Date: 2016-10-08

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, have described the dismissal of forgery suit against them by an Abuja High Court as proof of their innocence.

They said in a statement by Saraki's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja on Friday that the dropping of the case was a vindication of their positions on the matter.

The presiding officers were alleged to have forged the 2015 Senate Standing Order to pave the way for their emergence as President and Deputy President, respectively, of the red chamber.

They said that the court's decision was consistent with their position that the case lacked merit and that the charge of forgery of the Rule could not be substantiated by any fact.

They described the case as "politically-induced distraction", and said that rather than distracting Nigerians, all hands should be on deck to solve economic recession problem destroying homes and creating severe social disorientation in communities.

The duo, however, acknowledged that the Federal Government displayed courage and strength of character in halting the unnecessary waste of precious time of both parties.

According to them, the Federal Government agrees with the defence team that the case lacks merit and therefore should be discontinued. "We express appreciation to all our colleagues in the Senate for their solid support and understanding while the case lasted.

"We also thank other parliamentarians in and out of the country and the international community as a whole for the consistent solidarity and belief in our genuine cause since the commencement of the case.

"Our gratitude goes to our legal team, family members, friends, supporters and civil society organisations, members of the bar, the media and the generality of the people.

"We believe that much time has been wasted in pursuing this needless case and we hope that the same treatment will be extended to other politically-motivated cases.

"It is also hoped that from now on, the various arms of government will be allowed to devote all the available time and resources to working on the problems confronting the country. "What the country needs at this time is a strong economy where a very large percentage of those who are willing to work can be productively engaged.

"A country where there is solid infrastructure, where the atmosphere brings the best out of the people and where all are able to realise their full potential. "We pledge to work for Nigeria to achieve all these," they said.