False assets declaration: Saraki vs CCT or APC?

With the latest adjournment to June 15, 2016 of the ongoing alleged false assets declaration trial brought against Senate President Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), observers are positing that Nigerians may have to wait longer than anticipated to know if the embattled former Kwara State governor is guilty as charged or his ordeal is politically motivated following his emergence as the nation’s number three man against his party’s wishes.

Saraki is facing trial on a 13-count charge of false assets declaration, improper usage of state funds to purchase private assets during his tenure as Kwara State governor, among others allegations, but political pundits are of the view that the defendant is being tried by forces in his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) whose ego he bruised in the battle for the control of leadership of National Assembly.

The crisis which hit the ruling party following how the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly emerged contrary to party’s laid-down rules is yet to subside, with insider sources saying that the current trial of Saraki was masterminded by leadership of the APC to pay the former in his own coin.

Saraki’s trial had witnessed ‘tricky’ legal twists with several adjournments and counter claims. At a time the Justice Danladi Umar-led panel asked the Senate President to report at the court 10am daily and the accused attended proceedings with over 80 loyal senators, which was highly dramatised in the media.

Anti-corruption crusaders are insinuating that the case is dovetailing into a silent mode as many Nigerians who have been following it since the beginning have as a matter of fact lost interest and stopped believing that the matter will not die a natural death like similar cases before it.

“As a legal practitioner, I totally frown at the entire procedure of the case, because it is not making any headway, more so that it lacks fair hearing. No fair hearing is given to the defendant and his team of lawyers,” Dotun Hassan, president, Yoruba Council of Youths (YCY), told BDSUNDAY.

He opined that Saraki’s case has been faulty from the onset, and that there is no sense of sincerity in the trail, while expressing disappointment that Nigerians are not carried along as seen in the whole scenario.

According to him, since the chair of the CCT, Danladi Umar, has a case with the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in real sense it should have been the ground to disqualify him from presiding over any case, particularly corruption related.

“He who must come to equity must come with clean hands. What then happens if the equity itself is not clean? The chairman has a bad record, if not ongoing. Therefore, he is not in the right position to be the judge in this case. In the real sense, this case is supposed to be an EFCC case and not CCT. The ongoing case has put a question mark on every legal issue in the country,” he said.

“The ongoing issue is making mess of our democracy, ridiculing the nation before the world. What about President Buhari who was said to have declared his assets? It was later discovered that all the assets were not fully declared, did the CCT say anything about that? Nigerians are no longer interested in Saraki’s case as they have been hit by the recession in the country. The ongoing case from my perspective will be swept under the carpet, hence dying a natural death. The case should have been ended by the Supreme Court,” he added.

He alleged that section of the APC is seeking Saraki’s head for clenching senate top seat exclusively reserved for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) arm of the party, since the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has the seat of the president and that the Saraki-led new People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) were not considered for any top seat.

“So Saraki played a smart one on the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu interest, which was a great blow on the ego of the party’s national leader, hence the premeditated nemesis of persecution in the CCT. The perceived fight is against PDP-led mouthpieces and strong men that could pose a huge political threat of opposition against the obnoxious policies of the government. The fight has earned us dreaded economic recession and political quagmire,” he alleged.

But sources close to the leadership of the APC confided in BDSUNDAY that the Saraki corruption trial will continue to whither gradually until Nigerians forget about it, the latter having used his growing influence in the red chamber to tighten his position.

According to the sources, since party members loyal to leaders whose toes Saraki stepped on to clench the Nigeria’s number three seat vowed to ridicule him coupled with Aso Rock’s silence over his travails at the CCT, the Senate president decided to flex his muscle with the APC by holding the presidency ransom over the 2016 budget.

“It was opportunity for Saraki to make a statement that he cannot be overridden easily as the nation’s number three citizen. Politics is a matter of interest and relevance and 2016 Appropriation Bill provided an ample opportunity for Saraki to show the party how relevant he is now. The leaders of the party are reaching compromise. But Saraki has also proven faithful to the party by sticking with it despite his travail,” a source told BDSUNDAY.

Olu Fasan, political economist and visiting fellow, London School of Economics, told BDSUNDAY that it would appear the Saraki case is too much of a political ‘hot potato’ that may be kicked into the long grass, and may go on for a long time until it becomes redundant.

“Of course, Saraki has every right to exploit legal loopholes and delay hearing of the substantive issues. But it is up to the judges to prevent this if they see it as an abuse of court process. But do not trust Nigerian judges to deal dispassionately with cases of a political nature as this one,” he said.

“If APC is using the allegation to seek Saraki’s obedience it is too late now. The only obeisance that the APC leadership wants is to reverse the situation in the Senate with respect to the leadership of the upper house. But they cannot achieve that. Even if Saraki wants to oblige, he cannot because he is beholden to the opposition party, PDP members who helped him to become president of the red chamber. The truth is that Saraki will win at last,” he added.

According to him, since 2019 general election is around the corner, the APC has to worry whether they can win Kwara and Kogi States, respectively, where Saraki still has a lot of influence, and explained that if APC tries to be difficult now, it may be Saraki’s turn to exact his own pound of flesh when the party would need him.

“I am not sure whether there is a deal struck between APC and Saraki, but it’s a game of cat and mouse, and everyone knows that the endgame may create losers and no winners. But I still believe Saraki has the upper hand. He can, at some point, return to the PDP, and that would hurt the APC,” he said.

“Driven by political considerations as this one has been, obviously, we need independent judges, who also have a sense of public policy, that is, who know that corruption is a crime against the Nigerian people. And so are prepared to deal with corruption cases speedily, without fear or favour,” Fasan said.