The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim
Idris, on Wednesday engaged the Senate in a verbal war regarding the legality
or otherwise of the lawmakers’ probe of corruption allegations made against him
by Senator Hamman Misau.
Idris who appeared in the company of
his lawyer, Alex Izinyon, around 2:30 p.m., told the Senate committee headed by
Francis Alimikhena that since the case for which the investigation was ordered
was already in court, it would be subjudice for him to respond to any queries
from the lawmakers.
He added that he decided to appear before
the committee because he needed to comply with the constitutional provisions
which mandate him to honour invitations from the parliament.
However the committee ruled him out of
order, insisting that the judiciary lacks the power to stop the Senate from
performing its constitutional duties.
Idris claimed that the existence of
the committee is against the Standing Rules of the Senate.
To back his argument, the Police boss
cited Order 53(5) of the Standing Rules which states that “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.”
He 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”.
Meanwhile, Izinyon had a heated
argument with the senators, when he earlier stopped the police boss from
responding to questions raised by the committee chairman.
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 got 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 say
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.”
He added “Senator Melaye raised that
case, the matter is already sub judice. I will plead with you to look at the
item and see if everything was captured in the response. Today, an FCT court
has granted an order that this panel should come before it”.
His response did not go down well with
Alimikhena who responded angrily. He told Idris and his lawyer, Izinyon that
the committee had already been set up before they went to court.
He said “You cannot tell us the FCT
High Court has given an order. You cannot tell us what we do not know. This is
a committee 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”.
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