Saraki, other senators sued over Magu’s March 15 screening

Senate president Bukola Saraki and a host of other senators have been dragged before the court over the screening of acting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman Ibrahim Magu on Wednesday, March 15.

The saga between Senate president Saraki  and anti-corruption chief Magu  has taken a new turn The Nation reports that the lawmakers were sued at a Federal High Court Abuja by a Lagos businessman Raji Rasheed Oyewumi who is seeking the nullification of the screening of Magu by the Nigerian Senate.  Oyewunmi also wants the court to declare Bukola Saraki and 10 Senators who are presently being investigated by EFCC as not having the moral right to have participated in the screening of Magu because of conflict of interest. For this reason, he said the court should disqualify Saraki and the 10 Senators from further participating in the screening of Magu and also declare the screening of Magu on March 15 without first referring him to the appropriate committee of the Senate as illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever. The 10 other senators listed as defendants in the suit are: 1. Godswill Akpabio 2. Jonah Jang 3. Aliyu Wammako 4. Stella Oduah 5. Theodore Orji 6. Rabiu Kwankwaso 7. Ahmed Sani 8. Danjuma Goje 9. Joshua Dariye 10. Adamu Abdullahi.

Also joined in the suit are Clerk to the National Assembly, the Senate, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the acting EFCC chairman Magu. Meanwhile, it was gathered that a group of Young Professionals in the All Progressives Congress (APC), known as the APC Young Patriots, have vowed to resist any attempt to undermine the independence of the Senate. The group said it will mobilize against any attempt to malign the person of Dr. Bukola Saraki, the president of the Senate. The APC Young Patriots expressed worry that “some hired agents of the state” have regrouped to launch a wicked onslaught against the Senate, warning that this could derail democracy.