IT IS NO LONGER BUSINESS AS USUAL ... DOES SARAKI UNDERSTAND THIS? : Saraki: Why I was absent at Code of Conduct Tribunal ... TheNews

Nigeria’s Senate President Bukola Saraki on Friday evening took to Twitter to explain why he was absent at the Code of Conduct Tribunal that has now ordered his arrest.

Saraki was supposed to be at the tribunal as his trial begins for allegedly falsifying his assets, but he reportedly sent his team of lawyers who tried to present an earlier ruling summoning the chairmen of the Code of Conduct Bureau and the tribunal as well a some others.
He however failed to convince the tribunal, which ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, and other relevant security agencies to ensure his arrest.
“My absence from the tribunal today, was based on counsel received that the tribunal will respect the decision of the Federal High Court,” Saraki said on Twitter.
An earlier statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu, his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, said while the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, had stated and maintains that he is ready to submit himself to due process of the law on any issue concerning him, “he also believes he has an inalienable right to resort to the same judiciary for protection when he feels his fundamental rights are about to be infringed upon.
“It is for this reason that Dr. Saraki, having satisfied himself that the case filed by the CCB and the manner in which the case was filed show that he will not be given justice, resorted to the Federal High Court for the determination of the issues of competence of the prosecutor as well as compliance with the procedure stipulated in the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
“The Federal High Court on Thursday, September 17, 2015, therefore ordered that the all parties in the case should appear before it on Monday, September 21, 2015. The implication of this ruling by a Court of competent jurisdiction is that the sitting today has been overtaken by event. It is for this reason that Dr. Saraki chose to go about with his normal official schedule.”
Continuing, the lengthy statement said: “today at the Tribunal, Counsel to the Senate President, Mr. M. A. Mahmud (SAN), raised a motion stating that there is a pending constitutional matter before the Federal High Court to be decided on Monday and that the Tribunal should hold the trial until the constitutional matter is disposed of.
“We are however dismayed that the Tribunal chose to disregard the order of the Federal High Court and the motion to suspend hearing till Monday when all parties are expected to argue their positions on the constitutional matter.
“It is also a surprise to us that despite the application by the lead counsel to the Senate President that he will produce Dr. Saraki on Monday and the personality of the person involved as the Number three man in the country, the Tribunal insisted on issuing a warrant of arrest as if its intention is simply to embarrass Dr. Saraki. We are not unmindful of the fact that the Tribunal is acting under political influence and external pressure. This is dangerous to our democracy.
“The conduct of the Tribunal today left nobody in doubt that it cannot do justice on the matter before it. It is also clear that today’s decision is an abuse of the rule of law which portends danger to our judicial system. The Tribunal has equally set a bad precedent in the way and manner it conducted itself during the proceedings.
“We want to emphasise the fact that this is not part of any war against corruption but using state institutions to fight political opponents and seeking to achieve through the back door what some people cannot get through democratic process.
“We need to caution here that in a desperate bid to settle political scores and nail imaginary enemies, we should not destroy our democratic institutions and heat the polity for selfish reasons. Let us all learn from history.
“The Senate President is a law abiding citizen who will not do anything to undermine the judicial process and authority. However, Dr. Saraki will always act to protect his fundamental human rights.”

SLOWLY GRANDSTANDING HIS WAY INTO JAIL : News Insight: Why the law is not on Bukola Saraki’s side ... A Nigerian lawyer examines the issues in Senator Bukola Saraki’s arraignment at the Code of Conduct Tribunal ... TheNews

The news that charges have been filed against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal was received by many with shock. The expectation, however, was that the accused would be in haste to clear his name, as honourable men are wont to.

