The senate President Bukola Saraki knows the fate of appeal seeking to quash the 13-count criminal charge the Federal Government entered against him before the Code of Conduct Bureau, on February 5, 2016 according to the Supreme Court.
A seven-man panel of Justices of the apex court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, adjourned the case for judgment after it entertained arguments from both Saraki and the Federal Government yesterday.
The Senate president is facing an alleged false declaration of asset case which the Federal Government had in the charge it filed before the CCT, alleged that Saraki falsely declared his assets, contrary to the constitutionally requirement.
In their prayers, Saraki, through his team of lawyers led by Chief J. B. Daudu, SAN, Thursday, begged the Supreme Court to quash the entire charge for want of competence.
Relying onthe provision of Paragraph 15(1) to the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Saraki’s lawyer argued that the Justice Danladi Umar-led panel of the CCT was not legally and properly composed to try his client.
Saraki’s lawyer, Daudu, insisted that a two-member panel of the CCT fell short of the constitutional requirement.
“If two persons sit on a panel and in the event of a tie or disagreement over an issue, what happens? Does a chairman become a superior member, whose one vote would amount to two,” Daudu queried.
-Emmanuel Ikechukwu
