Retired S’Court Justices, lawyers fault Saraki’s trial, ask Umar to withdraw

Some retired Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and leading senior lawyers have added their voices to the controversies surrounding the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, faulting it and asking the Tribunal Chairman, Mr. Danladi Umar, to withdraw from presiding to ensure fairness in the matter.

The legal giants also faulted the decision of the Supreme Court in its judgment of February 5, 2016 giving the CCT jurisdiction in the Saraki trial. They argued that the CCT is not a court of law under the Nigerian Constitution and cannot be invested with criminal or quasi-criminal jurisdiction.

Those who concurred with these positions included Justice Salisu Alfa Belgore, former Chief Justice of Nigeria; Justice George Oguntade, CFR, former Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Samson Odemwingie Uwaifo; former Justice of the Supreme Court, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, SAN, Chief Nnoruka Udechukwu SAN, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN and Mr Olalekan Ojo among others.

Their position was part of the communiqué of the Conference on ‘The Code of Conduct enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria and its crucial Importance in the fight against Corruption’ held in Lagos on March 24 by the Ben Nwabueze Centre. The communiqué was released yesterday.

It would be recalled that the trial of the Senate President by the Economic and Financial Commission, EFCC, before the Danladi Umar-led CCT over allegations of false declaration of assets, has become controversial, with the chairman of the Tribunal engaging in a shouting match with one of the lawyers representing Saraki.

The retired Justices and eminent lawyers asked Umar to withdraw on account of the graft allegations against him and the way he has handled the trial so far.

Read also: Witness confirms CCB did not interrogate Saraki before filing charges

The communiqué read in part: “It is not reasonably to be supposed or be expected that Mr. Danladi Umar can be impartial or unbiased in adjudicating the case between the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) against Saraki. There can be no greater mockery of the whole notion of impartiality in any adjudicatory system than that Umar, with the threat of prosecution and removal from office for alleged corruption by the FRN hanging over his head, should have been allowed to adjudicate as presiding judge in the circumstances of this case.

“Bias on the part of Umar seems to be clearly manifest in all the circumstances surrounding the case. The manner in which the trial was being conducted by Umar manifests also a certain overzealousness that suggests at least a real likelihood of bias on the part of Umar against Saraki or a lack of impartiality.

“The Supreme Court decision on the issue of the jurisdiction of the CCT is inconsistent with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“The Supreme Court was wrong in holding that the Constitution itself invests the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) with a quasi-criminal jurisdiction. The Code is, in its essential character, merely a body of rules designed to regulate the civil, not criminal, behaviour of public officers, much in the fashion of the Civil Service Rules.

“The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act is glaringly unconstitutional and void because it duplicates relevant provisions of the Constitution, and because some of its provisions purport to vary the provisions of the Constitution. The CCT is not a court of law under our Constitution and cannot be invested with criminal or quasi-criminal jurisdiction.

“The initiation of the criminal prosecution against Dr. Saraki before the CCT by a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Justice at a time when there was no incumbent Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) is invalid and incompetent in law”, the communiqué held.

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