Standing Order Used For Saraki Election A Fake, Say Ex-Senators

Niyi Odebode, John Alechenu And Sunday Aborisade

Senators who served in the 7th Senate, on Saturday, disowned the 2015 edition of the Senate Standing Orders as amended.

The senators who are from different political parties, said they were not aware of any amendments to the 2011 Senate Standing Orders.

Acting on a petition by Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi (All Progressives Congress, Kaduna State), the police had on July 6 quizzed the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, over an alleged forgery of the standing orders.

The ‘forged’ orders were said to have been used in the election of Ekweremadu and the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki.

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on Thursday that the police said that they would release the report on their investigation into the alleged forgery this week.

The petition alleged that some parts of the 2015 Senate Orders were different from the one ratified by the 6th Senate in 2010, which was used by the 7th Senate as Standing Orders 2011.

One of our correspondents who perused both orders, reports that in the 2015 Senate orders, Rule 3 as contained on page four of the standing rule, which has to do with the election of presiding officers, is different from the 2011 Senate Order. Read full on Punch