Supreme Court Rules on Saraki’s Code of Conduct Trial

Today, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision has dismissed the appeal of Senate President Bukola Saraki challenging the right of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to try him for false declaration of assets and corruption.

While ruling, the seven judges of the apex court in the land’s panel ruled that the appeal lacks any merit.

The Supreme court also ruled that the CCT has a quasi-jurisdiction and can issue a bench warrant for the arrest of an accused.

It ruled that by virtue of Section 28 of the Interpretation Act, the Code of Conduct Tribunal can constitute a panel with two members.

The Senate President had appealed against the decision of the tribunal, but the appeal was dismissed by a two-to-one split decision of a three-man bench of the Court of Appeal in Abuja on October 30, 2015.

He further appealed to the Supreme Court, maintaining that the charges were not competent and that the CCT lacked the jurisdiction to try him, because it was not duly constituted as it comprised two instead of three members provided for by the Constitution.

The Supreme Court had, on November 12, 2015 through a five-man panel, led by Justice John Fabiyi, granted an order of stay of proceedings in Saraki’s trial before the CCT, pending the hearing and determination of his appeal.

Saraki’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, raised seven grounds of appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, urging the Supreme Court to set aside the lower court’s judgment, the entire proceedings of the CCT and the charges preferred against him before the tribunal.

At the hearing of the appeal, Daudu faulted the judgment of the appeal court on, among other grounds, that it erroneously affirmed the competence of the proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, which sat on the appellant’s case with only two members as against the three provided for in the provisions of Paragraph 15(1) of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.