent. He is a member of the opposition
party, and emerged along with the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki
against the dictates of those who want to run the National Assembly from their
bedrooms.
"Firstly, neither him nor the Senate President were mentioned
anywhere in the report of the police investigation. So, how did they generate
their names for prosecution and who did so?
"Secondly, the principle of fair hearing, a fundamental
aspect of our jurisprudence was not adhered to since Ekweremadu and Saraki were
never interviewed by the Police till date.
"We are not surprised that the AGF has written the
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to conduct further investigation into the
matter stating that the investigation was, in his word, “inconclusive,” the
release points out.
The release continues: "This then justifies the harsh tone
with which the AGF was reprimanded by Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal
High Court, Abuja over what His Lordship termed a “gross abuse of legal
process" and “desperate haste” to prosecute the case. He further stated
that the prosecution of the duo while a case challenging police investigation
into the Senate's affairs was still pending before him was an aberration of
justice by the same man that should protect the interest of justice.
"Therefore, in the interest of national unity, we demand that
the federal government refrain from political witch-hunting and ethnic
persecution so as to bring everybody together to pull Nigeria out of the
doldrums. At this moment when Nigerians are suffering intensely owing to
economic recession, there is need for closer collaboration between all arms of
government and bipartisan co-operation borne out of patriotism. As such, the ruling party- the APC must work
with the opposition party-the PDP to move Nigeria forward.
"In the light of the above, we call on Justice Haliru Yusuf
of the FCT High Court to save the Judiciary from further embarrassment, take
Justice Kolawole’s ruling into cognizance, and strike out the case for lack of
merit and abuse of court process.
"The AGF in particular should desist from bringing his
revered office to disrepute by endlessly shopping for cooked-up evidence to
bring down Ekweremadu and Saraki in order to render the legislature toothless.
The group alleged that the AGF obviously has a vested interest in
the matter since he was the lawyer to the Unity Forum Senators in the so-called
forgery matter before his appointment as the AGF.
The release concluded by saying that the AGF should honorably
resign if he cannot separate his personal interest from national interest and
the law.
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