On the contrary, Dr. Saraki filed an application before the Federal High Court seeking to stop the scheduled trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The application was granted ex-parte.
The ex-parte application and its grant represent the two of the most frustrating avenues through which justice is frustrated and judicial process abused in our country’s courts of ‘justice’. The fact that the number three man in our political hierarchy is the perpetrator in this case is profoundly disappointing.
More importantly, however, is the fact that the grant of the application was in manifest error of trite law such that keen watchers may be pardoned for suspecting that something underhand was involved in the entire process.
In the first place, no court of law has the powers to interfere with, or in any way restrain the exercise of the judicial powers of another court of co-ordinate jurisdiction. This is trite and well established in accordance with the principles of the doctrine of judicial precedent. In this case, the Federal High Court and the Code of Conduct Tribunal are courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction: appeals from the decisions of the Code of Conduct Tribunal lie to the Court of Appeal (s.23 (4) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act) and appeals from the decisions of a Federal high Court lie to the court of Appeal (s. 243, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999).
In the second place, an injunction restraining the Code of Conduct Bureau is misdirected and therefore, futile. The Code of Conduct Bureau is not a prosecuting authority; under section 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, it is merely an administrative and investigative authority and its role in the prosecution of defaulters under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act is limited to recommending persons for prosecution.
The prosecuting authority in respect of offences under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act is the Office of the Attorney General. Thus section 24 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides the Attorney General or any one nominated by him may bring charges in respect of offences under the Act.
In the third place, it is incorrect for Dr. Saraki to hinge the basis of his ex parte application on the fact that there is no incumbent Attorney General capable of instituting actions against him or any criminal action whatsoever. This line of legal reasoning, once regularly cited, has since been discredited by the Supreme Court in a number of cases and, most recently, in the case of Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Senator Adewunmi where the Supreme Court, per UmaruAltuKalgo, JSC said “There is no doubt at all that the power to institute criminal proceedings against any person in the 1999 Constitution lies on the Attorney-General of the State or the Federation as the case may be, but such power may be exercised by the Attorney-General himself or through any officers of his department. See Sections 174 and 211 of the 1999 Constitution. These sections though very similar in content do not require that the officers can only exercise the power to institute
criminal proceedings if the Attorney General expressly donated his power to them. The provisions of the sections presume that any officer in any department of the Attorney General’s office is empowered to initiate criminal proceedings unless it is proved otherwise”.
Furthermore, section 25(3) provides that the question whether any authority has been given in pursuance of this section requiring the Attorney General to donate his prosecutorial powers under the Act, “shall not be inquired into by any person”.
The decent course for an accused, if he has concerns, is to raise preliminary objection(s) before the tribunal where he has been charged. Dr. Saraki is advised to so do if he is to remain qualified to remain as the number one lawmaker in this country.
On September 18, 2015, following Dr. Bukola Saraki’s failure to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal as charged, the Tribunal, on the application of the prosecutor, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Dr. BukolaSaraki. This power is inherent in any tribunal having the full powers of a court of law, such as the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Furthermore, sections 2 and 14 of the 3rd Schedule to the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act empower the tribunal to compel the attendance of accused persons and witnesses.
Under section 23 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, if found guilty, the tribunal is empowered to impose any of the following punishments:
(a) Vacation of office or any elective or nominated office, as the case may be;
(b) Disqualification from holding any public office (whether elective or not) for a period not exceeding ten years; and
(c) Seizure and forfeiture to the State of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office.
Furthermore, trial or conviction under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act does not preclude a separate trial under any other applicable criminal law (Section 24 Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act)

IN THESE DAYS, THE EVILS THAT MEN DO LIVES WITH THEM 2 : Assets Declaration Documents Detail Bukola Saraki’s Theft And Looting ... SaharaReporters

SaharaReporters has exclusively obtained documents revealing Senate President Bukola Saraki’s asset declaration in 2003. The documents come hours after SaharaReporters reported that the Code of Conduct Tribunal formally charged the embattled Senate President with 13 counts of financial crime, money laundering, and unexplained assets. Mr. Saraki’s trial is expected to commence tomorrow, September 18, 2015, as he has been officially served today with the charges. 

