₦airaland Forum

blaksmith:
You clearly don't understand the basis of my analysis. I am not addressing the charges, neither am I addressing discrepancies in the asset declaration process. I am addressing an abuse of procedure by the Bureau in the bringing the case to the Tribunal; before a case can be forwarded to the Tribunal, irrespective of what the charges are, certain conditions precedent must be met. I explained what these conditions are in my original post. If that due process is not followed, then whatever cases are brought before the Tribunal will easily be thrown out by a superior court of record or on appeal of to the Court of Appeal. (The issue of whether the Federal High Court is superior to the Tribunal is another discussion but based on the explicit provisions of the Constitution in S.6, my views are in favour of the Federal High Court)

Also, the question of whether the charges against him are true or false is another matter entirely. I am addressing procedural law. However, this week will see a detailed response by Saraki's team of lawyers to the charges...of that I am pretty certain.

You still do not get it. What i am saying is being the procedure you outline is for verification process - ie before the asset declaration form is accepted by the CCB, it did not state the procedure to adopt after the verification process and the asset declaration form has been accepted and found to be false. That is why the CCT did not bring in the asset 2015 asset declaration form which is still in the process of verification but the process 2003 form which has been verified.

I favour the Code of Conduct Tribunal as a superior court because it is a creation of the constitution and not an act of the national assembly. Besides i do not see the chairman who must be qualified to be a high court judge answer to another high court judge to explain his judgements. He would feel insulted.

blaksmith:
I know the process of Asset Declaration. I have read the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. You have missed the entire point of my submission. In simpler terms, this is the process:
1. Declaration of Asset via the prescribed Form
2. CCB receives Form and begins process of verification
3. If during verification the CCB discovers any anomaly, or what may be a breach of the provisions of the Act, with respect to the contents of the Asset form, they must contact the Public Officer in question bringing it to his attention and giving him the opportunity to either deny or admit in writing that there is an anomaly in his form that constitutes a breach.
4.If he admits in writing, the matter ends at the CCB as the public officer will be required to correct the error/breach. It cannot/would not/should not be referred to the Tribunal because there is a written admission of the error/breach and such error/breach has been corrected.
5. If he denies in writing, the CCB may then refer the matter to the Tribunal for further investigation. Where the Tribunal has evidence supporting that a breach occurred, it will then issue a summons for the public officer (now an accused person) to appear before it. Attached to the Summons will be copies of the evidence proving the breach. This is also to enable the accused public officer prepare sufficiently, his defence.

The entirety of points 3, 4 and 5 are to protect the fundamental right to fair hearing.

I am glad you made reference to Buhari/Osinbajo being contacted to clarify some issues. Might I add that the CCB did embark on verification of Senator Saraki's 2003 and 2007 declarations. They however never contacted him that they identified an issue with his declarations...then suddenly 8-12 years later he is being charged to the Tribunal on charges pertaining to declarations that were verified previously. If suddenly they had problems with declarations they had initially verified, then they should have requested him to come in person to clarify...

I hope you understand this simpler breakdown.

You lawyers sometimes do more harm to your clients than good. Why would a lawyer advice his client not to appear in court to clear his name but instead attempt to stop a trial using another court?

You are obviously missing the crux of the allegations against Senator Saraki, he was not being investigated for an ongoing asset declaration process, he is being accused of declaring wrong assets using forged documents and false information. In effect he is being accused of deceit, forgery and perjury. What you are describing is discrepancies in the asset declaration form during verification by CCB.

Now Chukwudi read section 18 subsection 6;

(6) Nothing in this paragraph shall prejudice the prosecution of a public officer punished under this paragraph or
precludesuch officer from being prosecuted or punished for an offence in a court of law.

This section makes the Tribunal chairman the most powerful person in Nigeria after the president and the AG. Mind you, the only the appeal court or the supreme court that can upturn the decisions of the tribunal.

