By Nuel Suji – The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Wednesday dismissed the 18-count charge of false asset declaration levelled against the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.
Chairman of the tribunal, Danladi Umar who gave the ruling, said that the prosecution has no case against the accused, after the testimonies of four witnesses presented by the prosecution were discredited as a result unreliable.
It would be recalled that on May 4, 2017, the Senate President told the tribunal that he would file a no-case submission, asking the tribunal to discharge him of the charges, after the prosecution led by Rotimi Jacobs called its final witness and closed it case.
The tribunal had dismissed two earlier applications filed by Saraki, asking it to dismiss the charges against him.
The false asset declaration case against the Senate President suffered setback when witnesses brought to the trial gave contradictory testimonies.
One of the witnesses from CCT told the tribunal that the agency did not conduct an independent investigation before filing the charges.
Saraki who was represented by at least five Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) alongside 106 other lawyers, was dragged before the tribunal in 2015.
Before the Wednesday acquittal, he had made several moves to frustrate the trial including counter-allegations against the chairman of the tribunal, challenging his credibility to continue with the trial.
