It is one of the greatest suspense-filled trials of modern Nigerian politics. There were all manner of interests and intrigues at play. Will he or will he not be convicted? That was the question that kept blowing in the wind. The world held its breath although some political leaders pretended not to notice. Will Nigeria’s powerful Number 3 Citizen be convicted and possibly jailed? Many Nigerians were genuinely apprehensive.
Last week, the Supreme Court discharged the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from the alleged false assets declaration charges brought against him by the federal government since 2015. In a judgment delivered yesterday by Justice Centus Chima Nweze, the apex court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the decision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, which had earlier upheld the No-case Submission filed by Saraki’s counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi .
Saraki and the federal government contested the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had nullified 15 out of the 18 charges filed against Saraki by the government for being baseless and frivolous, but had asked him to open defence on the remaining three charges.
The apex court dismissed the entire 18-count charges brought against Saraki and consequently discharged and acquitted him accordingly, pointing at the the failure of the prosecution to call material witnesses to support its case.
In 2016, the CCT had discharged Saraki of all the 18-count charge on grounds that the prosecution failed to substantiate its allegations beyond reasonable doubt. Not satisfied with the judgement, the federal government filed an appeal.
The entire panel comprising five judges of the apex court unanimously adopted the judgment, and agreed that the failure of the federal government to call vital witnesses in the trial of Saraki was fatal and rendered the trial nugatory.
