SENATE President, Bukola Saraki, said Friday that he was unperturbed over the decision of the Federal Government to appeal against the judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, which last week, discharged him and acquitted of charges that he had violated the code of conduct for public officers.
Saraki has however accused some people in government whom he described as desperate, working in unison with their collaborators outside the government to pull him down down at all cost and by all means, adding that these persons do not even bother if they destroy the institution of the judiciary in the process.
The Senate President has called on security agencies to immediately commence the process of investigation into alleged bribery of Tribunal Judges.
It would be recalled that the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, had on Wednesday in Abuja, said that he had directed that an appeal be filed against the judgement of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, which had discharged and acquitted Senate President, Bukola Saraki, of charges that he had violated the code of conduct by declaring false documents.
Also recall that after a two- year trial, Saraki was on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 discharged by the Tribunal of the 18 charges preferred against him by the Federal Government. In a statement signed Friday in Abuja by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President who said that he was confident that the verdict at the appellate court would not be different from that of the tribunal, stressed that the facts of the case were still the same, adding that the grounds on which the decision of the CCT was based, remained unassailable.
Yusuph Olaniyonu’s statement read in full, “Following the decision of the Federal Government to file an appeal against the ruling of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) which upheld the plea of no case submission he made on the 18-count charge of false asset declaration preferred against him, Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki wishes to reiterate his earlier position that he remains unperturbed by the development.
“Dr. Saraki is confident that the verdict at the appellate court would not be different from that of the tribunal as the facts of the case remain the same and the grounds on which the decision of the CCT was based remain unassailable. “Anybody who has been following the proceedings and the evidence given by the prosecution witnesses during examination in chief and cross examination would know that if presented before any court of Justice and law, the same outcome as in the CCT would be arrived at. Those who are running commentary on the ruling by the Tribunal and criticizing it are those who are not even familiar with the case and the details coming out of the trial.
“That is why Dr. Saraki continues to wonder how desperate some people in government and their collaborators outside have become to pull him down at all cost and by all means up to the point that they do not care if they destroy the institution of the judiciary in the process.
That is why they sponsored stories of allegation of bribery in an online publication against the Tribunal judges.
The Senate President seizes this opportunity to call on security agencies to immediately commence investigation on this bribery allegation. It is his views that those who made the allegation should be invited to substantiate their claims.
“This same desperation made a man like Prof. Itse Sagay, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC) to appear on tape admitting in a foreign country that he interfered with the process in the Tribunal when in an unethical manner he was instructing the judge on how to conduct the trial. Corruption is not just about giving or diverting money. When an official interferes with the judicial process with a view to achieving personal objectives, that is corruption.
“We hear the same desperate people say there was so much evidence they are surprised at the verdict of the tribunal. But they forget to mention that this was a case that the prosecution counsel amended charges thrice. If as it is being portrayed to the public it was a straight forward case following investigation how come everytime their case was dismantled during the process they went back to amend charges just in desperation to get a conviction?
“The Senate President notes that another sign of desperation by those who want to get him convicted at all cost was the failed antics of the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacob who in collusion with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sought to manipulate evidence at the tribunal. “On realising the fundamental flaw in its case as it did not invite the defendant to make any statement at any point in the investigation, the prosecution brought in an agent of the EFCC to tender old statements Saraki made in a totally different and unrelated matter that had nothing to do with false asset declaration. The prosecution forgot that the letter inviting Saraki to make the tendered statements explicitly mentioned the matter being investigated. However, the tribunal, as it is obvious in its ruling, saw through the dirty trick. It therefore disregarded that piece of evidence and described it as irrelevant and of no value to the case.
.vanguard
