Of Saraki, Senate presidency and the CCT

Atita's corner

Guest Columnist
Chidiebere Collins

Today, marks a watershed in the annals of the history of the National Assembly  under the mantra of fight against or for corruption. Today, the number one law maker will be arraigned before a court of law for allegedly breaching the code of conduct for public officers. There is the additional charge of willful absence from attending court for which there is a bench warrant. These are mere allegations but they are weighty.

It is important to underscore that a fundamental principle of law is that every accused person is presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Our law is predicated on the principle that he who alleges must prove.

Today, Senator Bukola Saraki will go and have that proverbial handshake with the law for which it is a popular aphorism that nobody is above the law. Nobody is indeed above the law. The matter is for all intents and purposes a criminal trial and the accused will be required to enter his plea of guilty or not guilty, and if he pleads not guilty (as is expected), be granted bail and afforded the opportunity to enter his defence.

Bail is a right subject however to the judicial and judicious discretion of the court given the nature of the offence allegedly committed. Let us get it right, criminal trials are full of histrionics and melodrama because both the prosecutor and the defence have bags of tricks up their sleeves.

In any event, the prosecutor must lay all the facts before the court including those favourable to the accused. The prosecutor is not a persecutor desiring conviction at all cost but he must be diligent in prosecuting the accused. Hence, justice in a criminal trial is a three way traffic- to the accused, the complainant and the state.

The snag is that Senator Saraki will be arraigned as a person in his private capacity and as an accused person but he also holds the additional qualifications of Senator, Senate President and Chairman of National Assembly NASS. Once he is arraigned, he will adorn the toga of an accused person unless and until he is discharged and or acquitted in the matter at the conclusion of the trial. If the tribunal finds that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the fortune of the accused will change to the worst as he will be a convict.

In all of these where is the interest of the state? Will the Senate Presidency be on trial too? How about the Chairmanship of the NASS? The number three citizen of this great country will be in the dock and in that capacity . When an ordinary hand broke an iron what do you think of stick.

Chidiebere Collins is the Imo State Coordinator,  Foundation Against Fraud, Indiscipline and Corruption FAFIC

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