Senator Ndume Calls For Investigation Of Saraki, Melaye Over Forgery Scandals

Senator Ali Ndume on Tuesday called for an investigation into Senators Bukola Saraki and Dino Melaye over allegations of Customs documents forgery and university certificate forgery, respectively.

Mr. Ndume was prompted to call for the investigation after SaharaReporters uncovered the scandals.

investigation revealed on Saturday that Mr. Saraki had his bulletproof Range Rover SUV confiscated by Nigeria Customs Service officials in January 2017 because he had forged the duty payment document and end-user certificate required for importing the vehicle.

On Monday, SaharaReporters revealed that Mr. Melaye forged his graduation certificate from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU).

Remarking that the scandals were insulting and embarrassing to the Senate, Mr. Ndume called on the ethics committee to investigate the embattled senators.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, presiding over the Senate in the absence of Mr. Saraki, who is facing separate corruption charges at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), subsequently referred the matter to the ethics committee. The committee will report its findings to the Senate within the next four weeks.

Senators speaking anonymously to SaharaReporters, however, doubt that the ethics committee will indict the two senators, as the committee is populated by their close political allies.