The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday, appealed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which on October 30 affirmed the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to try him on 13 counts of false assets declaration.
Senator Saraki also filed an application for stay of proceedings urging the Supreme Court to halt the proceedings of the Code of conduct Tribunal to try him for the alleged offences pending when his appeal would be determined.
The Senate President raised seven grounds of appeal in his notice of appeal and attached to the application for stay of proceedings.
Dr Saraki urged the Supreme Court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the entire proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the charges preferred against him before the Tribunal.
He claimed that the Appeal Court erred in law when it affirmed the competence of the proceedings of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, which sat on the appellant’s case with only two members as against the three provided for in the provisions of Paragraph 15 (1) of the Fifth Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution.
The Senate President also faulted the majority decision of the Appeal Court where it held that there was lacuna regarding the quorum of the Tribunal.
He argued that the application of the Interpretation Act to hold that two out of three members of the Tribunal could validly sit “is to circumvent and reduce the number prescribed by the Constitution for the due composition of the Tribunal.
The Court of Appeal had by a two-to-one split decision on October 30, dismissed Saraki’s appeal against the ruling of the Justice Umar Danladi-led Tribunal in which it affirmed its jurisdiction to hear the charges against the Senate President. – Channels.
