The federal government said it was laughable that Bukola Saraki who is on trial for corruption would insist on remaining the Senate president while urging the Code of Conduct Tribunal Chairman, Danladi Umar, to withdraw from his trial over bribery allegations.
Saraki asked Umar to withdraw from his trial over bribery allegations against him.
At the hearing on Wednesday, April 27, Rotimi Jacobs, the lead prosecution lawyer in the trial of the Senate president, queried the moral right of Saraki to question the integrity of Umar and to ask him to disqualify himself from the trial.
Jacobs said: “This motion is absurd. The defendant (Saraki), who has been charged to court, is still performing his statutory duty as a senator till today, saying that the Constitution guarantees him presumption of innocence.
“He is saying that he remains a senator. He is saying that he will continue to be Senate president and he will continue to perform his duties. But he is saying that your lordship (Umar), who was merely investigated, should not be allowed to enjoy the presumption of innocence and that your lordship should not be allowed to continue to perform his duties.
“Your lordship has not been charged before any court. No charge has been filed against your lordship. That is the absurdity in their motion. This application is only filed to achieve one purpose; to embarrass the tribunal .”
He explained that the investigation of the bribery allegation against Umar had been concluded and the culprit has been charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Saraki’s lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede insisted that Umar must disqualify himself from the trial, arguing that the June 24, 2014 letter by the then EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde and which was addressed to the then AGF, Bello Adoke, did not exonerate him of the bribery allegation.
According to him, the AGF office would have to issue another letter overriding the earlier directive to the EFCC to go ahead with the prosecution of Umar and his co-suspect, before the tribunal chairman could be said to have been cleared.
However, Umar said he has been cleared of the allegation by both the EFCC and the AGF.
“A group called Anti-Corruption Network wrote a petition against me at the House of Representatives.
“The House committee invited me and I went there three times but the petitioner did not come. The committee asked me what I think should be done and I said, if it were to be court, when the person who filed a case refuses to come, the court will strike it out. But the chairman said, let’s give them another time,” he said.
Umar stated that the AGF was invited and he appeared before a committee of the House where he told them that the CCT chairman had been cleared.
The tribunal will rule today on the motion.
Source: Naij.com
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