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Senate President Saraki’s High-Stakes Legal Maneuvers Fails For Now

Senate President Bukola Saraki today received another blow to his attempt to end his prosecution on corruption charges as the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal filed by his lawyers against the Federal Government. The appeal had challenged the powers of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to proceed with his trial and questioned the validity of the charges of false asset declaration against the senator.

Mr. Saraki’s lawyers had asked the appellate court to declare the CCT to be unlawfully constituted, since Nigeria did not yet have a sitting Attorney General who could initiate or authorize the initiation of such prosecution. Mr. Saraki’s legal team therefore pleaded with the Court of Appeal to determine that the CCT lacked the power to assume criminal jurisdiction against him. In delivering its majority verdict today, Justice Moore Adumie, who spoke on behalf of two of the three-judge panel, stated that all the issues raised were of substantial import. On the issue of whether Nigeria’s Solicitor General or any other senior law officers in the Ministry of Justice could initiate a criminal proceeding against Mr. Saraki, the Appeal Court maintained that, in the absence of an Attorney General of the Federation, the Solicitor General is competent and has the power to perform the prosecutorial role. The court also found that the Code of Conduct Tribunal has powers to initiate criminal proceedings against Mr. Saraki, as there was no order from any other court stopping the proceedings at the tribunal. 

According to Justice Adumie, since there was no order compelling the tribunal to stop Mr. Saraki’s trial, the senator’s appeal had become “an academic exercise.” The majority ruling of the Appeal Court also upheld the position of the Code of Conduct Tribunal that the tribunal’s chairman could sit with any members of the tribunal to hear and decide any cases brought before it. The Appeal Court therefore threw out Mr. Saraki’s specific claim that the tribunal lacked a quorum and was improperly constituted to proceed with his prosecution. 

However, in a dissenting decision, Justice Joseph Ekanem allowed the appeal, adding that the Deputy Director, Muslim Hassan, who instituted the charge on behalf of the Federal Government, did not show evidence of authorization from Nigeria’s Solicitor General. The majority judgment has given the CCT the legal authorization to continue with Mr. Saraki’s trial pending the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter. The Senate President’s lead counsel, Mahmud Abubakar Magaji, told reporters that his legal team planned to appeal today’s judgment.

Today’s ruling ends one more chapter in the high-stakes legal and political drama around the case. The Court of Appeal had adjourned its earlier verdict after SaharaReporters reported that Mr. Saraki had used former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alfa Belgore, to broker a judgment ordering the CCT to cease its trial of the senator and former governor of Kwara State. During his tenure at the Supreme Court, Justice Belgore had a history of fraternizing with corrupt government officials.

SaharaReporters also revealed that some key associates of President Muhammadu Buhari, including the director general of the Department of Security Services, Lawal Musa Daura, were working behind the scenes to put an end to Mr. Saraki’s legal ordeal. 

As the case shifts to the Supreme Court, the stakes are bound to be even higher for all parties concerned. 

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Legal