Senate President
Bukola Saraki has accused Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT), of bias.
Arguing a motion seeking the withdrawal of Umar from his trial,
Saraki through Paul Erokoro, one of his counsels, alleged that the CCT chairman
had already decided his fate unfavourably.
“It is no longer possible for my lord to be fair in this
trial,” he alleged.
Erokoro argued that the statement of Umar- in which he said that
Saraki was tactically delaying the trial to avoid final consequences- had
shown the CCT chairman as being bias against his client.
He, therefore, urged the judge to “recuse” himself for the sake
of fair hearing.
But Rotimi Jacobs, prosecuting counsel, asked the tribunal to
dismiss the motion saying that: “The argument is based on a false premise.”
He said that there was no basis for the motion because the
tribunal had not shown itself to be biased.
Earlier, Saraki had filed a similar motion asking the judge to
withdraw from the trial on the grounds that he was under investigation by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In the previous motion, his argument was that the CCT chairman was
under the control of the EFCC- which was investigating him.
But Umar dismissed the application for lacking in merit.
On Tuesday, after listening to the arguments of the counsel, the
tribunal judge adjourned to case to July 13 for ruling on the motion- after
saying that he would be travelling on Wednesday.
-Thecable
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