No fewer than 19 political parties in Nigeria on Wednesday added a new dimension to the trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), over non-declaration of assets, with a strong warning that he would not get justice if Justice Danladi Umar, continues to sit as chairman of the CCT.
According to them, Umar should “step down from the Saraki trial as it has become clear to everyone that he is indeed an interested party.”
Spokesperson of the 19 parties and National Chairman of Labour Party (LP), Abdulkadir Abdulsalam (Baraden Paiko), at a crowded press conference held in Abuja, therefore beloved that Saraki’s trial “has serious implications for the survival of our democracy and this administration’s avowed commitment to fight corruption.”
He said, “The manner that Saraki’s trial has proceeded at the Code of Conduct Tribunal give us serious reasons to be concerned that there is the real possibility that justice may not be done.
“The Chairman of the Tribunal, Mr. Danladi Umar has failed to demonstrate a dispassion that is required of anyone sitting in judgment over others. In fact, he has behaved more like a member of the prosecution team than an impartial arbiter interested only in ensuring that justice is done.
“We observe however that the preponderance of evidence that has been deployed so far against Dr. Saraki, including the Principal Prosecution Witness in the matter, were supplied by the EFCC.
“What that means is that the Chairman of the Tribunal, Mr. Danladi Umar, is not only beholden to, but also under the control of the prosecution. Invariably, since Mr. Danladi Umar has the prosecutors ‘axe dangling on his neck, his ability to do justice to the defendant would be naturally impaired.”
