The current travail of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in the hands of the Code of Conduct Bureau, over alleged false declaration of assets, have raised serious concern over meaningful legislative governance and stability in the National Assembly in the months ahead. CELESTINE OKAFOR tries to look into the associated web of political intrigues and how it will impact on the business of lawmaking especially in the current 8th Senate.
The past two weeks, no doubt, have been weeks of stress and emotional turmoil for Nigeria’s Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and perhaps some members of his family and supporters. This is more so with the insistence of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the Court of Appeal which insisted in their various earlier rulings, that the Senate President must enter the accused box and answer to the 13-count charge against him bothering on alleged false declaration of assets in 2003 when he was governor of Kwara State.
Following the declaration by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) penultimate week that Senator Saraki has a case to answer on the allegation that he falsely declared his assets as allegedly contained in the asset declaration form which he submitted twelve years ago to the Bureau on assumption of office as governor, the Code of Conduct Tribunal sitting in Abuja, last week, directed Senate President to appear before it to respond to those charges. The failure by Saraki to show up at the tribunal on the basis that a formal written summon was served him however, compelled the tribunal to order his immediate arrest for the purpose of bringing him before the tribunal to answer to the 13-count charges.
Chairman of the tribunal, Danladi Umar, who issued a bench warrant against Saraki, brushed aside a Federal High Court order seeking to stop Senator Saraki’s arraignment. The prosecution counsel, Muslim Hassan, who had asked the tribunal to order the arrest of the Senate President for failing to appear before it, however argued that the high court had parallel jurisdiction with the tribunal and as such, had no powers to halt a trial of the tribunal.
nass_1But Saraki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, however, prayed the tribunal to adjourn the case until after the Federal High Court sitting on Monday. The tribunal chairman instead granted the prayer of the prosecutor. In the charge number ABT/01/15, dated September 11 and filed before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Saraki is accused of offences ranging from anticipatory declaration of assets to making false declaration of assets in the forms he filed before the Code of Conduct Bureau while he was governor of Kwara State.
The Senate President is also accused of failing to declare some assets he acquired while in office as governor. He is also accused of acquiring assets beyond his legitimate earnings including operating foreign accounts while being a public officer – governor and senator. The offences, the charge said, violated sections of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended. Saraki is also said to have breached Section 2 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act which is punishable under paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. The charges were prepared by M.S. Hassan, a deputy director in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
But Saraki dismissed the charges as “false and frivolous based on outright fabrication and mischief which will not and cannot stand the test of justice “.
The Senate President stated that while taking the plea in the case, I reiterate my belief that the only reason while I am going through this trial is because I am Senate President. If I were to be just a Senator, I doubt if anybody will be interested in the asset declaration form I filled over twelve years ago,”. Saraki maintained at the tribunal on Tuesday that his trial did not follow due process.
This belief stems from the fact that “ Section 3 (d) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides that if there is a breach or non-compliance with any section of the law, the person involved should be given the opportunity to either admit or deny and that in the case of a written admission, no reference to the tribunal shall be necessary,” he said, adding that “ if the CCB had followed the guidelines, procedure or the due process provided in its own law, we won’t be having this trial.
He continued: “It is my humble opinion that this case is a vivid example that there is still flagrant disregard for due process in our polity. This trial is not only being observed by Nigerians alone, the international community is watching because Nigeria is a key member of this community. So, the executive, legislature and judiciary should do the right thing that will truly demonstrate that we have imbibed the spirit of positive change,” he said.
However, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, pleaded “not guilty” on Tuesday to the multiple charges of fraud brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau. He was thereafter granted bail on self recognition. Saraki who arrived the tribunal on Tuesday morning for the trial after failing to appear on Friday and Monday was accompanied by about 60 lawmakers mostly Senators from both APC and PDP. As the case opened, Saraki’s lawyers argued that the matter was not a criminal case, and challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal to enter the matter.
The prosecution opposed the argument on the basis of which the tribunal ruled that the matter was indeed criminal and then directed Saraki to go ahead with his plea. Said the tribunal chairman: “I hold that the trial before the tribunal is purely criminal “. On the question of jurisdiction, the prosecution counsel argued that according to section 2 of the Administration of Justice Act, 2015, the matter could be heard alongside any preliminary objection regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction. The new law was signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2015, as part of a major reform of Nigeria’s criminal justice system. The Act is expected to speed up corruption cases before the courts, by dealing with issues of preliminary objections, adjournments, and jurisdiction.
The law says such objections must be addressed by the courts concurrently with the corruption charge, unlike the past when interlocutory injunctions could go to the Supreme Court and return, before the main trial begins. When asked to take his plea, Saraki said: “I believe that I am here as the Senate president to indicate my respect for the tribunal. I am puzzled why I am being compelled”.
He pleaded not guilty. However, on the various assets he acquired, which the Code of Conduct Bureau said his earnings did not qualify him to acquire, Saraki said he got them through his investment in rice farming. He pleaded not guilty to the charge concerning his failure to declare his assets when he was Kwara State governor. He also denied making false declaration of assets and pleaded not guilty on the charge regarding his alleged use of foreign bank accounts while serving as a public officer in Nigeria.
The Senate President arrived the tribunal premises at 9:32 a.m., accompanied by lawmakers among whom are his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Senators Theodore Orji, Sam Egwu, Shaba Lafiaji, Aliyu Wamakko, Rafiu Ibrahim, Tayo Alasoadura, Hamma Misau, Samuel Anyanwu, Sabi Aliyu Abdullahi, among many others. Saraki and his supporters had first converged on the National Assembly early on Tuesday morning from where they took off in a convoy of buses for the tribunal. One of the senators, who asked not to be named, said he and his colleagues decided to provide cover for the senate president to prevent him from being arrested or humiliated by the police. Further hearing on the matter was adjourned to 21st, 22nd and 23rd October.
However, many observers of the Saraki travails are of the view that the whole on-going trial was a fallout of the existing face-off between the Senate President and the leadership of his party APC on one hand and the anti-graft agency EFCC on the other hand particularly on the circumstances of his emergence as the President of the 8th Senate on June 9 this year.
His case was obviously worsened by the fact that his alleged deal with the opposition PDP in the Senate not only facilitated his emergence as Senate President but also paved way for the emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP as his deputy against the wishes of the leadership of the APC. Besides, the alleged apparent refusal by Saraki to accommodate some members of his opponent group led by his main challenger, Senator Ahmed Lawan in the composition of the current Senate leadership as directed by his party, however compounded his problems with the party.
But ordeals of the Senate President, according to some political watchers of the event, may likely impact negatively in the much expected stability of the Senate and ultimately in meaning legislative governance. According to a North-Central Senator who pleaded anonymity in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, he stated that “ what is going on between the Senate President and the anti-corruption bodies is a direct result of the problems he is having with the presidency and his party. As it stands now, the altercation is generating a lot of bad blood between the executive and the legislature but it seem not to occur to the executive that they will be affected in one way or the other”.
The Senator maintained that there currently exist, a “ serious mistrust between the two important arms of government such bills sent to red chamber by the executive may suffer a lot of adversity and unfavorable treatment. It is also important to remind the executive that the face-off between the core leadership of the Senate being an important leg of the National Assembly was compel legislature to ignore party consideration on crucial matters and assert its independence to the detriment of the executive, the party and the nation’s interest. Therefore, caution should be exercised in the way the Bukola Saraki’s matter is handled “.