Senators Andy Uba, Bukola Saraki and Dino Melaye are attending an IPU conference in New York
SaharaReporters has published a series of investigative reports detailing Senator Saraki and his wife, Toyin Saraki’s, career of plundering Societe Generale Bank, where he was an executive director and in which the senator’s family had controlling shares, as well as the finances of Kwara State during his eight-year tenure as governor.
An investigation by the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force revealed that Mr. Saraki not only went on a massive stealing spree that contributed to the collapse of Societe General Bank, but that he also masterminded a series of fraudulent schemes by taking out loans and bribing bank officials not to collect on those loans. Altogether, Bukola Saraki has accumulated millions of dollars in unexplained expenses and assets.
The latest documents offer a glimpse into his life of unexplained luxury and asset accumulation. The asset declaration forms also offer a glimpse into Mr. Saraki’s clever maneuvers to conceal his stolen wealth by passing off some assets to his wife, Toyin Saraki, and their two children, Semi Saraki and Teniola Saraki.
It is remarkable that Mr. Saraki’s 2003 Declaration of Assets Forms were filed on May 12, 2003, seventeen days before he was sworn into office as Governor of Kwara State. Therefore, the assets he declared in the forms reflected the wealth Mr. Saraki had accumulated before he began an extensive plundering of Kwara State funds.
Mr. Saraki’s 2003 asset declaration documents reveal his astonishing wealth with no explanation for how he obtained it. He and his companies had more than N51.5 million in Nigeria when he submitted these forms to the Code of Conduct Bureau in 2003. Mr. Saraki also had cash assets, under his name or those of his companies, of at least 2.9 million pounds sterling and $400,000 dollars in 2003.
Saraki Bank Accounts Outside Nigeria Sahara Reporters Media
In addition to his cash assets, Mr. Saraki was also the registered owner of at least eight properties in Nigeria, calculated in 2003 to be worth more than N2.2 trillion. Mr. Saraki was also the registered owner of eight properties in London, which he purchased roughly during the same time. By 2003, according to Mr. Saraki’s assets declaration forms, he owned properties in the UK worth more than $12.6 million.
Saraki properties in Nigeria Sahara Reporters Media
Saraki properties in London, UK Sahara Reporters Media
Before becoming a State governor, Mr. Saraki also purchased 15 vehicles. The automobiles consisted of a Ferrari, 10 Mercedes Benzes, and four bulletproof cars valued at more than N263.4 million. All the vehicles were purchased between 1997 and 2002, with most of them acquired through “business” transactions.
Saraki's vehicles Sahara Reporters Media
The assets declaration forms also reveal that Mr. Saraki and his companies had stockholdings worth 2,145,550 naira, 2,600,00 Euros, and 6,108,33 US dollars.
The documents also reveal that Mr. Saraki’s wife, Toyin, and their two children, owned assets that were inexplicable and highly suspicious. The forms showed that the assets held by Mrs. Saraki and the senator’s two children included cash, property, and stock holdings valued at more than N8 million, 4.5 million pounds sterling, and $4.6 million.
The total wealth, of cash and other assets, that Bukola Saraki decided to declare on his assets declaration forms was 2.607 billion naira (2,607,110,550 naira), 23.7 million US dollars (23,783,333), 7.4 million Pounds Sterling (7,406,500 Pounds Sterling), and 2.6 million Euros (2,600,000 Euros).
Saraki company assets Sahara Reporters Media
The grand total of Bukola Saraki’s wealth, as of 2003, is 10.2 billion naira (10,209,270,295 naira). However, as SaharaReporters and Nigerian police investigations have shown, this is only a small glimpse of Bukola Saraki’s total wealth.
SaharaReporters has previously released documents detailing a police investigation of Bukola Saraki, authored by the Chief Superintendent of Police for Anti-Money Laundering, which offered another glimpse into Saraki’s criminal and unexplained financial activity. This investigation revealed that Bukola Saraki conservatively deposited more than 2 billion naira into accounts belonging to him, in addition to his dollar accounts.
The investigation found that between May 2009 and May 2011 Bukola Saraki deposited at least 4.5 million dollars (4,560,871 US dollars) into his dollar accounts. It was also found in the investigation that more than 5 million dollars made its way into Bukola Saraki’s Zenith Bank account during his time as Governor of Kwara State.
Altogether, from this very conservative estimate of unexplained wealth, Bukola Saraki has more than 14.1 billion naira (14,111,405,580 naira) according to declaration forms and police investigations of him.
Bukola Saraki’s latest statement on this matter simply states that it is all an “outright fabrication and mischief,” while also noting that he continues to fight corruption.

