Saraki's Case Gets Messy, Court Panel Lock Horns Over Trial

 The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday morning dismissed the appeal brought by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki against his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

Leader of the Panel in charge of Saraki's case ,Justice Moore Adumen, read the verdict of the three man panel, stating that the Code of Conduct Tribunal, was properly constituted and should proceed

He said,“The immediate question is whether it is a court or not. There is no inherent difference between a court and a tribunal. The only difference is that tribunals in most cases handle special cases".

‎He also placed reliance on paragraph 15(1) of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution and section 20(2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 2004, ‎and held that the two-man panel of Justices at the tribunal formed a quorum to entertain the charge.

Justice Adumein held that the charge was competently instituted, saying the tribunal had the requisite powers to issue bench warrant against Saraki.

He dismissed all five grounds of appeal that Saraki filed before the court for want of merit.
Saraki had gone before the appellate court to query the legality of the charge against him.

Challenging the charge, Saraki queried the constitutionality of the warrant of arrest that was initially issued against him by Chairman of the CCT, Justice Umar.

The embattled Senate President, through his team of lawyers led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. J.B. Daudu, SAN, wants the higher court to ascertain whether the Justice Umar-led panel subscribed to the appropriate legal procedure when ‎it ordered him to mount the dock and enter his plea to the charge despite preliminary objections against his trial.

He described the criminal proceeding that was initiated against him by the Federal Ministry of Justice as‎ “a politically motivated witch-hunt”.
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He begged the appellate court to quash the proceeding of the tribunal and discharge him but his  plea was refused by two members of the appeal court panel today.