Senate rules forgery means constitution can be doctored – Yadudu

Yadudu said if senators could resort to forgery to change their standing rules, Nigerians were at the risk of having the country’s constitution changed illegally.Yadudu, who teaches Law at the Bayero University Kano (BUK) was reacting to the report that quoted the Police as confirming that the Senate Standing Orders had been forged.“The police have […]

Yadudu said if senators could resort to forgery to change their standing rules, Nigerians were at the risk of having the country’s constitution changed illegally.
Yadudu, who teaches Law at the Bayero University Kano (BUK) was reacting to the report that quoted the Police as confirming that the Senate Standing Orders had been forged.
“The police have investigated and they have found out that indeed there was no such genuine amendment of the rule. If this is a fact, it raises three important issues.
“One, there is a pure allegation of criminal act which should be investigated and whoever is found wanting in perpetrating this criminal act of forgery in the changing of the standing rule of the Senate should be held criminally liable.
“This is regardless of who is involved, it may be members of the seventh Senate; it may be the Clerk to Assembly or any other persons. 
“This has nothing to do with the election of the leadership of the Senate but there is a  criminal act perpetrated by those the law enforcement agencies are obliged to investigated and whoever is found involve must be held to account,” he said.
“Two, if this is proven, then it raises a very serious legal and constitutional issue pertaining to the trust that the public has in the lawmakers. Regardless of whether it is an election or what have you, if the lawmakers can forged their standing rule, then the public will lose trust in whatever action they take by way of lawmaking.
“The public are entitled to question the trust they have given the lawmakers to make laws. This is not a theoretical issue because if the legislators in the upper chamber can resort to changing standing rules, how are we sure that someday they will not change the constitution illegally? 
“For the lawmakers to engage in act of changing and amending their own standing rules it questions the very foundation of the trust that the public has in them to make laws for us and also to take decision that affect our welfares.
“Thirdly, the current leadership of the Senate is obliged to explain whether this allegation of forgery is true or unfounded,” he said.