The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT on
Tuesday adjourned all the cases slated for this week, including the
trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on charges of false
and anticipatory asset declaration, till September.
The CCT’s Head of Press and Public
Relations, Mr. Ibraheem Al-hassan, said in a statement that the
development was due to an ongoing meeting between the CCT officials and
some foreign stakeholders on the development of the Code of Ethics and
Practice Directions for the CCT.
Al-hassan stated that all the cases
slated for this week, the rest of July and August, had been adjourned
till September after the vacation, which the tribunal’s judges would
soon embark on.
The development goes contrary to the
initial stance by the CCT Chairman Danladi Umar who had maintained
severally that Saraki’s trial needed to proceed on a daily basis in
consonance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015 which stipulates a speedy dispensation of all criminal trials.
The statement from the CCT added, “The
Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Hon. Danladi Yakubu Umar, on
Tuesday, adjourned all sittings scheduled for this week and those to
come within July and August till after the resumption from recess to be
embarked upon by the tribunal’s judges soon.
“The decision was taken due to the
ongoing Roundtable Discussion involving CCT and other critical
stakeholders within and outside the country to develop the Code of
Ethics and Practice Directions for the Code of Conduct Tribunal to
ensure fair and speedy trials, sponsored by the European Union and
implemented by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
”He, however, assured that litigants
currently with cases before the court, would have their new dates
shortly after the vacation, September, 2016, which would be communicated
to them, appropriately. The Tribunal regrets the pains caused by the
sudden change.”
Saraki is being prosecuted by the
Federal Government before the CCT on 16 counts, including false and
anticipatory declaration of asset declaration, which he allegedly made
between 2003 and 2011 when he served as the Governor of Kwara State.
He is also accused of operating foreign
account as a public officer and of receiving governor’s salary or
emoluments in addition to his salary as a Senator for some periods
after completing his two terms as governor and got elected as a Senator.
The Umar-led CCT had, on June 21, 2016
fixed Wednesday (today) for ruling on an application by Saraki, asking
the tribunal chairman to disqualify himself from further presiding over
his trial.
The Senate president, through his lead
counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), filed his motion on June 13, 2016,
alleging that a comment made by Umar during the proceedings of June 7,
while warning that the defence’s delay tactics in the trial would not
“reduce the consequences” which Saraki would meet at the end of the
trial.
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