Why Everybody Is Calling On Buhari By Comrade Timi Frank

 By Comrade Timi Frank

The Presidency on Sunday stated that the ongoing trial of the president of the Senate, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, is purely a judicial and constitutional issue. Senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement, had described the attempt to link the Presidency to Saraki’s trial as unacceptable. The statement also frowned at views to the effect that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) could only act upon external instigation. Well said. Nobody can tell Buhari to stop the trial of the Senate president by the CCT. However, I don’t think calls on Mr President to ensure that concerned institutions of state follow due process in carrying out their duties are tantamount to calling on him to outrightly stop the trial. Nobody can do that. To stop a perceived criminal trial by fiat would be totally unconstitutional

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In one of my publications last week, I had called on the president not to stop the trial of Saraki, but to ensure that nobody is hiding under his glory to witch-hunt the Senate president. A part of my open appeal to Mr President on the issue read: “Sir, you need to act to stop some of these people hiding under your good name to perpetuate this grievous evil. The question begging for an answer is: If Saraki were not the Senate President, would all these acts of intimidation and maltreatment be visited on him? Please, kindly intervene in good time to stop this apparent political persecution as some few people are now hiding under your name to reap political dividends from this impunity.”

I think this is still my view. Granted, criminal trials are never statute barred, but one expects PMB to find out from the anti-corruption agencies where they have been all this while. For instance, the present case against Saraki dates back to 2003 when he declared his assets before assuming office as governor. The ongoing investigation of his wife by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also dates back to her time as first lady of Kwara State. One is bound to be curious. Without prejudice to criminal trials, I dare say that an institution of state failed to carry out its constitutional mandate within a reasonable period could be deemed to have slept on its right. The current efforts to find loopholes in the assets declared by Saraki over 12 years ago at a time his political opponents have vowed not to rest until they oust him as Senate President, is bound to raise critical questions. Can the EFCC, CCB and CCT claim to be just and fair in their ongoing trial against Saraki and his family?

The call on Buhari to intervene is not a plea for discontinuance. It is a plea to ensure that the rights of the accused are not unnecessarily breached while he is undergoing trial. For instance, is it justifiable for the chairman of the CCT, Danladi Umar, to issue a bench warrant on Saraki after he was duly served with an interim order granted by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, which summoned the CCB and the CCT to appear before it to show cause why it should not be restrained from arraigning the Senate president?

Saraki had approached the court through an exparte motion to stop the Federal Ministry of Justice, the CCB, the Tribunal and Barrister M. S. Hassan from taking any further steps to arraign or prefer any charge against him, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit he filed before the court. In the motion exparte argued by Mahmud Magaji (SAN), Saraki had contended that based on the provision of Section 24 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, his prosecution before the tribunal can only be initiated by the attorney general of the federation (AGF) or any officer so directed the AGF. As at today, we all know that the CCT did not heed the order of FHC in this matter.

What is corruption? According to Transparency International, corruption is the “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. It states further that corruption can be classified as grand, petty or political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs. “Grand corruption consists of acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good. Petty corruption refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low and mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens, who often are trying to access basic goods or services in places like hospitals, schools, police departments and other agencies. Political corruption is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth,” it states.

It is public knowledge that this ongoing trial is more to get back at Saraki by his political opponents than the true quest for justice. Besides the fact that no AGF ordered the prosecution of Saraki as required by law, the CCB also overstepped its boundaries by grossly violating Section 3(d) of the Act establishing the Bureau, which makes it incumbent on it to set up a committee to determine whether an infraction had been committed by any public officer after submitting his/her asset declaration forms. Section 3(d) of the CCB Act states that: “The functions of the Bureau shall be ….to receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of this Act and where the Bureau considers it necessary to do so, refer such complaints to the Code of Conduct Tribunal established by Section 20 of this Act in accordance with Section 20 to 25 of this Act. Provided that where the person concerned makes a written admission of such breach or non-compliance, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary.”

Did the Bureau at any time invite Saraki to intimate him of any alleged discrepancy in his asset declaration forms before filing a 13-count charge against him at the CCT? This is why dispassionate Nigerians will not stop calling on the president to ensure that the right thing is done through the right processes as the number one citizen of this country.

Nobody would call on Mr President if the CCB had done due diligence in this matter. Nobody would bother the president if the CCB, CCT and EFCC had been alive to their responsibilities. Now that the reverse is the case, the president must of necessity ensure that individuals are not made to pay for the negligence of state institutions. Saraki appealed the charges brought against him by the CCB. His contention is that the process is fundamentally flawed. I think this is clear to all. As they say, justice is three-way traffic – justice for the accused, justice for the plaintiff and justice for the state. The constitution guarantees the right of an accused person to defend himself. This includes the right to raise objections at any point, if he feels his rights are being mortgaged. This is exactly what Saraki seeks to do by approaching the Federal High Court. Let the wheels of justice grind slowly so long everybody gets fair, just and equitable results at the end of the day.

I shall keep calling on Buhari, because he is both the national leader of my party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) – and the president of this country. I shall keep calling on him, because the issues now dominating public discourse ordinarily ought to have been resolved by the leadership of the APC, because they are intra-party matters. I will keep calling on Buhari to keep his word to be for everybody and to belong to nobody. We cannot afford to allow an intra-party matter, which is apparent motivation for this recourse to the judiciary, to derail the APC from its vision to provide good governance and ensure that Nigerians are happy. I will keep calling on you sir!

ref: http://www.leadership.ng/columns/462245/why-everybody-is-calling-on-buhari