Bench warrant against Saraki: Sultan, Emir of Ilorin, Atiku call Buhari

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The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on Friday issued a bench warrant against the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki.
The tribunal, presided over by its chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, to arrest Saraki and present him before the tribunal on Monday.
Minutes after the order was given, Freedom Online learned that the Sultan of Sokoto, Amirul Mumineen Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, called President Muhammadu Buhari to see him “urgently”.
A presidential source declared that while the monarchs spoke with the President, it is not clear if Atiku had spoken with him “because when he called, the President was busy”.
All the calls were in connection with what the source described as “an embarrassment to the country, the government and the All Progressives Congress (APC)”.
It is, however, not clear whether they are not calling the president too late “as he has made up his mind not to intervene in any corruption trial”.
The source said a source of worry “is the political dimension the trial of Nigeria’s number three citizen is taking”.
“They called the president to see him immediately. I don’t know whether they will see him this night (Friday) or Saturday. You know the president is going to the U.S. next week. So, if they must see him, it must be this weekend.
“What they are after is a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Obviously, some forces are after Dr. Saraki because of the Senate Presidency. The moment that is resolved, every other thing will be resolved. But, the resolution of the crisis depends on the president’s mood, whether he wants to discuss the Saraki matter with anybody or not”.
The Tribunal order was issued on Friday at the opening of Saraki’s trial over allegation of corruption and false declaration of assets.
The Tribunal had summoned Saraki to appear before it, but he obtained a federal high court injunction stopping the summon and his trial.
When the case was called before the tribunal, Saraki was not present in court.
Justice Umar held: “Having received the tribunal’s summons, the senate president has no reason not to appear before this tribunal to take his plea. The absence of an Attorney-General of the Federation does not stop the Solicitor-General or any other official of the Justice Ministry from prosecuting cases involving government officials.
“Also, the defendant, being a high ranking government official, has no reason not to appear in this tribunal, having been duly served with a summon and there is proof of service,’’ he said.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mr Muslim Hassan, had asked the tribunal to issue a bench warrant against Saraki over his failure to appear before the tribunal.
Hassan faulted the federal high court for granting an ex-parte motion halting Saraki’s arraignment.
He argued that the federal high court has coordinate jurisdiction with the tribunal and as such has no powers to halt trial of the tribunal.
The lead defence counsel, Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN), however, prayed the tribunal to adjourn the case until the federal high court sitting on Monday.
Daudu, urged the tribunal to disregard the application for a bench warrant, vowing to ensure that Saraki appears in the tribunal on the adjourned date.
After the judgement, Daudu said his team would approach the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling.
The Federal Government had on September 11 filed a 13-count charge against Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The tribunal had fixed Friday for arraignment.
In a bid to stop his arraignment, Saraki on Thursday approached the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja with an ex-parte application, seeking to restrain the Federal Government, Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal from arraigning him.
The trial judge at the high court, Justice A.R Mohammed, in a ruling in chambers, summoned the chairmen of CCB, CCT and a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Justice, M.S Hassan, to appear before it on Monday to show cause why Saraki’s application should not be granted.
‎In the charge, Saraki was alleged to have made false declaration in the Assets Declaration Form for Public Officers on assumption of office as the Governor of Kwara State in 2003 by making anticipatory declaration of a property No 15A and 15B McDonald, Ikoyi Lagos‎, when in actual fact the properties was sold to him in 2006 in the sum of N396,150, 000 by the Implementation Committee on the Federal Government Landed Properties.
Saraki was said in the charge to have committed an offence under Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap. C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and as incorporated under paragraphs 11(1) and (2) of Part I, Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and punishable under Section 23 (2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and as incorporated under paragraph 18 of Part I, Fifth Schedule to Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
Saraki was also alleged to have between October 2006 and May 2007 while he was the governor of Kwara State acquired a property from the Implementation Committee on the Federal Government Landed Properties after his declaration while assuming office in the sum of N497, 200, 000 million, a sum which is not fairly attributable to his income, gift or loan approved by the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and which he wrongly claimed to have acquired from proceeds of sale of rice and sugar commodities.
The Senate President was said to have committed the offence under‎ Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap. C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and as incorporated under paragraphs 11(1) and (2) of Part I, Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
The offence is said to be punishable under Section 23 (2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and as incorporated under paragraph 18 of Part I, Fifth Schedule to Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
In addition, Saraki was alleged to have on 3rd June, 2011 made a false declaration in the Assets Declaration Form for Public Officers at the end of his tenure as Governor of Kwara State in 2011 by refusing to declare Plot 2A, Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos which he acquired between 2007 and 2008 through his company, Carlisle Properties Limited, from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for N325 million.
The offence is said be committed under Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap. C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and as incorporated under paragraphs 11(1) and (2) of Part I, Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
The offence is said to be punishable under Section 23 (2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and as incorporated under paragraph 18 of Part I, Fifth Schedule to Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
Saraki was also alleged to be operating a foreign bank account while he was governor of Kwara State.
He was also alleged to have transferred $73, 223.28 from his GTB domiciliary account No 441441953210 to the American Express Bank, New York card account No: 374588216836009.
The offence is said to be committed contrary to paragraph 3, Part I, Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and punishable under paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule.

1 COMMENT

  1. This so called SANs are the real problems scuttling corruption trials. Fundamental rights is for all, particularly the masses who are fleaced of their common patrimony. Simply appear and take your plea, you start putting wedge here and there. The die is cast, let nobody say it is political witch-hunt, our collective money stolen is at stake. During the last NBA conference PMB pleaded with lawyers to join in the fight against corruption, Mr. Daudu is still carrying on with the old mentality, let your principal appear in court, take his plea, raise his objections, if not satisfied go on appeal, certainly stopping his trial on technicalities will not being acceptable to Nigerians any longer neither will the interventions by traditional rulers be tolerated again. Let’s follow the books of law.

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