Senate President, Bukola Saraki has appeared at the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT) for his ongoing trial.
The
former governor who pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the 13-count charge against him,
was accompanied to the tribunal Thursday morning by several senators.
The
case against him was read after the arrival of the chairman of the tribunal,
Umar Danladi.
He
said: “The decision of the court of appeal is binding on all parties.”
Meanwhile,
it was gathered that photojournalists were not allowed to record or take
pictures of proceedings at the tribunal.
It was
reported earlier that the Nigerian Senate had shutdown today’s plenary in order
for the senators to support their leader.
However,
Daily Post reports that Saraki had adjourned sitting to November 10, a situation
which Senator Dino Melaye explained was to enable adhoc committees work on
their reports.
He
said: “The sitting was adjourned to Tuesday to enable four adhoc
committees complete their reports and submit next week.”
Senate
President, Bukola Saraki is due to appear in court this morning
But,
facts have now emerged over the real reason for the action of the upper chamber
of the National Assembly, as it was gathered that the senators will be at the
CCT trial with their leader, to offer him moral support.
Saraki’s
case at the tribunal borders on allegations of foreign accounts ownership when
he was the governor of Kwara state and transferred the sum of $73, 223.28 from
his GTB domiciliary account to an American Express account.
The
senate president was also alleged to have made false assets declaration during
his stay as the governor, in respect of some Lagos properties.
Saraki
has already pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the 13-count criminal charge preferred against
him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over alleged false assets declaration,
and the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar had
adjourned till November 5 and 6.
This
was to enable the tribunal await the judgment of the Appeal Court, where Saraki
had challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal to try him, but an appeal court
sitting in Abuja last Friday, October 30, dismissed Saraki’s appeal in a split
decision of two Justices to one.
And in
a rather quick reaction, Saraki had on Tuesday, November 3, pleaded with the Supreme Court to appeal against the court of
appeal, which affirmed the jurisdiction of CCT to try him.
Source: Naij.com
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