Justice
Ahmed Mohammed of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday withdrew from the
case filed by Saraki against the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the Code of
Conduct Bureau.
The
court therefore ordered that the case file should be returned to the Chief
Judge of the FHC, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for re-assignment.
At
the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, Justice Mohammed attributed his
decision to return the case file to what he described as “negative reports” on
the case.
The
judge expressed displeasure at the reports in the media that he ordered the CCB
and CCT to stop the prosecution of Saraki, adding that the reports had already
created a negative opinion in the mind of many Nigerians.
Precisely,
two weeks ago, Justice Mohammed had summoned the CCB and the CCT over the
planned arraignment of Saraki by the CCB.
Justice
Mohammed had while granting the motion ex parte that was argued before him,
directed the CCB and the CCT to appear before him on September 21, 2015 and
show cause why the interim injunction being sought by the Senate President
should not be granted.
He
also directed that all the plaintiffs should be served with the motion ex
parte and the accompanied affidavit while hearing notice should be served
on all the respondents.
Meanwhile,
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he can be impeached if he interferes in the
Code of Conduct Tribunal case against Saraki over charges of false assets
declaration.
Saraki,
on September 11, had been served a 13-count by the Office of the Attorney
General of the Federation. The Senate President responded by calling it a
witch-hunt.
But
in a statement on September 20, the Presidency denied any responsibility for
the Senate President’s trial and described the attempt to link Buhari to
Saraki’s trial as unacceptable.
The
Presidency had argued that the trial of the Senate President was purely a
judicial and constitutional issue.
Buhari,
in an interview with Sahara TV, which was monitored by one of our
correspondents on Wednesday, however, said he could not interfere in the trial
because it would be unconstitutional to do so.
He
said, “What has the President got to do with it as a person? The case is in
court. Do Nigerians expect me to tell the Chief Justice to tell whichever court
that they shouldn’t try the Senate President?
“Do
Nigerians know the constitution of their country; that the Legislative,
Judiciary and Executive have got their roles within the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria? Then how do they expect me to interfere? I can be
successfully impeached if I do it.”
Asked
if he would pass any vote of confidence in the Senate President, in the light
of the backing of Saraki by 83 senators on Tuesday, the President said, “That
would depend on the outcome of the trial.”
Responding
to questions about his current relationship with the Senate President, Buhari
said that he had been communicating with Saraki through letter.
“There
are some appointments which the Senate has to approve and I cannot remember how
many letters I have personally written to him, because it is constitutional.
“There
are people I want to work with but I cannot work with them unless the National
Assembly approves. So, I have been writing to the Senate President and to the
Speaker of the House (of Representatives) and it is constitutional,” he said.
Source:punchng
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