IN THESE DAYS, THE EVIL THAT MEN DO LIVES WITH THEM : Alleged false declaration of assets: Court orders Saraki’s arrest ... VanguardNews

*You’ve no power to order my arrest, Saraki fires back
*Says trial politically motivated, as case shifts to A-Court
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
THE Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja, yesterday, ordered the arrest of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki following his refusal to appear in court to face a 13-count criminal charge that was preferred against him by the federal government.

Bukola Saraki

The tribunal which is headed by  Justice Danladi Umar, directed the Inspector  General of Police, IGP, Mr. Solomon Arase and other relevant security agencies in the country to arrest the Senate President and produce him in court on Monday for arraignment.
Saraki was in the  charge before the CCT, marked ABT/01/15 and dated September 11, 2015, alleged to have falsely declared his assets, contrary to the constitutional requirement.
He was accused of deliberately manipulating the assets declaration form that he filed prior to his assumption of office as the Senate President, by making anticipatory declaration of assets.
The offence was said to have been committed while Saraki held sway as a governor.
Aside allegation that  he owned and operated foreign bank accounts while being a public officer, Saraki  is expected to explain before the CCT how he acquired some assets which the federal government believes were beyond his legitimate earnings.
Meantime, Saraki  who was billed for arraignment yesterday, refused to appear before the tribunal, even though he sent his team of lawyers, led by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. J.B. Daudu, SAN, to file memorandum of conditional appearance on his behalf.
When his case was called up, one of his lawyers, Mr. Mahmud Magaji, SAN, notified the tribunal about the ruling by Justice  Ahmed Mohammed of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, which had on Thursday,  summoned the Ministry of Justice over the charge against Saraki.
Justice Mohammed had after he heard an ex-parte application by Saraki, also  summoned the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Umar and that of the  Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, Mr. Sam Saba, to appear before him on Monday.
They were specifically asked to appear to show cause why an interim order of injunction stopping Saraki’s trial should not be granted.
Meantime, irked  by Saraki’s absence at the tribunal for the commencement of his prosecution yesterday,  the Ministry of Justice, prayed the Justice Umar-led panel to order for his arrest.
Moving the oral application for a   bench warrant to be issued against Saraki yesterday,  a  deputy director in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. M.S. Hassan, maintained that the accused person, “cannot sit in the comfort of his chamber and object to his trial in absentia”.
The prosecution further contended that Justice Mohammed lacked the powers to summon the CCT and CCB chairmen, even as it accused Saraki of engaging in “forum shopping” in a desperate bid to scuttle his trial.
Hassan argued that going by the provision of section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, Saraki, could only object to the trial after he had entered his plea to the charge against him.
“My lords, the provision of this section is clear to the effect that any objection to a charge shall be raised after plea, which means that the accused person must be in court and the charge read to him before any objection.
“Moreover, paragraph 17 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 constitution, as amended, empowers this tribunal to try the accused person”.
The prosecuting counsel described Saraki’s contention that he cannot be prosecuted in the absence of a substantive Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, as “a clear misconception of the law”.
He argued that the power to initiate criminal proceeding before any court or tribunal is not limited to the AGF alone, adding that  section 175 of the constitution provides that any officer in the office of the AGF is qualified to initiate criminal proceeding in any court of law or tribunal in Nigeria, except the court martial.
Placing reliance on decided case law in FRN vs Adeyemi, 2010, 10-NWLR, and section 2 & 4 of the Law Officers Act, the prosecution stres-sed that in the absence of a substantive AGF, the Solicitor General of the Federation could perform all the duties that were imposed by the law on the office of the AGF.
“We also rely on section 24(3) of the CCB &Tribunal Act to submit that the charge against the accused person is proper and competent.
“The Federal High Court lacks the power to compel this court before it. They are both superior courts of record with coordinate jurisdiction, and are both recognised by the constitution.   Appeals from this court go straight to the Court of Appeal.
“The Federal High Court does not have supervisory jurisdiction over this court. It only has power over inferior tribunals, not a court of competent jurisdiction as this court.
“The accused person cannot stop us from performing our constitutional duties. He cannot sit in the comfort of his chamber and say my lawyer will do it for me. This is a criminal case, not a civil matter.
