Nigeria- The Presidency has asked anyone who feels aggrieved in the
ongoing Senate President Bukola Saraki’s trial by the Code of Conduct
Bureau, to hire a good team of lawyers to prove their innocence.
This is even as it says attempts to link the ongoing trial to
the Presidency is unacceptable, adding that even if President
Muhammadu Buhari were to step in and help, he could not stop the trial.
If anyone has an axe to grind with what they are doing, they should do it in a judicial manner by challenging those actions in a proper court of law. Let them hire a good team of lawyers to prove their innocence.
Government has no desire to persecute anybody.
The President has vowed to respect the rule of law and this is what he is doing by staying out of this matter. He has said times without number that the war against corruption has no sacred cows, Shehu Garba, Senior Special Assistant to the President said in a press statement, Sunday.
“Even if the President wants to help, there is no way he can do anything. Is he going to ask the judge to stop the trial?
It is purely a judicial process, the type of which are routinely dealt with by the CCB and the CCT. There are many cases like this that are going on.
The President has sworn to an oath to protect the constitution and will not violate that oath”.
The CCT, sitting in Abuja, had Friday, ordered the arrest of the Senate President, following his refusal to appear in court to face a 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal government. The tribunal which is headed by Justice Danladi Umar, directed had the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase and other relevant security agencies in the country to arrest the Senate President and produce him in court on Monday for arraignment.
Saraki was charged before the CCT, marked ABT/01/15 and dated September 11, 2015, alleged to have falsely declared his assets, contrary to the constitutional requirement.
Following the trial, opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday accused the President Buhari-led APC administration of despotism and desperation to remove Saraki. In a statement the party’s National
Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, accused the Buhari administration of intolerance, particularly over the treatment being meted out to Saraki.
According to Garba said views to the effect that the Code of Conduct Bureau,CCB and the Code of Conduct Tribunal,CCT can only act upon external instigation are equally uninformed.
He noted that there is no place in law that the Bureau and the tribunal should take instructions from any quarters.
As an independent institution equal to any superior court of record, the tribunal is set up by the constitution to determine the issue of default,false declaration or forgery in assets declaration.
“This therefore is purely a judicial process and has nothing to do\ with the presidency” Garba said.
Elizabeth Archibong
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| Bukola Saraki |
If anyone has an axe to grind with what they are doing, they should do it in a judicial manner by challenging those actions in a proper court of law. Let them hire a good team of lawyers to prove their innocence.
Government has no desire to persecute anybody.
The President has vowed to respect the rule of law and this is what he is doing by staying out of this matter. He has said times without number that the war against corruption has no sacred cows, Shehu Garba, Senior Special Assistant to the President said in a press statement, Sunday.
“Even if the President wants to help, there is no way he can do anything. Is he going to ask the judge to stop the trial?
It is purely a judicial process, the type of which are routinely dealt with by the CCB and the CCT. There are many cases like this that are going on.
The President has sworn to an oath to protect the constitution and will not violate that oath”.
The CCT, sitting in Abuja, had Friday, ordered the arrest of the Senate President, following his refusal to appear in court to face a 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal government. The tribunal which is headed by Justice Danladi Umar, directed had the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase and other relevant security agencies in the country to arrest the Senate President and produce him in court on Monday for arraignment.
Saraki was charged before the CCT, marked ABT/01/15 and dated September 11, 2015, alleged to have falsely declared his assets, contrary to the constitutional requirement.
Following the trial, opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday accused the President Buhari-led APC administration of despotism and desperation to remove Saraki. In a statement the party’s National
Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, accused the Buhari administration of intolerance, particularly over the treatment being meted out to Saraki.
According to Garba said views to the effect that the Code of Conduct Bureau,CCB and the Code of Conduct Tribunal,CCT can only act upon external instigation are equally uninformed.
He noted that there is no place in law that the Bureau and the tribunal should take instructions from any quarters.
As an independent institution equal to any superior court of record, the tribunal is set up by the constitution to determine the issue of default,false declaration or forgery in assets declaration.
“This therefore is purely a judicial process and has nothing to do\ with the presidency” Garba said.
Elizabeth Archibong
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