CCT: Saraki unperturbed by FG’s appeal

Senate president, Bukola Saraki, says he is not worried about the decision of the Federal Government to appeal the judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), which discharged and acquitted him of 18-count charge of false assets declaration.
Saraki expressed optimism that the verdict at the appellate court would not be different from that of the Tribunal.
In a statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu, special adviser (media and publicity) to Senate president on Friday, he accused internal and external forces in the Presidency of trying to pull him down at all cost.
He described the appeal as another attempt to embark on ‘media trial without any substance’.
“Anybody who has been following the proceedings and the evidence given by the prosecution witnesses during examination in chief and cross examination should 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 criticising it are those who are not even familiar with the case and the details coming out of the trial.
“That is why 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 Professor 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 achieve personal objectives, that is corruption.
“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 Jacobs, 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. At least, there are documents to prove this.
“The prosecution tried to circumvent the judicial process by ensuring that the witness did not enter into the witness box so as not to be on oath. 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,” the statement read in part.
Last week, the Tribunal discharged the Senate president on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove its case against him.
Tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar upheld Saraki’s ‘no-case-submission,’ and stressed that the evidence led by the prosecution was discredited under cross-examination and, therefore, unreliable.

 

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja