CCT Trial: Federal Government Lines Up 8 Witnesses Against Saraki

 

The Federal Government has proposed eight witnesses who will testify against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, when his trial on 13 counts of false assets declaration before the Code of Conduct Tribunal starts, according to the Punch.

Contrary to widespread reports last year that the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, was part of the proposed prosecution witnesses, a court document obtained by a Punch correspondent on Friday showed that the governor is not listed to testify against the Senate President.

The list obtained shows eight proposed witnesses who were said to have been involved in the investigation of the four forms in which Saraki had allegedly made false declaration of his assets between 2003 and 2011 during his two terms as governor.

The list of witnesses which was filed along with charges instituted against Saraki is dated September 11, 2015. The document bears the signature of a then-Deputy Director of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Muslim Hassan (now a judge of the Federal High Court), who had also signed the charges.

The trial of the Senate President is expected to commence any moment from next week following Friday’s judgement of the Supreme Court affirming the validity of the charges preferred against him and the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him.

Following the apex court’s judgement, the Danladi Umar-led tribunal is expected to issue a hearing notice to parties to enable the prosecution, led by Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), to open its case by calling its proposed witnesses.