One phase of the triangular legal battles will be at the Code of Conduct Tribunal CCT, where Justice Danladi Umar will be expecting the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase and other security agencies to produce Saraki for arraignment. Saraki refused to appear before the CCT on Friday and sent his team of lawyers led by former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. J.B Daudu (SAN) to file a memorandum of conditional appearance on his behalf. Justice Umar in issuing a bench warrant said that having sworn to protect the constitution Saraki should have shown respect to the tribunal and appeared.
The second leg will be at the Federal High Court Abuja, where Justice Ahmed Mohammed is also expecting the Ministry of Justice, the chairmen of the CCT (Justice Umar) and the Code of Conduct Bureau CCB, Mr. Sam Saba over the charge against Saraki. Justice Mohammed had on Thursday summoned the trio to appear before him today after hearing Dr. Saraki’s ex-parte application.
And the third front is at the Court of Appeal where Saraki has gone to challenge the powers of the CCT to try him as well as the refusal of the tribunal to discharge the bench warrant for his arrest, adding that the CCT acted without jurisdiction by assuming jurisdiction over a charge that is being challenged at the Federal High Court.
The Presidency meanwhile has distanced itself from attempts linking the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to the Presidency. Views to the effect that the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB and the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT can only act upon external instigation are equally uninformed.
A statement by Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President said that there is no place in law that the Bureau and the tribunal should take instructions from any quarters.
As an independent institution equal to any superior court of record, the tribunal is set up by the constitution to determine the issue of default, false declaration or forgery in assets declaration. This therefore is purely a judicial process and has nothing to do with the presidency.
If anyone has an axe to grind with what they are doing, they should do it in a judicial manner by challenging those actions in a proper court of law. Let them hire a good team of lawyers to prove their innocence.
Government has no desire to persecute anybody. The President has vowed to respect the rule of law and this is what he is doing by staying out of this matter. He has said times without number that the war against corruption has no sacred cows.
Even if the President wants to help, there is no way he can do anything. Is he going to ask the judge to stop the trial?
It is purely a judicial process, the type of which are routinely dealt with by the CCB and the CCT.
There are many cases like this that are going on.
The President has sworn to an oath to protect the constitution and will not violate that oath.
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