Bukola Saraki, Nigeria’s senate president, on Thursday, May 4, 2017 told the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, that he intends to file a no-case submission.
This implies that he is not opening a defence, but asking the tribunal to discharge him because there is no case against him.
Paul Erokoro (SAN), counsel to Saraki, asked the tribunal for leave to file the application of no-case submission instead of opening a defence.
This was after Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the federal government and prosecution, told the tribunal that he had closed his case.
Jacobs had called his fourth and last witness – Bayo Daudu, a senior staff member of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and account officer of the senate president, on Thursday.
Danladi Umar, chairman of the tribunal, adjourned the case till June 8 for adoption of written addresses.
Saraki is facing charges of false asset declaration brought against him by the Buhari government. The trial has been marked by heated exchanges between defence counsel and the tainted chairman of the CCT.
While making a ruling against Saraki in May 2016, Danladi admitted to being “under serious influence” when making a different ruling on the exact same submission in the case of Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the APC in 2011. The judge has been indicted in an EFCC investigation over a N10 million bribery case.
Curiously, despite documentary evidence, the EFCC cleared Danladi of any wrongdoing.
The senate president’s case has been labelled as a witchhunt by the Muhammadu Buhari regime and the All Progressives Congress, APC, an attack that began after he emerged the senate leader against the wishes of chieftains of the ruling part.