This is the part of the constitution setting up the Code of Conduct Tribunal;Tribunal

Code of Conduct Tribunal
15. (1) There shall be established a tribunal to be known as Code of Conduct Tribunal which shall consist of a
Chairman and two other persons.
(2) The Chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a Judge of a Court of record
in Nigeria and shall receive such remuneration as may be prescribed by law.
(3) The Chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall be appointed by the President in
accordance with the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
(4) The National Assembly may by law confer on the Code of Conduct Tribunal such additional powers as
may appear to it to necessary to enable it more effectively to discharge the functions conferred on it in this
Schedule.
16. (1) The tenure of office of the staff of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall, subject to the provisions of this Code,
be the same as that provided for in respect of officers in the civil service of the Federation.
(2) The power to appoint the staff of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and to exercise disciplinary control over
them shall vest in the members of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and shall be exercisable in accordance with
the provisions of an Act of the National Assembly enacted in that behalf.
17. (1) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, a person holding the office of Chairman or member of the Code of
Conduct Tribunal shall vacate his office when he attains the age of seventy years.
(2) A person who has held office as Chairman or member of the Code of Conduct Tribunal for a period of not
less than ten years shall, if he retires at the age of seventy years, be entitled to pension for life at a rate
equivalent to his last annual salary in addition to other retirement benefits to which he may be entitled.
(3) A person holding the office of Chairman or member of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall not be removed
from his office or appointment by the President except upon an address supported by two-thirds majority of
each House of the National Assembly praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of
the office in question (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body) or for misconduct or for contravention of
this Code.
(4) A person holding the office of Chairman or member of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall not be removed
from office before retiring age save in accordance with the provisions of this Code.
18. (1) Where the Code of Conduct Tribunal finds a public officer guilty of contravention of any of the provisions of
this Code it shall impose upon that officer any of the punishments specified under sub-paragraph (2) of this
paragraph and such other punishment as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
(2) The punishment which the Code of Conduct Tribunal may impose shall include any of the following -
(a) vacation of office or seat in any legislative house, as the case may be;
(b) disqualification from membership of a legislative house and from the holding of any public office 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.
(3) The sanctions mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) hereof shall be without prejudice to the penalties that may be imposed
by any law where the conduct is also a criminal offence.
(4) Where the Code of Conduct Tribunal gives a decision as to whether or not a person is guilty of a contravention of any of
the provisions of this Code, an appeal shall lie as of right from such decision or from any punishment imposed on such
person to the Court of Appeal [/b]at the instance of any party to the proceedings.
[b] (5) Any right of appeal to the Court of Appeal from the decisions of the Code of Conduct Tribunal conferred by sub-
paragraph (4) hereof shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of an Act of the National Assembly and rules of
court for the time being in force regulating the powers, practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal.
(6) Nothing in this paragraph shall prejudice the prosecution of a public officer punished under this paragraph or preclude
such officer from being prosecuted or punished for an offence in a court of law.
(7) The provisions of this Constitution relating to prerogative of mercy shall not apply to any punishment imposed in
accordance with the provisions of this paragraph.

Does this look like laws made for an inferior court? it clearly states that the first court of appeal is the appeal court.

chukwudi44:
Bros please when you are debating law do quote sections of the constitution to back up your case and not just anything that comes to your head. Section 6 of the constitution clearly listed all the superior courts of record and the CCT was not amongst those listed

Section 5 deals with the creation of the Code of Conduct Tribunal;

15. (1) There shall be established a tribunal to be known as Code of Conduct Tribunal which shall consist of a
Chairman and two other persons.
(2) The Chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a Judge of a Court of record
in Nigeria and shall receive such remuneration as may be prescribed by law.
(3) The Chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall be appointed by the President in
accordance with the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
(4) The National Assembly may by law confer on the Code of Conduct Tribunal such additional powers as
may appear to it to necessary to enable it more effectively to discharge the functions conferred on it in this
Schedule.

Code of Conduct bureau is a creation of the constitution and so a superior court.

chukwudi44:
The CCT chairman made reference to the high court's judgement and claimed coordinate jurisdiction which is wrong since the CCT is an inferior court of record to the FHC
I can bet you that the arrest warrant issued by the CCT would definitely be quashed by the FHC

Chukwudi, you flogging a dead horse. The Code of conduct tribunal is a superior court as it is a creation of the constitution. Even Saraki's lawyers have seen their error, hence they applied for the arrest warrant to be quashed at the appeal court and not at the high court. The constitution does not create inferior courts.

chukwudi44:
Agbakoba: The Code of Conduct Bureau is Not a Superior Court…
Former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, Chief Olisa Agbakoba has said the CCT was wrong to say that it was a court of equal jurisdiction with the Federal High Court.


“There are two kinds of courts in Nigeria, superior and inferior. All the superior courts are defined in Section 6 of the constitution; it does not include the Code of Conduct Bureau, it does not include the National Industrial court,” Agbakoba said.