“We therefore urge my lords to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the accused person”, the prosecutor added.
BENCH WARRANT
Ruling on the application , the tribunal while upholding FG’s argument, stressed that Saraki,  having sworn to protect the constitution, ought to have shown respect to the tribunal by appearing before it today.
“I have taken notice of the fact that there is no incumbent AGF in office, but that does not preclude any officer from the Ministry of Justice from initiating this criminal proceeding “, Justice Umar held.
The tribunal noted that whereas the AGF has the sole right to exercise the power of ‘nolle prosequi’ (power to terminate charge), it said that such exclusive right does not include the initiation of criminal trial.
It further observed that Saraki was duly served with the charge and a notice to appear in court yesterday, on September 16.
“This tribunal is established under section 15(1) of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 constitution as a special vehicle vested with the powers to promote probity and accountability in the public service.
“This tribunal has coordinate jurisdiction with the FHC. In view of section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, this tribunal cannot accede to the request to halt this proceeding. A superior court of record cannot issue an order prohibiting or restraining the proceeding of another court of equal status.
“This tribunal has called the defendant to come before it and stand trial. As a senior citizen he is expected to show respect to constitutional provisions which he has sworn to protect.
“The tribunal hereby orders the IGP or other relevant security agencies to arrest and produce the defendant for prosecution. In view of the foregoing, the tribunal orders a bench warrant to be issued against the defendant”, the court ruled.
Spirited effort by Saraki’s lawyers to persuade the tribunal to consider the position of the accused person as the Senate President and stay the execution of the bench warrant against him on the undertaking that he will be available for trial on Monday, failed flat yesterday.
SARAKI APPEALS
Meanwhile, in a swift reaction, Saraki, yesterday, went before the Court of Appeal   in Abuja to challenge the powers of the CCT to try him, as well as the refusal of the tribunal panel to discharge the bench warrant for his arrest.
In his one ground of appeal, Saraki, insisted that the trial tribunal erred in law and also acted without jurisdiction by countenancing and assuming jurisdiction over his criminal trial/ prosecution for a charge that is being challenged at the FHC Abuja in suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/775/2015, between him and the Ministry of Justice and 3 Ors.
He argued that the tribunal acted in disobedience to the order the FHC made on Thursday. Listing the particulars of error by the tribunal, Saraki, told the appellate court that “as at the time the lower tribunal overruled the appellant’s application to discharge the order for bench warrant for his arrest by the respondent, there existed an order of the FHC, Abuja, dated September 17, which was served in the lower tribunal, who were party to the suit”.
It was his argument that having filed an application challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to adjudicate on the charge before it, he needed not to be present in court yesterday.
More so, Saraki, argued that the tribunal did not avert its mind to the decided case laws in Doma vs Ogiri, 1997, 1-NWLR, and that of Ojukwu vs Governor of Lagos state, 1986, 3-NWLR.
He therefore sought an order of the appeal court setting aside the order of arrest that was issued against him by the tribunal.
The embattled Senate President had in  a13 -paragraphed affidavit that was deposed to by one Efut Okoi, told the high court on Thursday that his trial was politically motivated.
He told the court that since May 29 when the life span of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan expired, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had yet to appoint an AGF.
“That upon assumption of office, President Mu hammadu Buhari has made several appointments ranging from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to Senior Special Advisers and Special Assistants.
“That I also know of fact that President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to appoint Ministers and other key Executive Officials.
“That is is also a fact that the Federal Ministry of Justice does not have an Attorney General/ Ministry of Justice yet”.
He argued that on September 14 when the 4th Defendant/Respondent (M.S. Hassan) took steps to initiate the charge before the CCT, he was never directed by any AGF to do so, since there exists no substantive AGF.
“That the charge pending before the CCT is predicated upon the falsehood that the plaintiff/applicant did not declare his assets in 2003, 2006 and 2011.
“That the applicant has consistently declared his assets as required by law at every point before resuming any political office and that of 2015 was not exception.
“That the 2nd defendant/Respondent had investigated the assets and ascertained the claims made by the plaintiff”.
