Court of Appeal to Saraki: You have case to answer

The headlines of the mainstream Nigerian newspapers for Wednesday, December 13, are focused on the judgement of the court of Appeal which asked Senate president Saraki to go back to the CCT for fresh trial.

The Punch reports the Court of Appeal held that the prosecution failed to lead sufficient evidence in support of the 15 grounds.

Meanwhile, Saraki has indicated his readiness to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the validity of the three counts upheld by the Court of Appeal against him.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sani Onogu, quoted Saraki’s counsel, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), as saying the judgment would be studied and that the apex court would be invited to adjudicate on the three charges with a view to getting them nullified.

But the court ruled that Saraki, a former Governor of Kwara State, had a case to answer with respect to three of the counts numbered 4, 5 and 6.

Justice Akomolafe-Wilson, who prepared and read the lead ruling, held that there was “ample” evidence, led by the prosecution, to warrant the Senate President to open his defence in respect of the three counts.

With the Tuesday’s judgment of the Court of Appeal, Saraki will now return to the CCT to open his defence in respect of the three counts.

“It is ordered that this case be remitted to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the respondent (Saraki) to enter his defence,” the Court of Appeal ruled.

In Count 4, which was sustained by the Court of Appeal, Saraki was accused of making false asset declaration at the end of his tenure as the governor of Kwara State in 2011 and on assumption of office as a Senator in 2011 in respect of a property at 17A McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Thisday reports that the Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday upheld the ruling of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), which had discharged and acquitted the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on 15 of the 18 false asset declaration charges preferred against him by the federal government.

However, the appellate court referred him back to the tribunal to enter his defence on three charges, for which he had been discharged and acquitted by the CCT.

But his counsel, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN) said the judgment would be swiftly studied, adding that the Supreme Court would be approached to adjudicate and reverse the Court of Appeal’s decision on the three charges.

Usoro’s statement was reaffirmed by another one issued by Saraki’s media adviser, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, who said that the Senate President’s lawyers would review the grounds of the decision on the three charges and take appropriate action, but maintained that the verdict on the 15 charges had vindicated Saraki.

Counsel to the federal government, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) also said that his team would study the judgment and decide on the next line of action.

The Appeal Court had upheld the ruling of the CCT on the remaining 15 counts on the grounds that the prosecution was not able to prove the charges against the Senate President.

A three-man panel of the court led by Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson, in a judgment delivered yesterday on the appeal by the federal government against the ruling of the CCT, held that the prosecution established a prima facie case against the respondent in counts 4, 5 and 6.

Counts 4, 5 and 6 border on the purchase of two properties – Nos. 17 A and B, McDonald Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, by Saraki.

In view of this, the appellate court therefore remitted the case to the CCT for the Senate President to open his defence in the said charges.

Delivering its judgment on the federal government’s appeal of the ruling of the CCT, Justice Akomolafe-Wilson in the 70-page unanimous ruling held that there was no evidence to substantiate 15 of the 18 charges against Saraki.

According to the Court of Appeal, the prosecution established that there were discrepancies in the claims on the asset declaration forms on how the two houses in Ikoyi were acquired.

Consequently, the panel held that the Senate president needed to provide explanations on the discrepancies established by the prosecution that the properties he claimed were bought from the sale of rice and sugar in his asset declaration form were bought from loans acquired from a commercial bank.

The Nation reports that the Court of Appeal in Abuja has reversed Senate President Bukola Saraki’s acquittal of false assets declaration charges.

The appellate court, in a unanimous judgment by a three-man panel, led by Justice Tinuade Akomolafe Wilson, ordered Saraki to return to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for the continuation of his trial.

The court held that the prosecution led direct and credible evidence to establish a prima facie case against Saraki in three of the 18 counts contained in the charge for which he was tried.

he counts on which Saraki is to enter defence are 4, 5 and 6 in relation to his alleged failure to declare some houses he acquired in Ikoyi, Lagos.

