The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki,
has asked the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to order stay
proceedings of his trial on charges of false and anticipatory asset
declaration before the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Saraki filed the motion for stay of
proceedings along with his nine-ground notice of appeal on Monday to
stop his trial which begins at the CCT on Tuesday (today).
The notice of appeal was filed to
challenge the ruling of the CCT which, on March 24, 2016, dismissed the
Senate President’s application, challenging the jurisdiction of the
tribunal to hear the charges against him.
The two-man panel of the CCT, led by Mr.
Danladi Umar, had, after dismissing Saraki’s application on March 24,
fixed April 5 (today) for the commencement of trial.
But the plan may be stalled by the fresh move initiated by the accused on the eve of the day his trial is scheduled to start.
Saraki’s application was argued by a
consortium of about 80 lawyers, led by a former Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).
His earlier appeal, aimed at ending his
trial, was terminated by a judgment of the Supreme Court on February 5,
2016, which ordered him to submit himself for trial.
The fresh appeal is challenging the
CCT’s ruling, which had resolved all the issues raised by the Senate
President against him and affirmed that it had jurisdiction to hear the
case.
The Federal Government is prosecuting
Saraki on 13 counts of false and anticipatory asset declaration, which
he allegedly made in his four forms which he submitted to the Code of
Conduct Bureau at the beginning and end of his first and second terms as
the Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011.
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