He said that he submitted his asset declaration form in 2007, 2011 and 2015, saying “the present charge was initiated due to external influence and undue interference on the CCT”.
He told the court that the CCB never wrote to him to complain of any inconsistency in his asset declaration form.
Saraki averred that the charge was “purely   a malicious and politically motivated prosecution aimed at undermining the person and office of the Senate President.
“That it is a fact that this charge pending before the CCT is a case of desperation to intimidate the applicant due to his recent stance on national issues.
“That the applicant had suffered series of harassment and intimidation in the hands of the officials of the 1st defendant”, he added.
In the charge, Saraki was accused of breaching section 2 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, an offence punishable under section 23(2) of the Act and paragraph 9 of the said Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
FG alleged that Saraki claimed that he owned and acquired No 15A and 15B Mc Donald, Ikoyi, Lagos, through his company, Carlisle Properties Limited in 2000, when the said property was actually sold by the Implementation Committee of the Federal Government landed properties in 2006 to his companies, Tiny Tee Limited and Vitti Oil Limited for the aggregate sum of N396, 150, 000, 00.
He was alleged to have made false declaration on or about June 3, 2011, by refusing to declare plot 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which he acquired between 2007 and 2008 through his company from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a total sum of N325, 000, 000, 00.
Similarly, Saraki was said to have refused to declare No1 Tagnus street, Maitama, Abuja, which he claimed to have acquired in November 1996 from one David Baba Akawu.
Some of his alleged offence while in office as governor, which are said to be punishable under section 15(1) and (2) of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, Laws   of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, were allegedly committed  between October 2006 and May 2007.
His actions were classified as a gross violation of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended.
“The Federal High Court on Thursday, September 17, 2015, therefore ordered that the all parties in the case should appear before it on Monday, September 21,  2015. The implication of this ruling by a Court of competent jurisdiction is that the sitting today has been overtaken by event. It is for this reason that Dr. Saraki chose to go about with his normal official schedule.
“Today at the Tribunal, Counsel to the Senate President, Mr. M. A. Mahmud (SAN), raised a motion stating that there is a pending constitutional matter before the Federal High Court to be decided on Monday and that the Tribunal should hold the trial until the constitutional matter is disposed of.
“We are however dismayed that the Tribunal chose to disregard the order of the Federal High Court and the motion to suspend hearing till Monday when all parties are expected to argue their positions on the constitutional matter.
“It is also a surprise to us that despite the application by the lead counsel to the Senate President that he will produce Dr. Saraki on Monday and the personality of the person  involved as the Number three man in the country, the Tribunal insisted on issuing a warrant of arrest as if its intention is simply to embarrass Dr. Saraki. We are not unmindful of the fact that the Tribunal is acting under political influence and external pressure. This is dangerous to our democracy.
“The conduct of the Tribunal  today left nobody in doubt that it cannot do justice on the matter before it. It is also clear that today’s decision is an abuse of the rule of law which portends danger to our judicial system. The Tribunal has equally set a bad precedent in the way and manner it conducted itself during the proceedings.
“We want to emphasise the fact that this is not part of any war against corruption but using state institutions to fight political opponents and seeking to achieve  through the back door what some people cannot get through democratic process.
“We need to caution here that in a desperate bid to settle political scores and nail imaginary enemies, we should not destroy our democratic institutions and heat the polity for selfish reasons. Let us all learn from history.
“The Senate President is a law abiding citizen who will not do anything to undermine the judicial process and authority. However, Dr. Saraki will always act to protect his fundamental human rights.
“The Senate President is a law abiding citizen and his absence from the Tribunal today was based  on the legal advice he received from his counsel that the Tribunal will respect the decision of the Federal High Court which is obviously a superior court of records. Also, he relied  on a letter from the Chief Justice of Nigeria directed to the Chairman of the Tribunal last May that they are not judicial officers and are inferior to the regular High Court as defined by the law and that they take official oath not judicial oath.
“We  will like to state therefore that Dr. Saraki will not do anything to undermine the judicial process and authority but he will always act to protect his fundamental human rights.”

