The Supreme Court will today Friday pass its judgment on the case before it challenging the trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal over charges bordering on alleged false assets declaration.
A seven-man bench led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, had towards the tail end of last year fixed Friday, January 5 for the ruling after hearing the arguments on the appeal by Saraki. The Federal Government had urged the apex court ‎to dismiss the Senate President’s case and allow the trial before the CCT to continue.
The Senate President had in an appeal through his lead counsel, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), challanged the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja delivered on October 30, 2015, which affirmed the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him and the competence of the charges of false assets declaration preferred against him by the Federal Government.
It could be recalled that the Federal Government also in September 2015 arraigned Saraki before the CCT on 13 counts of false assets declaration, which he allegedly made in 2003 as Governor of Kwara State.
The Danadi Umar-led CCT had dismissed Saraki’s protest against the competence of the charges and jurisdiction of the tribunal.
The Supreme Court had on November 12, 2015 through a five-man panel, led by now retired Justice John Fabiyi, granted an order of stay of proceedings of Saraki’s trial before the CCT, pending the hearing and determination of his appeal.