CCT Trial: Supreme Court Upholds Saraki’s Appeal

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the appeal by the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki that he has no case to answer before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

The CCT had in 2017 discharged Saraki of all the charges brought against him but the Federal Government went on an appeal against the CCT judgment.

A five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad in a unanimously ruling dismissed the remnant three counts, declaring the evidence led by the prosecution as hearsay.
In its lead judgment, Nweze upheld Saraki’s appeal and dismissed the Federal Government’s appeal. Justice Nweze held that the evidence led by the prosecution at the tribunal was entirely hearsay.
The judge held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to have restored three out the 18 counts earlier dismissed by the CCT when it agreed that the evidence led by the prosecution was hearsay.
Justice Nweze quoted part of the Court of Appeal’s judgement where it held that, “the prosecution failed to call those who have direct knowledge of the facts sought to be proved, to testify”.
Faulting the Court of Appeal’s turn around to restore three of the counts based on the evidence it had declared as hearsay, Justice Nweze said it was “equivalent to judicial equivalence of a forensic somersault”.

With the verdict of the Supreme Court, the case has been brought to a close.