How Senator Saraki fared at
the commencement of CCT
Senator Bukola Saraki on
Tuesday, May 17, returned to the
Code of Conduct Tribunal, where
for quite a while he has been
answering to allegation leveled
against him.
Senator Saraki at one of his appearance at the
CCT.
Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal, the special court hearing the false and
anticipatory assets declaration charge against Saraki,
had, last Wednesday, adjourned hearing till today to
give both prosecution and defence teams some time to
“rest”.
At 11:49 am
The defence attorney, Paul Usoro, and Mr
Wetkas continued from where they both left off last
week — the disagreement over the property at 15,
MacDonald Road, Ikoyi.
Irregularities spotted in the description of the
property is the crux of the exchanges. Prosecution
lead, Rotimi Jacobs, is bitter over the argument,
saying the trial cannot last forever.
He said the defence team is deliberately wasting
crucial time as part of its tactics to stall the trial.
Solidarity for the Senate President is unusually
small, only two senators are here, in addition to
Kawu Baraje, an APC chieftain
At 11:42am
The hearing proper continued with the cross-
examination of prosecution witness, Michael
Wetkas.
11:41am
The tribunal argued about a story that has been
circulating online, alleging a division between the
chairman, Mr Umar, and his co-chairman,
Phillip Agwaza.
According to the report, Umar always disagrees
with Agwaza and that is why Agwaza always
keeps quiet. The judges deny the report, scolding the
“layman” news reporter.
Meanwhile, Danladi Umar said that only one
lawyer should cross examine the witness, Michael
Wetkas . He said the lawyer responsible for the
cross examination should be only Kanu Agabi, the
lead counsel to the Senate president.
Umar directed the defence counsel to restrict the
number of lawyers who would cross-examine the
prosecution witness to just one, saying that the
conduct of the cross-examination had been untidy with
the frequent change of lawyers by the defence team.
However, the CCT chairman on Tuesday, May
10, ruled in favor of Saraki, for the first time since
the commencement of the trial when he permitted
more than one lawyer to cross examine Wetkas.
Paul Erokoro, one of the counsel to Saraki
asked that he wanted to cross examine Wetkas, who
is also Economic Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) detective but Rotimi Jacobs, the lead
counsel to the federal government objected to his
request.
Saraki during one of his appearances at the CCT
Senator Saraki is facing a 16-count charge of fraud
levelled against him by the Code of Conduct
Bureau (CCB). The bureau had on September
16, 2015 filed a 13-count charge against Saraki for
alleged false and anticipatory declaration of assets,
but increased the number to 15 on April 18 and
added one more charge on April 27.
After the charges were filed, the senate president
was invited to appear before the tribunal on
September 18.
In his reaction, Saraki approached the Federal
High Court on September 17 to block the trial
describing the charges as frivolous and politically
motivated.
On September 18, Saraki failed to appear at the
CCT, causing the tribunal’s chairman, Danladi
Umar, to grant a request by the prosecution that
Mr. Saraki be arrested and forced to appear at the
trial by the next sitting on September 21.
Saraki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, had prayed the
court to adjourn till Mr. Saraki’s application was
determined at the Federal High Court, but the
tribunal held that the FHC could not stop the
trial, at the tribunal.
The Senate president further filed an ex-parte
motion containing 12 grounds of appeal at the
Appeal court, asking it to issue an order demanding
the CCT to revoke the bench warrant against him.
the commencement of CCT
Senator Bukola Saraki on
Tuesday, May 17, returned to the
Code of Conduct Tribunal, where
for quite a while he has been
answering to allegation leveled
against him.
Senator Saraki at one of his appearance at the
CCT.
Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal, the special court hearing the false and
anticipatory assets declaration charge against Saraki,
had, last Wednesday, adjourned hearing till today to
give both prosecution and defence teams some time to
“rest”.
At 11:49 am
The defence attorney, Paul Usoro, and Mr
Wetkas continued from where they both left off last
week — the disagreement over the property at 15,
MacDonald Road, Ikoyi.
Irregularities spotted in the description of the
property is the crux of the exchanges. Prosecution
lead, Rotimi Jacobs, is bitter over the argument,
saying the trial cannot last forever.
He said the defence team is deliberately wasting
crucial time as part of its tactics to stall the trial.
Solidarity for the Senate President is unusually
small, only two senators are here, in addition to
Kawu Baraje, an APC chieftain
At 11:42am
The hearing proper continued with the cross-
examination of prosecution witness, Michael
Wetkas.
11:41am
The tribunal argued about a story that has been
circulating online, alleging a division between the
chairman, Mr Umar, and his co-chairman,
Phillip Agwaza.
According to the report, Umar always disagrees
with Agwaza and that is why Agwaza always
keeps quiet. The judges deny the report, scolding the
“layman” news reporter.
Meanwhile, Danladi Umar said that only one
lawyer should cross examine the witness, Michael
Wetkas . He said the lawyer responsible for the
cross examination should be only Kanu Agabi, the
lead counsel to the Senate president.
Umar directed the defence counsel to restrict the
number of lawyers who would cross-examine the
prosecution witness to just one, saying that the
conduct of the cross-examination had been untidy with
the frequent change of lawyers by the defence team.
However, the CCT chairman on Tuesday, May
10, ruled in favor of Saraki, for the first time since
the commencement of the trial when he permitted
more than one lawyer to cross examine Wetkas.
Paul Erokoro, one of the counsel to Saraki
asked that he wanted to cross examine Wetkas, who
is also Economic Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) detective but Rotimi Jacobs, the lead
counsel to the federal government objected to his
request.
Saraki during one of his appearances at the CCT
Senator Saraki is facing a 16-count charge of fraud
levelled against him by the Code of Conduct
Bureau (CCB). The bureau had on September
16, 2015 filed a 13-count charge against Saraki for
alleged false and anticipatory declaration of assets,
but increased the number to 15 on April 18 and
added one more charge on April 27.
After the charges were filed, the senate president
was invited to appear before the tribunal on
September 18.
In his reaction, Saraki approached the Federal
High Court on September 17 to block the trial
describing the charges as frivolous and politically
motivated.
On September 18, Saraki failed to appear at the
CCT, causing the tribunal’s chairman, Danladi
Umar, to grant a request by the prosecution that
Mr. Saraki be arrested and forced to appear at the
trial by the next sitting on September 21.
Saraki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, had prayed the
court to adjourn till Mr. Saraki’s application was
determined at the Federal High Court, but the
tribunal held that the FHC could not stop the
trial, at the tribunal.
The Senate president further filed an ex-parte
motion containing 12 grounds of appeal at the
Appeal court, asking it to issue an order demanding
the CCT to revoke the bench warrant against him.