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE DAYS WHEN NIGERIA WAS RUN LIKE A BANANA REPUBLIC : I didn’t probe Akume, I wonder why Ortom is after me – Suswam ... DailyPost

Immediate past governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam has affirmed that he is not afraid of facing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC, over corruption allegations leveled against him.
The ex-governor attributed the Peoples Democratic Party’s loss in the last general election to the party’s negligence.
He stated this while playing host to 17 PDP leaders from Benue in Abuja.
Suswam noted that since he did not probe his predecessor, he was not expecting that his successor would probe him.
“On the probe going on in Benue State, it is not that one is afraid, but once a precedent is set, it is a double-edge sword. You don’t know whose turn it is tomorrow, you don’t know tomorrow.

“When I became the governor of Benue State, I met some issues on ground but I resolved it amicably without going after anyone. It baffles me that all this is happening. When there are issues, let us talk about it amicably instead of grandstanding. This remains my approach to life but to go and do grandstanding. I encourage us in Benue to toe the path of peace.
“What we want is a better Benue. I moved Benue State forward, I hope the next administration will build on the developmental strides we achieved. We want peace in our state, we don’t want violence.
“After a long period of time, if you are used to winning all the time, you begin to take things for granted. We lost election because we took a lot of things for granted.
“There were many issues we did not attend to on time. We have experienced something which has resulted in ‘had we known.’ That is why we are now at the receiving end.
“But God creates this kind of situation so that we can learn. When God called Moses, it came with fire. What happened to us is God talking to us.
“The PDP is still intact in Benue, the elders are intact and that is why they have come to meet with me, the opposition leader. And it comes with a lot of pain,” he narrated.

SO IT'S A MILITARY COUP IN BURKINA FASO : Burkina Faso coup: Top ally of former dictator, Compaore, named ruler ... PremiumTimes

