The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has again adjourned the asset declaration case against Senate President, Bukola Saraki to March 18.
Saraki pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsely declared his assets when he was governor of Kwara from 2003 to 2011. The 13 charges he faces at the CCT, mostly relate to the ownership of land held by his company Carlisle Properties Ltd during that period.
He is also alleged to have transferred $3.4 million to an account outside Nigeria while he was governor, and sending 1.5 million pounds ($2.1 million) to a European account to cover a mortgage for a London property.
At the Tribunal today, Saraki’s legal team said the attorney general did not have the power to mount a criminal trial against him.
“We have filed a motion challenging your jurisdiction,” Saraki’s lawyer, Mr Kanu Agabi told the tribunal.
Counsel to the Federal Government, Rotimi Jacobs called the move a deliberate attempt to “scuttle” the court case.
If found guilty, Saraki would be removed as Senate president, and barred from holding any public office for up to 10 years and could face jail time.