The Senate President, Dr
Bukola Saraki, was charged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in
Abuja, on a 13-count criminal charge that bordered on corruption, false
declaration of assets, and illegal operation of a foreign bank account while in
office as a public servant, according to report.
The Federal Government
maintained that the action of the Senate President ran contrary to the
provisions of section 2 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, and punishable under
section 15(1) & (2), and 23(2) of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, Laws
of the Federation of Nigeria, as well as paragraph 9 of the Fifth Schedule to
the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Immediately the case was
called, Saraki, who had arrived the tribunal at about 9:35am, flanked by over
25 other Senators, including the Deputy Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu,
declined to indicate his presence by standing up, as usually done by every
accused person that appears before the tribunal for trial.
Highlighting how Saraki ran
to both the Federal High Court and the Appeal Court in Abuja with different
applications all in his futile bid to stop the proceeding of the tribunal,
Rotimi, said:
“My lords, having exhausted
and overstretched the legal process and failed, the Appeal Court ordered him to
come here and face his trial. This court should not be taken for granted
anymore. The accused person was a member of the 7th Senate; they were the ones
that made the law. They saw the lapses and in their effort to sanitize our
criminal justice system, modified the law to the effect that an accused must enter
his plea first before raising preliminary objections. That is what is provided in section 396 of
the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
“My Lords, the judiciary
saved this country yesterday. What would have happened if this tribunal had
yesterday (Monday), made an order that contradicted that of the FHC, or the FHC
issued an order contradicting that of the Appeal Court? That was the kind of
position the accused person wanted to foist on us. The position of the law is
that he should enter the dock and take his plea and I urge your lordships to
order him to do so. Our law is not a respecter of persons, whether kings or
queens. The rule of law is for everybody and must prevail in this case”, the
prosecution counsel insisted.
“I am a firm believer of
the rule of law. I am happy that some of the good works the senate has done in
the justice administration have been made reference to. We were the ones that
passed the Code of Conduct Bureau Act.
“I just want to make this
brief introduction to show you that I believe in the process of the rule of
law. Section 3(d) of the CCB & Tribunal Act says that, if there is a breach
in asset declaration, the CCB shall refer the matter to the CCT, after giving a
defendant an opportunity to either confirm if those facts were true or not,
then the matter shall be referred to the tribunal. I felt that the CCB should
have called me according to the law because we have been talking about new
Nigeria. We have been talking about Nigeria going forward.
“Mr Chairman, as a layman,
I should know why I should be punished like this. We are all watching, we are
all before the world not only before Nigerians, I will conform myself with due
process, that is why I have come here to subject myself before this tribunal. I
strongly believe that I am here today because I am the Senate President. So as
I stated before, I want to say that I am not guilty”, Saraki pleaded.
Similarly, when the 13th
count of the charge was read to him, Saraki, in what appeared like his closing
speech from the dock, claimed that he was only seeing the charge for the first
time.
“Mr. Chairman we have institutions in this country. I want to say that
your institution, the Senate and the judiciary are undergoing test today. I
pray that the interest of this country will lead us to do the right thing to
move this nation forward.
“It
is my humble opinion that this case is a vivid example that there is still
flagrant disregard for due process in our polity. This trial is not only being
observed by Nigerians alone, the international community is watching because
Nigeria is a key member of this community. So, the executive, legislature and
judiciary should do the right thing that will truly demonstrate that we have
imbibed the spirit of positive change”, Dr Saraki said.
Before he could finish, the
prosecuting lawyer urged the court to expunge all his submissions. “My
lords he had sworn to uphold the constitution. He cannot argue points of law
from the dock; that is why he has lawyers.”
While praying the tribunal
to release the Senate President on bail, his lawyer, relied on section 36(b) of
the 1999 constitution and pleaded that he should be given adequate time and
facilities to prepare his case, saying: “My lords, you do not presume that he
is guilty until so is proven”.
The prosecution counsel did
not object to the bail application. The tribunal after noting that the accused
person appeared in court on his own volition, not only acceded to the bail
request, but equally vacated the bench warrant that was issued for his arrest
by the Inspector General of Police.
“The defendant, having
brought himself voluntarily, we are not going to ask him not to go back home.
He will go back and present himself for trial at the next adjourned date”, the
Justice Umar-led tribunal held.
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