Yesterday 30th of Oct. Nigeria’s Senate President Saraki Loses Appeal To Stop Corruption Trial
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has thrown out an
appeal brought before it by the embattled president
of the Nigerian Senate, Bukola Saraki.

Mr. Saraki had approached the appellate court asking the court to stop his corruption trial before the Code
of Conduct Tribunal claiming the tribunal lacked
jurisdiction to proceed to try him for falsely
declaration his assets as required by law.

In their ruling today, the three justices of the Court of Appeal in a split decision ruled today that the Code of Conduct Tribunal has jurisdiction to try Mr. Saraki for falsely declaring his assets. Justice Moore Adumein and Justice A Mustapha ruled to quash the appeal while Justice E Ekanem disagreed with the lead judgement.

SaharaReporters had revealed a deal between the
justices of the Court of Appeal and Mr. Saraki when
the judgement was due for delivery two weeks ago.
An investigative report revealing that a former
Supreme Court justice, Alfa Belgore had packaged a
ruling that would have ended Saraki’s trial at the CCT
forced the judges to adjourn the case abruptly,
indefinitely.

Last week Mr. Saraki secretly filed another lawsuit
before a federal high court in Lagos seeking an order
to stop his trial, that suit was allotted to Ibrahim
Buba, a controversial judge known for granting
perpetual injunctions to stop corruption
investigations. Justice Buba could not grant the order
because a lawyer from the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) had been tipped off about
the plot. His unexpected appearance before Justice
Buba forced the judge to adjourn the case till
November 2nd, 2015.

The ruling at the Court of Appeal today means that
the trial of Mr. Saraki would continue at the Code of
Conduct Tribunal as planned. Lawyers to Mr. Saraki
has vowed to proceed to the Supreme Court to
challenge today’s ruling.