Senate forgery trial: APC, PDP disagree

 
The APC and PDP in Enugu state are engaged in a battle of wits over the trial of Ike Ekweremadu – The PDP said the federal government will be held responsible if anything happens to the deputy Senate president – The APC has asked Ekweremadu to withdraw the letter he wrote to the international community The Enugu state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will hold the federal government responsible if anything happens to one of their illustrious sons, Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy Senate president. A PDP stakeholders meeting was held at the weekend at Awgu, Enugu-West senatorial district to show solidarity to Ekweremadu over what they tagged, “political persecution by the APC-led Federal Government”.kurkuku Ike Ekweremadu and Bukola Saraki in court for forgery trial recently A communiqué issued at the end of meeting and signed by the traditional ruler of Okpanku,Aninri local government area in Enugu state, Igwe Samuel Ukpabi, condemned the trial of the Senate presiding officers, Vanguard reports


The communiqué read: “Ekweremadu is a senator of the Federal Republic elected with an overwhelming mandate of his people and has remained one of Nigeria’s brightest lawmakers, who enjoys the confidence of his colleagues on account of which he was re-elected the deputy senate president for an unprecedented third time. “His re-election into that position did not violate any known convention, practice and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The desperation of the cabal in the APC-led Federal Government to get rid of him by all means is hugely counter-productive and hold ramifying consequences for Nigeria’s political stability and unity. “We would hold the Federal Government squarely responsible should anything untoward happen to Ekweremadu. We therefore condemn the kangaroo trial of the Senate presiding officers and National Assembly bureaucracy in continued contempt for the rule law, revered democratic principles of separation of power, court orders, which constitute a dangerous muscling of the judiciary and ‘abuse of legal process’ (in the words of Justice Kolawole) by the APC-led Federal Government.”APC chair confesses However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has asked Ekweremadu to retract his letter written to the international community over his ongoing forgery trial alongside Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and two others. Speaking at the weekend, Chief Anike Nwoga, the Enugu APC vice chairman said Ekweremadu had desecrated the Constitution, tarnished the image of Nigeria and by extension, President Muhammadu Buhari by that letter. He spoke at a rally held by members of the APC in Awgu town, Enugu state which was attended by were the deputy state chairman, Comrade A.C. Ude; women leader, Lolo Queen Nwankwo; Chief Flavour Eze, who represented the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; special assistant to the president on justice reform, Barrister Julie Ibekaku; director general, Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu and Barrister Sharon Ikeazor. Nwoga said warned Ekweremadu to desist from insulting the president. He noted that Buhari had no hand in Ekweremadu’s travails. “Where is President Buhari in this matter? How is democracy being threatened? Why is he panicky, without exhausting the court process? Senator Hilary Clinton, presumptive presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in the United States, is being tried over her email issue, has she written to United Nations or Nigeria?” he asked. Ekweremadu and Senate President Bukola Saraki are being tried for alleged forgery of the rules of the eighth Senate. Some weeks back, he wrote to the world leaders and international bodies, asking them to come rescue the country from an imminent democratic collapse. He claimed he was being persecuted and that there are plans by the government to silence him as a top opposition member in the country.