• Police boss appears before Senate, refuses to answer questions
• No court can stop us –Committee chair
BY BENEDICT ODINAKA EZSEOKA writing for ODOGWU MEDIA.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, yesterday, told a Senate
ad-hoc committee investigating allegations leveled against him that he
would not respond to questions.
The IGP, who appeared in company with his
lawyer, Alex Izinyon, at about 2.30pm, told the committee, headed by
Senator Francis Alimikhena, that since the case was already in court it
would be sub judice for him to respond to questions from lawmakers. He also claimed that the existence of the committee was against the Standing Rules of the Senate.
This is coming at a time supporters of IGP Idris stormed the National Assembly in solidarity. When asked question by one of the
senators, the IGP said: “I will not make any oral comment or answer any
question in respect of the allegations in view of the various civil and
criminal cases pending in the law courts, more especially when the
senator has already been arraigned in court in respect of this matter. “I decided to appear before this Senate
committee on the allegations out of high respect I have for the Senate
and my respect for the rule of law.
“Furthermore, it is expected that the
Senate and the committee will refrain from making references to the
issues, as it will be against Order 41 (7) and 53 (5) of the Senate
Standing Orders 2 (15) as amended.”
Order 1(a) of the Senate Standing Rules
states: “The proceedings in the Senate and in all committees of the
Senate shall be conducted in accordance with the following Standing
Orders:
Order 41(7) of the Standing Rules states:
“The Senate shall not receive any petition on any matter for which
there is a judicial remedy.”
Also, Order 53(5) states: “Reference
shall not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending
in such a way as might, in the opinion of the president of the Senate,
prejudice the interest of parties thereto.”
IGP Idris’ lawyer had a heated argument
with senators, when he stopped the police boss from responding to
questions raised by the committee chairman, Alimikhena.
He said: “I represent the IGP. I want to
state that we have very high respect for the Senate. In pursuant of the
invitation, we decided to be here to demonstrate that we have nothing to
hide. I have gotten instructions from the IGP. We have responded to all
the allegations raised, word-to-word, to the committee.
“This is an ad-hoc committee. There are
rules. I am urging you to use your rules. In October 2015, a similar
case arose between an ad-hoc committee and Rotimi Amaechi. Ethics
committee was asked to investigate him. Because the case was before a
court in Rivers State, the Senate suspended it.
“The Standing Rules of the Senate says
that when a case is in court, any reference to it may be prejudice.
Nigerians are interested in this. We are saying this in the interest of
justice. We are not hiding anything at all. I am only drawing your
attention to precedents set by the Senate.”
Izinyon’s response did not go down well
with Senator Alimikhena, who responded angrily. He told Idris and his
lawyer that the committee was set up before they went to court.
“You cannot tell us the FCT High Court
has given an order. You cannot come here and tell us what you know. This
is a committee set up by the Senate. It was set up before you went to
court. The court is interfering with our work. Let us stick with the
truth. The Senate is not out to witch-hunt anybody. If you are going to
court, it does not stop the Senate from probing the virement made by the
police boss. You cannot stop that,” he said.
Izinyon retorted: “The law is clear. If
there is any virement, the Senate will not look at it. It is a criminal
offence and it is not the Senate that should handle that.”
Senator Hope Uzodinma, who is also a
member of the committee pleaded with Alimikhena to adjourn the hearing
to allow the committee study the content of the written response of the
IGP.
“I want to caution you. We are all
statesmen in the country. We are all one. If we must succeed as a
country, we must create a synergy where both arms must work together.
The SAN, you must agree with me that this is not a law court. You will
do us a favour to resolve differences between these parties.
“The Standing Rules says ‘if its the
opinion of the Senate president.’ Are you the Senate president? This
matter needs to be resolved in a manner that Nigerians will be happy. If
we issue a warrant, the IGP will bring himself. I do not even know why
the IGP cannot speak for himself.
“We want to see the allegations before us
and see how we can resolve them, in the interest of the country. If the
IGP is not in a position to speak, in my view, he can submit his
defence. We can look into it and decide how to move forward. This is a
parliament.”
Senator Obinna Ogba also appealed that the hearing be suspended.
“Having heard what the IGP said, I have
seen some documents we need to study. I want to appeal to the chairman
to give us time to study the documents and invite the IGP later,” he
said.
Senators Joshua Lidani, Suleiman Hukunyi, Abdulaziz Nyako and Nelson Effiong who also spoke, called for an adjournment.
Lidani said: “I think it makes sense for
us to study the documents. From the chairman’s reaction, it appears the
preliminary objections will not be entertained. We have just been served
this documents. We will study it. We will determine if you have been
able to address the issues raised.
“Senator Misau raised the issue because
he said his privileges were abused. It was not a public petition. We
need time to look at the documents you submitted. If the issues are not
adequately addressed, we will call you again. If there is no need, we
will not call you. We are not witch-hunting anybody.”
Effiong, on his part, noted: “The IGP is
an appointee of the president. Whatever the IGP does speaks volumes of
the person of the president. Let us adjourn to look at the documents.”
Hukunyi remarked: “I think some key
points have been highlighted, which I completely align with. One of them
is the possibility of adjourning this meeting. He has read his own
side, rightly or wrongly. The lawyer to the IGP may have to review some
of the things he said. He said virement is a criminal offence. He is
wrong. The executive is aware of this fact. It has been raised that part
of the responsibility of this committee goes beyond the issues that are
now in court. With due respect, as high as your office is, the nature
of the issues raised is not good for the IGP or the Senate. These issues
need to be cleared. This is the reason this committee was put in
place.’
Senator Nyako added: “I think all of us
should understand that the attitude here is not us versus them. We are
not here to witch-hunt the executive. There are issues that have been
raised. We need to address these allegations. At the end of the day, the
police may even benefit more from this. We will study your documents
and address the issues.”
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant
to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, told
the committee that the presidency would explore a multi-door option in
resolving the issue.
“We are glad for the warm reception. We
are not here out of honour. We are here out of constitutional
provisions. We respect the job and powers of the legislature. We thank
you for inviting us. We also appreciate what you have said, that you
want to have an adjournment. I am hoping that this adjournment will
pursue other multi-door options to resolve this issues,” he said.
Alimikhena adjourned the committee’s
sitting indefinitely. He, however, said the Senate has the power to
entertain virement, saying the issue had nothing to do with the court.
“Coming here is your duty. When you are summoned by the parliament, you must come. It is a not a favour,” he said.
. I want to tell you that the issue of
virement is the function of the parliament. It is not something that
should be handled by the court.
This committee came up before you went to
court. The court is interfering with our committee. If we need you
again, you will respond,” he concluded.
In a related development, hundreds of
protesters yesterday took over the entrance of the National Assembly to
show solidarity with the IGP Idris.
The convener of the protest, Gloria
Ugbeji, said such solidarity march was important based on the various
reforms the police chief had brought to the service.
She said it was important for IGP Idris to be “left alone to focus on what he is doing.”
IGP IDRIS IBRAHIM CHALLENGED NIGERIAN SENATE.
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, November 09, 2017
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