According to him, “The Code of Conduct Bureau is not a superior court; it is an inferior court and because it is an inferior court, it is amenable to the judicial review jurisdiction of a superior court of record like the Federal High Court.”


The Federal High Court, he said had power to review the judicial work of the Code of Conduct Bureau because it is an inferior court.
Also reacting, Ebun Adegboruwa described the Tribunal’s action as an assault on rule of law. “What the Code of Conduct Tribunal did in spite of the order of the High Court amounts to judicial abuse of the due process of the rule of law and amounts to judicial rascality on the part of the serving judge of Code of Conduct Tribunal.”


Adegboruwa said the Tribunal was under the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court, adding that the option left for the Tribunal was to approach the court that gave the order to either challenge it or vacate it.


He said, “It will amount to total anarchy for the parties affected by an order to decide whether or not to obey the order. So, to that extent, the bench warrant issued against the Senate President is ultra vires, it has no place in law and cannot be enforced, because if the order of the High Court to the tribunal was not enforced also the bench warrant of the tribunal to the Senate President cannot be enforced. You cannot use wrong to achieve a right

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/facing-arrest-saraki-cites-politics-in-ccb-prosecution/220612/

Chukwudi, the way you carry this Saraki matter for head pass "be careful" o. Is it because of your love for Saraki or your hatred for Tinubu?

You should have included your source for me to believe Olisa Agbakoba whom i respect very much made those statements.

Even though i am not a lawyer, i am literate enough to know that Code of Conduct Tribunal is not an inferior court. Although it was not listed in the list of superior courts or court of records, it meets all the criteria of a superior court. The main difference between a superior court and and inferior court apart from keeping records is that a superior court is a creation of the constitution, while an inferior court is a creation of an act of the national assembly or state assembly.

Here is the 5th schedule of the Nigerian constitution dealing with the Code of Conduct Tribunal ;
Part 1 section 15

15. (1) There shall be established a tribunal to be known as Code of Conduct Tribunal which shall consist of a
Chairman and two other persons.
(2) The Chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a Judge of a Court of record
in Nigeria and shall receive such remuneration as may be prescribed by law.
(3) The Chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Tribunal shall be appointed by the President in
accordance with the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
(4) The National Assembly may by law confer on the Code of Conduct Tribunal such additional powers as
may appear to it to necessary to enable it more effectively to discharge the functions conferred on it in this
Schedule.

It clearly stated that the chairman must qualified to be a judge of court of records (superior court). It also stated that it members must be appointed using the same criteria as that of a superior court.

I would be very surprised if Agbakoba actually said The code of conduct tribunal is an inferior court. The other lawyer Ebun Adegboruwa is just an attention seeker.

Wildrage:
First time I would disagree with u on this forum, your opinions are almost all of the time spot on, but on this you got it wrong. Let me say upfront that I consider Saraki a despicable, treacherous, opportunistic scoundrel, a rapacious thief deserving all the tribulations being meted to him by his equally power hungry, tyrannical soul mates. That said, I believe we are a country governed by law and under no circumstance should the tenets, letters and the core principles of law be deviated from just because it's expedient to do so. If we encourage mob action against a deserving thief someday an innocent relative may be wrongly lynched to death just because someone maliciously called him Ole in the market place.

To what you opined, my dissent

1) the law is very specific on who can prosecute or authorize prosecution by way of delegating his authority for false declaration of assets, The attorney general of the federation. This is unlike any other criminal prosecution where the power to prosecute can be implied even when there is no substantive AG

2) like I said earlier, the law is not referring to the office but the person of the Attorney general, there is no ambiguity. No other person can act on his behalf unless there is an express authorisation from the AGF. In this case, Buhari shot himself in the foot by his inexplicable delay in appointing his ministers

3) The law recognize a vacuum if there is one even though nature abhors it

4) In its rush to please the puppeteer, CCB not only acted unlawfully but also in total disregard of its own procedures. An accuse is to be afforded an opportunity by the commission to explain any discrepancy discovered after verification of his declared assets, the commission only proceeds to prosecute if the Explanation is considered unsatisfactory. In this case nothing of such happened.

