Breaking News: Supreme Court Rules Bukola Saraki Must Face Trial

The supreme court has dismissed the appeal of Senate President Bukola Saraki seeking to stop his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). In the lead judgment taken by Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen, the court held that the CCT was properly constituted to exercise jurisdiction over Saraki’s trial. It also resolved the issue of whether the tribunal had jurisdiction to try criminal matters and issue bench warrants against Saraki. “I find no merit in the appeal, it is hereby dismissed,” the court ruled.

The court dismissed all grounds of Saraki’s appeal and upheld the judgment of the appeal court, stating that his trial must continue. The apex court had scheduled February 5 for judgment in the appeal of the senate president against the CCT. ‬ ‪In November 2015, Mahmud Mohammed, chief justice of Nigeria, who led a panel of seven judges, announced the date after hearing the brief of the counsel to the plaintiff and the respondent. ‬‪ Making his argument, Joseph Daodu, Saraki’s lawyer, pegged his brief on three points.

He argued that the CCT, in its trial of the senate president, was not properly constituted, and that the tribunal was not a court of competent criminal jurisdiction. ‬ “The CCT is just a disciplinary panel for public officers,” he had said.