I have not spoken on Saraki forgery trial- Atiku

Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) Atiku Abubakar said yesterday that he has not made any comment on the ongoing battle between the leadership of the Senate and the Attorney General of the Federation over the forgery trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.

In a statement made available to the media in Abuja on Monday by his Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, the former Vice President said the last time made any comment on National Assembly matters was in July 2015 during the leadership crisis in the legislature.

The statement said that the former Vice President was taken by surprise that a section of the media choose to take his 2015 comment, rework it and credited same to him in the current battle of supremacy between the Senate and the Attorney General of the Federation.

He said that the last time Atiku Abubakar issued a statement on National Assembly matters was on July 2, 2015, when he called for an amicable resolution of crisis of confidence that arose from the election of principal officers, which bitterly divided the party leaders and their supporters. That statement was titled “It is time to shift ground and move to the centre.”

The statement said further that “it was not within Atiku Abubakar’s power to intervene in support of either side when his intervention was not sought”

It said further that though the former Vice President is not in support of “any row between the executive branch and the legislature, which causes needless distractions at the expense of governance issues demanding attention, his July 2, 2015 statement over internal party tension should not be twisted, reworked and attributed to him in order to make it look like he made a recent comment on the NASS vs AG crisis of confidence”

He admonished the media to treat people fairly by not attributing to them statements they didn’t make; dredging up old statements on different issues and make them appear like their reactions to current issues that have no bearing on each other.