Appeal Court Dismisses Saraki’s Appeal Against CCT Trial

BEVERLY HILLS, October 26, (THEWILL) – The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has again ruled that the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, has the jurisdiction to try the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki on charges bordering on false assets declaration.

The Justice Abdul Aboki-led panel of the appellate court, while ruling on the appeal filed by Saraki on Thursday, affirmed CCT’s jurisdiction over the matter, after dismissing the appeal filed by Saraki challenging his trial before the tribunal.

All the four other members of the panel unanimously agreed with the lead judgment delivered by Justice Aboki‎ who resolved all the eight issues formulated for determination against Saraki.

In affirming the earlier ruling of the Danladi Umar-led CCT that affirmed the tribunal’s jurisdiction, Justice Aboki held among others that contrary to Saraki’s contention, the Attorney-General of the Federation had the power to institute charges against him before the CCT.

The Court of Appeal also ruled that the Code of Conduct Tribunal was not under any obligation, under the Constitution, to invite the appellant to enable him to make written admission of breaches in his asset declaration forms before charges could be initiated against him.

It held that the tribunal had rightly departed from its earlier decision exonerating a former Governor of Lagos State and the ruling All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu‎ on account that he was not invited by the CCB to confront him with the allegations levelled against him.

Justice Aboki, who also held that the fact that the charges were initiated 13‎ years after the offences were allegedly committed was immaterial, described the contention as sentimental which the court had been enjoined not to delve into.

This makes it the second time that the appellate court would be delivering judgment on the same subject matter of jurisdiction of the CCT to try the Senate President. It had last year ruled against Saraki on the jurisdiction of the CCT and asked him to proceed to face the 16 counts preferred against him.

The judgment of the appeal court was validated by the Supreme Court, which threw out Saraki’s appeal for lacking merit, ruling that the CCT was properly constituted to exercise jurisdiction over Saraki’s trial.

Story by Ugonnabo Ngwu