5) this constitutional infraction may not be weighty enough to warrant the impeachment of the president, moreso when there is nothing to show he is directly involved in this shenanigan but I assure you that if he continues to behave like we are still in a military era where his whims must be obeyed and his wishes must be law , then sooner or later even those cheer him on now would start seeing him as a menace that must be thwarted, he frittered away his goodwill in 84, same can still happen

Barca is right here and you are only getting overly emotional. Barca backed up his arguments stating the relevant sections of the constitution, why don't you state the sections of the constitution that says it is only the AG that can prosecute or authorize the prosecution of false declaration of assets.

Are you not annoyed that Nigerians (especially politicians ) are always looking for excuse to avoid the law. In saner climes accused would be eager to have his day in court to defend him or herself, but here accused throw up all kinds of shenanigans and tantrums to avoid the courts. Saraki is not even pleading his innocence, he is pleading witch hunting and going to an appellate court to get an injunction to stop his trail, is he admitting guilt?

The trail affords him the opportunity to explain the descrepancies in his asset declaration form and how he came about those assets.

Think about it, Tinubu was brought before this Code of conduct bureau under PDP government and was acquitted. Why can't Saraki go through the trail and prove his innocence? He behaves like someone who is too arrogant, greedy and power drunk.

Barcanista, you are still trying to hide your bitterness of Buhari's defeat of Jonathan by forming constructive criticism. It is not a must to criticise every statement Buhari makes. You cannot criticise someone for what he thinks. Buhari never said he will not appoint ministers, he was only sharing his thoughts , and after being in government for over two decades, including becoming a head of state, he is entitled to his own opinion.

This is what he said;

“The ministers are there, I think, to make a lot of noise; for the politicians to make a lot of noise. But the work is being
done by the technocrats. They are there; they have to provide the continuity, dig into the records and then guide us,
[those of us] who are just coming in.
“They have been there, some of them for 15 years, some for 20 years. So I think this question of ministers is political.
People from different constituencies want to see their people directly in government, and see what they can get out of
it.”

Buhari went further to explain that Ministers could be sources of distraction as a result of their dual allegiance; to their function as officials of the state and as politicians.

You should see that Buhari is making a statement on the kinds of people he would choose as ministers; technocrats who make little noise with little political allegiance.

I would not say Lagos is overrated, i would say it is over populated, over crowded and under planned. It is the only mega city (city with a population above 10million ) in the world without an organized mass transportation system, ie trains.

The problem of lagos is a reflection of the problem of Nigeria. A good railway system will relieve the population problem of Lagos and help develop other town and villages.

No wonder your people excel in fictional literature, you just sit down an imagine stories without recourse to reality. Why not tell us how many bankers lost their job under Jonathan's reign?

see the links below;

https://www.nairaland.com/356403/zenith-bank-downsizes-600-employees
https://www.nairaland.com/1536315/massive-sack-union-bank
http://www.businessjournalng.com/first-bank-may-sack-2740-over-branch-downsizing/
https://www.nairaland.com/857072/access-bank-sacks-1500-intercontinental
https://www.nairaland.com/998989/unity-bank-retires-500-workers

These are just a tip of the iceberg as the number of bank workers sacked or retrenched in the last 6 years is huge.

You were not concerned about the tens of thousands of bankers that have lost their jobs within the last 6 years, why are you suddenly concerned now?

omooba969:
Plz share wit nairalanders wot AYIRI means in Yoruba language.

Ayiri is not Yoruba, It is short for Ayirioritse, meaning praise God. So Ayiri simply means praise.

Where is the crime? i was hoping to read where evidences were presented that Amaechi stole the money. And this was said to have happened in 2008, why has the issue not been raised all these years?

chukwudi44:
wirinet you really amaze me!!! I never knew you could so incurably daft and myopic!!! So you it would be okay if Buhari appoints only the people from Daura to work for him because he can only trust people from that part of the country ? In a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria,this sort of actions would spell doom

Please learn to argue intellectually than insultively. POLITICS and any other human (and even animal) social construct has high regard for loyalty. Buhari cannot appoint all over 600 appointments from Duara, what he said he that he is appointing his personal aids from those he can trust and people that have been with him through thick and thin. Other appointments would conform to federal character.

frankyychiji:
Can you also tell the house how Obj and the men you mentioned above part ways.

Can you tell me how many OBJ's loyal trusted men have parted ways with him? These men remain eternally loyal to OBJ. You will be surprised that these men ensured the destruction of PDP from inside. Men like Ahmadu Ali, Sure Lamido, Bode George, and lots of others still take instructions from OBJ. Did not IBB advice Jonathan to make peace with OBJ if he wants a chance in winning the elections? Even Andy Uba is still loyal to Baba .

mekaboy:
This is no longer about politics or party, but the destiny of over 100 million Nigerians.

