President Muhammadu Buhari has denied any involvement in the ongoing trial of the Senate President Bukola Saraki over asset declaration related matters.
President Buhari said in a statement issued through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu on Sunday that Senator Saraki’s case with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) were purely judicial matters which the presidency has no interference.
According to the presidential aide, there is no place in law that the Bureau and the Tribunal should take instructions from any quarters.
Shehu argues: “As an independent institution equal to any superior court of record; the tribunal is set up by the constitution to determine the issue of default, false declaration or forgery in assets declaration.
“This therefore is purely a judicial process and has nothing to do with the Presidency”, he said.
“Government has no desire to persecute anybody. The President has vowed to respect the rule of law and this is what he is doing by staying out of this matter. He has said times without number that the war against corruption has no sacred cows,” he added.
Shehu noted that “Even if the president wants to help, there is no way he can do anything. Is he going to ask the judge to stop the trial?”
He therefore, urged those who had an axe to grind with what the CCB and CCT are doing to approach it in a judicial manner by challenging those actions in a proper court of law rather than on the media. “Let them hire a good team of lawyers to prove their innocence,” Shehu said.
By Olisemeka Obeche
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