Assets declaration: Saraki floors FG at CCT

THE Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) sitting in Abuja on Wednesday discharged and acquitted Senate President Bukola Saraki of the 18-count charge, bordering on false assets declaration slammed against him by the Federal Government since September 2015.

The Tribunal held that the evidence proffered against Saraki by the Federal Government was bereft of probate value and manifestly unreliable to hold the charges against the Senate President.

The two-member panel of the Tribunal headed by Danladi Yakubu Umar, in the unanimous ruling upheld Saraki’s no-case submission and dismissed all the charges preferred against him.

Umar said that the four witnesses called by the prosecution to testify in the matter gave contradictory evidence that were manifestly unreliable to convict the defendant or order him to enter his defence.

The chairman specifically referred to the evidence of the third prosecution witness, Mr Samuel Madojemu, to the effect that oral investigation was conducted on Saraki and that there was no written report on Saraki by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), adding that such an evidence has no probate value upon which the tribunal can hold the charges against the defendant.

According to him, Madojemu, as Head of Investigation and Intelligent Department of the CCB, did not in any way help the prosecution in his evidence when he (Madojemu) claimed that all his averments in the affidavit in support of the charges against Saraki were based on information supplied to him, adding that the evidence led by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) was discredited under cross-examination by the defence and therefore unreliable.

Umar further said that the report of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) put at the disposal of the tribunal was more of intelligence gathering than conventional investigation and added that to worsen the case, the defendant was never invited to make statement to show if there were allegations against him.

“From the simple analysis of the evidence of the prosecution, we find it difficult to accept the seriousness of the witnesses. All the evidences were so discredited, unreliable that no reasonable court will attach probate value to them.

“Since the essential ingredients of all the charges were not proved as required by law, this tribunal has no option than to discharge and acquit the defendant in view of the manifestly unreliable evidence of the prosecution witnesses,” Umar held.

In his supporting ruling, the second member of the panel, Williams Atedze Agwadza said he was persuaded by the ultimate conclusion of the chairman of the tribunal on the no case submission.

He said a careful perusal of the four witnesses and the 48 exhibits tendered by the prosecution showed grave defectiveness as no prima facie case was established to sustain the charge.

“The formulation of the 18-count charge was based on the affidavit evidence of Mr Samuel Madojemu of the CCB. His testimony and affidavit evidence later became affliction and epidemic that befell the prosecution because they were based on mere hearsay,” he said.

He further said that the team referred to by Madojemu and which comprised of the operatives of the EFCC, DSS, and CCB is unknown to law as the team has no constitutional or statutory backing to do what they did thereby making the charge against Saraki incurably defective and capable of causing miscarriage of justice against the defendant.

“Evidence to establish offence must be such that has probate value. Another fatal error on the part of the complainant was the failure to obtain statement of the defendant.”

Besides, Agwadza said that prosecution also failed by its inability to call vital witnesses including the Accountant-General of Kwara State to establish the alleged collection of salary by Saraki long after he left office as governor of Kwara State.

“My humble conclusion is that the defendant in this case has no case to answer and is accordingly discharged and acquitted.”

Saraki had, on June 8, 2017 asked the Tribunal to dismiss the 18-count charge brought against him by the Federal Government on the ground that he was not linked in any way to the alleged offence.

Saraki told the Tribunal In his no-case submission argued by his counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), that the charges preferred against him and the totality of evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses had not linked him with the allegations against him.

The Senate President told the Tribunal that there was no need for him to enter his defence in the matter as the prosecution had failed to link him to the alleged offences.

According to the defence counsel, “Apart from the fact that the reports on the investigation on the petitions were not made available to the Tribunal by the Federal Government, none of the petitioners was invited as witness in the charges against the defendant.”

Agabi told the Tribunal that he filed a no case submission for his client because the charges against him were founded on faceless petitions and pleaded with the Tribunal to dismiss the charges so as to discourage writers of faceless petitions.

Agabi maintained that Saraki declared his assets as required by law and that no one can declare that the statement of a public officer is false unless such a person is authorised by law to do so.

Throughout the prosecution’s case against Saraki, Agabi said nobody was mentioned to have declared the assets declared by Saraki in his assets declaration form as false.

However, in his opposition to the no case submission, counsel to the Federal Government, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) insisted that serious prima facie case has been established to warrant the defendant to be called upon by the Tribunal to enter his defence in the charges slammed against him.

He drew the attention of the Tribunal to some assets forms of the defendant, adding that investigations established false declaration of assets.

Jacobs told the Tribunal that discharging the defendant at a no case point level will defeat the fight against corruption and purpose of the CCT, just as he maintained that name of the defendant was mentioned in the petitions and that even, without that, a person can still be prosecuted without any petition against him.

The prosecution counsel urged the Tribunal to hold that a prima facie case had been effectively established against the defendant.

The Federal Government had, in September 2015 arraigned the Senate President on charges bordering on false and improper declaration of assets allegedly acquired when he held sway as Governor of Kwara State from 2003 to 2011.

Saraki, however, pleaded not guilty to the entire charges preferred against him by the Federal Government.