The prosecution and the defence counsel have agreed on next Friday, March 18, 2016, for the argument of the motion on jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to try Senate President Bukola Saraki on allegation of false asset declaration slammed against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
President of the CCT Danladi Umar, asked the defence to ensure that he served all motions and processes on the prosecution counsel to avoid further delay of the trial.
He therefore adjourned the case to Friday, to move the motion and possible hearing of the substantive matter.
The Senate President sat in the dock as lawyers for the prosecution and the defence exchanged arguments.
Meanwhile, the third most powerful politician in the nation appeared in court on Friday with 66 lawyers on his defence team.
Saraki’s lead counsel Kanu Agabi, took about 10 minutes to read the long list of advocates and for them to acknowledge their presence at the CCT.
Saraki is facing 13 counts of false declaration of assets relating to his time as governor of Kwara State.
There was no immediate explanation about why so many lawyers were needed, but it is not the first time in Nigeria a defendant has hired such a profusion of briefs.
Last month, Rickey Tarfa, a prominent lawyer facing charges of obstruction of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice, appeared in court in Lagos with a 90-strong defence team.
The judge in that case said such a huge number amounted to “harassment and intimidation of the court.”
Saraki’s case has been seen as a test of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign, given his position in the hierarchy after the head of state and his deputy Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari is trying to stamp out endemic corruption and impunity. Several high-profile politicians and public figures have been arrested, charged and are now standing trial.
Saraki, who denies buying real estate he did not declare with stolen public money, has challenged the competence of the tribunal to try him all the way to the Supreme Court.
The apex body last month ordered the trial to go ahead. But the case was adjourned again until March 18, as Agabi said a fresh application had been lodged over the jurisdiction of the tribunal, which handles cases of bureaucrats accused of graft.
Prosecutor Rotimi Jacobs described the new defence motion as “a deliberate attempt to scuttle today’s trial so that this matter will not go on.”
.Vanguard