A Burkina Faso general, who served as top military aide to former dictator, Blaise Compaore, for three decades, was named Thursday as the leader of a coup that sacked the West African nation’s interim government.
Gilbert Diendere, a former chief-of-staff to Mr. Compaore, was named the head of the new junta called the National Council for Democracy.
Under Mr. Compaore, Mr. Diendere, a spy operator, played a central role in negotiating the release of Western hostages seized by Islamist groups in the arid Sahel, reports Reuters.
The military had earlier announced the dissolution of the transitional government, a day after personnel from the country’s elite presidential guard unit arrested the interim president and prime minister.
President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Yacouba Zida were detained by soldiers who stormed a cabinet meeting, plunging the poor West African country into chaos and uncertainty.
Protesters took to the streets to protest the military takeover amid reports 10 people had been shot dead by the presidential guards.
Demonstrators ransacked the headquarters of Mr. Compaore’s Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party in Ouagadougou, the capital.
The unrest comes days before the country’s first election since the ouster of Mr. Compaore, a former military officer and civilian president, who was forced out by popular uprising in 2014 after holding power for 27 years.
The military’s action also came days after a government committee recommended dissolving the elite military unit, an arm that helped Mr. Compaore stay in power for so long.
Stripped of functions
A spokesperson for the coup leaders, Lt. Col. Mamadou Bamba, said on television that the interim president, Mr. Kafando, had been stripped of his functions and the government dissolved.
“We have put in place a national democracy council tasked with organising democratic and inclusive elections,” he said.
Moumina Cheriff Sy, the speaker of the transitional parliament, called the coup “a blow to the republic and its institutions”.
He called on the larger military to halt a coup by elite unit, and said he would assume leadership until the president was released, Reuters reported.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the coup, and called for the immediate release of the leaders.
The United States also called for the immediate release of the interim president, prime minister.
French President Francois Hollande condemned the coup. He called for the release of the president and prime minister, and the continuation of the electoral process.
Spy master
The choice of Mr. Diendere as the leader of the military junta is seen by many as the return of Mr. Compaore, through the back door.
A communique read by the coup leaders appeared to give boost to that speculation.
The statement said the electoral process was discriminatory and had created “divisions and frustrations amongst the people”, a reference to a policy that barred loyalists of Mr. Compaore and those who backed his tenure elongation bid, from being part of the election.
“The transition has progressively distanced itself from the objectives of refounding our democracy,” the statement said.
The coup leader, Mr. Diendere, however, denied the coup was sponsored by Mr. Compaore. He said he had “no contact” with the former ruler.
“All change of this type can lead to violence. I am conscious of that … everything will be done to avoid violence that could plunge the country into chaos,” Mr. Diendere said on France 24 television.

IS THIS MAN PLANNING TO RETURN TO HIS SENATE SEAT IN NIGERIA AT ALL? : Former Governor Akpabio’s Credit Card Declined At London Hotel ... SaharaReporters

Former Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, who is a current Nigerian senator, today faced serious embarrassment at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a luxury five-star hotel in the Knightsbridge area of London. Mr. Akpabio’s credit card was declined as the ex-governor tried to check in.

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1 / 7 Governor Godswill Akpabio at the reception of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London today

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Mr. Akpabio had been in London to receive medical treatment after his car bullet proof G-Wagon Mercedes Benz collided with an American Embassy diplomatic vehicle in Abuja. The accident had occurred after Mr. Akpabio’s driver reportedly failed to stop at a traffic light.
At the reception of Mandarin Hotel, a flustered Senator Akpabio, who wore a blue sports jacket, was visibly embarrassed on being told that his credit card had been denied. Two unidentified persons were with the former governor at the reception desk as he looked worried and flummoxed about the credit card predicament.

In the thick of the fiasco, the former governor was heard barking orders at an official at Eco Bank in Lagos. He persistently asked why his card was not working.
Mr. Akpabio remained at the reception for a while, apparently at the insistence of the hotel’s management, who later checked him in.

Mr. Akpabio, who as governor claimed that he had built a multi-million dollar “world class” hospital in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom, chose to be flown to the UK for treatment after his accident.

 When SaharaReporters reached the former governor, he admitted that his card was declined because he had used the card to check out of the Four Seasons luxury hotel earlier today. Akpabio stated that his credit card had maxed out of its daily spending limit.
Akpabio also told SaharaReporters when asked why he didn't check into the "World Class" clinic he built in his home state for treatment, he denied accusations that he had neglected to equip the so-called top-tier hospital in Akwa Ibom. The former governor claimed he had not rented equipment that were shown to the media during the official unveiling of the hospital, adding that the delay in opening the hospital was due to Immigration processing relating to the doctors to be brought to work at the hospital .
Mr. Akpabio has emerged as the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in the National Assembly.