In Count 4, Saraki is alleged to have falsified his Assets Declaration at the end of his tenure as Kwara State Governor in 2011 and on assumption of office as a senator in 2011 when he declared that he acquired No. 17A, McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The prosecution contended that the defendant falsely declared that he had acquired No 17A, McDonald, Ikoyi on 6th September 2006 from the proceeds of sale of rice and sugar.

In Count 5, he is also alleged to have falsified his Assets Declaration at the end of his tenure as Governor of Kwara State in 2011 and on assumption of office as a senator in 2011 when he declared that he acquired No. 17B, McDonald, Ikoyi Lagos.

The prosecution contended that the defendant falsely declared to have acquired No. 17A, McDonald, Ikoyi on 6th September 2006 from proceeds of sale of rice and sugar.

In Count 6, Saraki is accused of making a false declaration in the Assets Declaration Form at the end of tenure as governor in 2007 and on assumption of office as executive governor in 2007 when he failed to declare his outstanding loan liabilities of N315,054,355.92 out of the loan of N380,000,000 obtained from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

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Vanguard reports that Northern senators, yesterday, replied their Southern counterparts on their call on President Muhammadu Buhari to consider report of 2014 national conference.

Chairman, Northern Senators Forum, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who spoke for the forum at yesterday’s retreat of Northern senators in Katsina, Katsina state, said it is unfair for Southern senators to ask the president to implement a report to which he was not part of.

He described the call as a fallacy borne out of ignorance, adding that those who put their trust in the report have not even read it, saying there was nothing in it.

Recall that Southern senators had in their retreat in Calabar, last month, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, summon a conference to consider the report of the 2014 National Conference. Why Buhari can’t implement report Adamu said: “Some of the agitators for restructuring are urging President Buhari to implement the report of the Jonathan conference because they believe the country’s political and economic future lies dormant now in the report.

“This, I am sorry to say, is a fallacy borne out of ignorance. I can safely bet that those who put their trust in the report have not even read it.

“Although it treats restructuring extensively, it actually fell back on the status quo. It is mealy-mouthed about fiscal federalism.

“The conference report is not the open sesame to a restructured Nigeria. The fact that the man who convened it, President Goodluck Jonathan, did not believe in its work effectively sealed its fate.

“It is unfair to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to implement a report to which he was not a party. He was not privy to its underlying philosophy or its primary objectives. Where would he start from?

“We must also interrogate the legitimacy of the conference itself. Was it convened in accordance with the extant laws of the land? Was it intended to usurp the constitutional functions of the National Assembly?’

The Guardian reports that the House of Representatives yesterday uncovered how the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) flouted the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy by depositing over N50 billion in various commercial banks.

Consequently, it summoned the NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Maikanti Baru, to appear before its ad hoc committee probing implementation of the policy next week Wednesday.

The committee, led by Mr. Abubakar Nuhu Danburam, also directed the NNPC to produce proof the breach was carried out with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources. The directive came after a member of the committee, Mr. Simon Arabo (Kaduna, PDP), questioned the genuineness of a letter purportedly signed by Mr. Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, conveying Buhari’s consent to lodge the amount in commercial banks.

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Another member of the committee, Mr. Edward Pwajok, maintained it was mandatory Kyari appeared before the committee, given the seriousness of the issue.“We need to see the evidence of the directive. As an investigative committee, we need to get to the bottom of the issue, as to whether it was in line with the provisions of the constitution or extant regulations,” said Pwajok.

Though Danburam failed to rule on Kyari’s appearance, he directed the chief executive officers (CEOs) of all the country’s commercial banks to appear before the committee next week Wednesday to explain their roles in warehousing the money.

The directive followed revelation by an official of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Dipo Fatokun, who testified before the lawmakers that implementation of the TSA policy was yet to score 100 per cent compliance.

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Source: Naija.ng