A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Adeniyi Akintola, has faulted the ongoing trial of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Akintola insisted that Saraki is being persecuted through the CCT trial because of his emergence as the Senate president.
The legal giant spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, during an interview with newsmen.
He maintained: “Dr. Saraki is not being treated fairly.”
He said the way Saraki’s trial was going is baffling most judicial officers in the country, more so that a precedence on such matter had earlier been set when it involved the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
According to Akintola, he was involved in the trial of Abubakar and Tinubu when they were charged before the CCT on allegation of failure to declare their assets and the panel refused to sit then when the members did not form quorum.
He said: “It is quite unfortunate that most of the time we play the ostrich in this country.
“It is like hiding your head in the sand and living your body outside and when it is convenient for us, we do certain things in our own way, but when it affects our enemy, we do it the other way round.
“I’m not holding brief for Senator Bukola Saraki, but I believe that what is being done to him is not fair because we cannot have two sets of laws.
“I was the lead counsel to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar before the CCT.
“I led the team and when we disqualified a member of that panel, Prof. Oluyode, the panel could not sit because they could not form a quorum.
“That was the case of Atiku Abubakar.
“And until they brought one M.A. Sanni (SAN) from Ilorin to join them, that panel could not sit.
“I was in the legal team that defended Asiwaju Bola Tinubu before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the preliminary objection we raised was sustained.
“But today, the legal profession is being media driven.
“There are too much sentiments going on out there.
“Like I do say, I’m not holding brief for Dr. Bukola Saraki, but he’s not being treated fairly because what is happening today is alien to our law.”
Akintola expressed concern and surprise over why Saraki would be treated differently, stressing that the Nigerian judicial system is justice according to law and not justice according to sentiments.
Akintola added that there is no substitute to the rule of law as it was not possible to separate laws for different people.
He opined that the media is currently controlling the legal profession, describing the scenario as alien to the Nigerian judicial system.
