The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Thursday pleaded not guilty to amended 16 counts preferred against him by the Federal Government before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The amendment to the original 13 counts added fresh Counts 3, 14 and 16 .
He was accused in Count 3 of abusing his office between October 2006 and May 2007 while he was the Kwara State Governor.
Under Count 3, the prosecution accused Saraki of obtaining a loan from the Guaranty Trust Bank to acquire the properties known as No. 17A and 17B McDonald, Ikoyi, Lagos in the aggregate sum of N497,200,000.
He was said to have bought the properties from the Implementation Committee of the Federal Government Landed Properties.
He allegedly repaid the loan to GTB through various lodgments made into his account on his behalf by his aides when he was Governor of Kwara State and his account officer using funds which he allegedly handed over to them in cash at Kwara State Government House, GRA, Ilorin.
The acts under the Count 3 are said to be “contrary to the government policy against corruption and abuse of office and against the interest of the people of Kwara State.
In Count 14, the prosecution accused Saraki of failing to declare his interest in a foreign credit card account to which he allegedly transferred huge sums of money while being Governor of Kwara State.
He was said to have failed to declare his interest in the American Express Service Card with No: 374588216836009 at the end of his second term as governor.
He allegedly transferred huge sums of money in dollars from his Guaranty Trust Bank domiciliary account No. 441441953210 in Nigeria.
In Count 16, Saraki was accused of continuing to receive salary and emoluments as Governor of Kwara State and from the Federal Government as a senator between June 2011 and October 2013.
Originally, the Federal Government preferred against Saraki,13 counts, including charges of false and anticipatory asset declaration, as well as operation of foreign accounts, which he allegedly committed while being the Governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011.
Saraki was re-arraigned before the tribunal on Thursday because of the amendment to the charges which added three fresh counts to the original 13 counts.
There have been two amendments of the original 13 counts which now bring the counts against the Senate President to 16.
The first amendment which brought in additional two counts was made on April 18, 2016 while the latest made on April 27, 2016, added one fresh count.
The charges dated April 18 were withdrawn on Thursday.
The latest amendment was introduced by the prosecution and accepted by the tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, after overruling the defence led by Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN).
The tribunal ruled on Thursday that contrary to Usoro’s contention, the prosecution, under section 216(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, was not required to file a motion to give the reasons for the amendment before it could be accepted by the tribunal.
Earlier before the re-arraignment the CCT on Thursday dismissed an application asking its chairman, Danladi Umar, to disqualify himself and withdraw from Saraki’s trial.
Saraki, had in his motion argued by his lawyer, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, on Wednesday, asked Umar to disqualify himself on the grounds of likelihood of bias in the handling of the trial by Umar.
But in the ruling of the two-man panel of the CCT on Thursday, the tribunal held that the application “lacked absolute merit.”
It upheld the opposition of the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), to the motion, to the effect that contrary to Oluyede’s claim, the EFCC had cleared him of the bribery allegations.
“The AGF cannot prosecute without sufficient evidence from investigative agencies,” Umar said.
He added that the incumbent AGF, Mr. Abubakar Malami, had said he (Umar) had been cleared while appearing before a House of Representatives’ committee which was petitioned with respect to the bribery allegation.
He recalled that Malami told the committee that he (the AGF) stood by the March 5, 2015 letter of the EFCC to Adoke, indicating that there was no sufficient evidence to prosecute him (Umar).
He said, “The issue of having a case to answer before the EFCC is over.
“The application lacks absolute merit and it is hereby dismissed in its entirety.”
The CCT on Thursday adjourned till May 10 for further cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, Mr. Michael Wetkas, after Saraki pleaded not guilty to the 16 counts.
Defence counsel, Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), had asked for three weeks adjournment to enable the defence team to “take further instructions” from their client and prepare for the case in view of the “fundamental and substantial amendment” to the original charges”.
But Jacobs insisted that the three weeks requested by the defence was too long in view of section 396 (5) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
The CCT panel said that it would strike a balance by adjourning for 10 days and then fixed the next hearing date for May 10.
Meanwhile, Saraki has appealed against the Thursday’s ruling of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in which it refused to disqualify Umar from further participating in the trial.
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