Ojudu, Enang and Marafa insisted that they were not
aware of any amendments to the 2011 Senate Standing
Orders.
Three prominent Senators who served in the 7th Senate
have frowned at the 2015 edition of the Senate Standing
Orders as amended saying it was forged.
The senators led by the Chairman, Senate Committee on
Rules and Business in 7th Senate, Senator Ita Enang, Sen
Babafemi Ojudu, who represented Ekiti Central and Sen
Kabir Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central have
denied the claims of any amendment of the rules and
electoral process.
Read ‘Deputy Senate President will cause problems for
Buhari,’ APC leader says »
Ojudu, Enang and Marafa insisted that they were not aware
of any amendments to the 2011 Senate Standing Orders.
In a report by The Punch, Enang explained that the Standing
Orders that should have been used for the inauguration of
the 8th Senate is the Standing Orders that was used and
closed within the 7th Senate.
In his words, 'I made proposal for amendments between
2011 and 2015, I laid the report on the floor, but we did not
consider the report. We did not amend the Standing Orders.
'Before we left, I had approved the reprinting of the Standing
Orders and the reprinting did not include inserting anything
which was not in the old one. Reprinting is, simply
reproduce what we have because there are no more copies,'
he added.
On his part, Ojudu expressed shock saying, 'There were no
amendments at all. I spoke with Senator Ita Enang, who was
the custodian of the rules and he expressed shock. Any
amendments done to the Senate Rules which we used in the
7th Senate is criminal and perpetrators should be charged
for forgery.'
For Marafa, the Standing Orders were forged and the ex-
Senator queried the rationale and personalities behind such
act.
In his words, 'The problem is that the senate was
inaugurated using a forged document. Who forged that
document? We can’t gloss over or sweep that criminality
under the carpet, Nigeria is not a Banana Republic!
'The insertion of order 3 (2 iv) & 3 (3e i-iiii) in the 2015
edition is a deliberate act perpetrated by fifth columnists
operating within the National Assembly to sabotage the
government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
'It was done to cause friction, disaffection and generate bad
blood among senators from different zones and provoke
confusion in the senate with the sole aim of stagnating
government business to give them time to perfect their
agenda,' he explained.
Acting on a petition by Sen Sulaiman Hunkuyi representing
Kaduna State, the police had on July 6, 2015 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 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.