By Alex Enumah in Abuja
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) trying Senate President Bukola Saraki over alleged false declaration of his assets when he was governor of Kwara State on Wednesday upheld the no-case submission of the Senate President and consequently discharged him of all the 18-count charge brought against him by the federal government.
Chairman of the tribunal Danladi Umar in a ruling on the no-case submission filed by the defendant, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Saraki.
The tribunal stated that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses were manifestly unreliable, adding that no court could attach value to it not to talk of convicting on it.
According to the tribunal, the testimony of the third prosecution witness who admitted that his report was based on information from his team members rendered the whole evidence linking the defendant to the alleged offences invalid, adding that no conviction could be made on hearsay.
The tribunal also noted that the admittance of the first prosecution witness under cross examination that the defendant was not invited for clarification on the grey areas in his assets form grossly affected the competence of the charges.
Another reason the court adduced for dismissing the charge was the claim by the second prosecution witness that all documents it had linking Saraki to the alleged offences were lost in a fire accident.
The tribunal therefore agreed with Saraki that the evidence so far presented by the prosecution were unreliable and does not warrant him to open his defence.
Details later…