You wont take someone that knows nothing about a sector and put him there because he is loyal to u.

Since all his friends and loyalists are from the north, why not contest for state governor?

Loyalty is paramount in any social organization, even your office or workplace. A leader can only achieve his goals when he works with people he can trust and people that believes in him. Even in football a coach will only choose players that are loyal and dedicated to the coach. The minute the coach feels you are not loyal, he gets rid of you no matter how good you are not- ask David Beckham about Sir Alex Ferguson.

Symdy:
So Ogbonnaya Onu who started with u in ANPP and have remained in opposition since the past 16 yrs isn't worthy of appointment? From the smell of fart, we know the taste of faeces. CHANGE!!!

Me too i am pained that Ogbonnaya Onu was not given an appointment yet and i hope he would reward Onu's loyalty. But you should try and understand Buhari, he had been betrayed by lots of people, that was why he left ANPP to form CPC. The most painful was that of his Lawyer Mike Ahamba, he betrayed him a year to the last elections to Join PDP, this is someone that had been with him for many years. It is like your wife sleeping with the "enemy". So you should understand Buhari when he talks of loyalty and dedication.

OBJ said worse. He said loyalty was paramount in selecting aids. He said he prefers selecting retired military men into sensitive position because he could vouch for their loyalty. He appointed Ahmadu Ali as PDP chairman because of loyalty, he coerced Jonathan to be Vice to Yaradua because he was impressed with the degree of loyalty Jonathan had to Alamiesiegha. So in politics and military loyalty is of utmost importance.

It is only association of wailing wailers that would not make sense out of what Buhari said. You can only appoint trusted aids who have been with you through thick as personal aids. The president takes responsibly for success or failures of his government, so he is at liberty to chose people he can closely work with. The only other person i feel fits the bill of a dedicated, loyal and trusted person who was not appointed as personal aid is Ogbonnaya Onu, who was with him from ANPP days. I hope he makes up for sidelining him with good position in his cabinet.

OZAOEKPE:
"We don't need position, but please give our 'yoruba' brothers position." Quote me anywhere.




Morale of the day: never trust a fulani man, they will use and dump you.


I'm dedicating this to Genea, please take heart over the loss of your friend. May God give you the large heart to bear the loss. #love you Genea.

Why are you so obsessed with Yoruba? What concerns Yoruba with the topic at hand? or do you have nightmares of Yoruba with in your sleep?

What position did your hero give Yorubas who were responsible for making him vice president acting president and subsequently president? Did you plead with Jonathan to give yorubas positions even though they were the ones that risked their lives to make Jonathan acting president.

If a Fulani man cannot be trusted, is it an igbo man that can be trusted?

adconline:
No slow and steady here but stalled and directionless

Re-read the Chatem House statement and show me where Buhari outlined his policy thrust, he clearly disowned the 100 days. This is what he said

“Just to go first to the ‘first 100 days’, some of it is fraudulent and I don’t want to participate in any fraud in any form. Nigerians know that we are in trouble as a people and as a country. When we get there we will quickly get correct intelligence of what is on the ground and inform Nigerians and just learn what I have just read. “We will make sure that the misappropriation and misapplication of public resources will not be allowed. You would be surprised by how much savings we will realize. That saving will be ploughed back into development and this is what I can promise. But I would remove that ‘100 days’”

Let me break it down to you like i am talking to a baby;
1. When we get there we will quickly get correct intelligence of what is on ground, inform Nigerians - This is what Buhari has been doing the pact three months. He is taking an inventory of what is on ground.

2. We will make sure the misappropriation and misapplication of public will not be allowed. This means he will go after the money that has been stolen, not necessarily the thieves. He said you would be surpised how much savings we would realize.

3. He will then plough the recovered funds back into development projects.

These are Buhari's promises and he his pursuing it vigourously dispite all the distractions and wailings by PDP, TANoids and a certain zone of the country.

warrior01:
That's my girl. Even the whole world now acknowledges you were persecuted. God is gradually punishing them even as they've started denying promises made to schoo pupils. Tufiakwa! May we never see such again

Always defending their sister. Oya tell us, was the special investigative commitee set up by Jonathan to look into the case that indicted her also persecuting her?