Renowned Professor of International Law, Emmanuel Esiemokhai, yesterday urged the nation’s courts to release all prisoners in the country if the embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is not convicted in his corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.
Speaking with Sunday Mirror in a telephone interview, the renowned academic argued that the facts before the CCT against the accused are convincing enough to send him to jail. He described the defendant’s decision to hire 65 lawyers for his trial as a show of his affluence. Saraki had exploited all legal options available to frustrate his trial before being ordered by the Supreme Court to face the CCT.
Trial could not begin last Friday following some technicalities between his lead counsel and the prosecutor. Esiemokhai said the drama being played at the CCT was a battle between “loot and rule of law”, which “must be reconciled”. He said of Saraki’s array of lawyers: “That demonstrates to you the financial ability to deal with the system. The Nigerian legal system is based on common law.
If somebody can thwart the law through massive legal representation in a case that is so obvious like perjury, Federal Republic of Nigeria must be careful; because forces that are very intolerant of this type of licence may take matters into their own hands.”
He also knocked the senators accompanying the accused to the court: “If you look at the legislature, you find that a lot of them are not knowledgeable in the law. It is an irony that the National Assembly which should be full of lawyers, academic lawyers, practising lawyers, retired lawyers; we have people there who cannot define the rule of law. All they say is that Saraki is a person who is rich, and that they will support him no matter what the problem is, no matter what the crime is. “It is so obvious, it is a shame because many people outside Nigeria will be wondering what type of country we have. Senators who are supposed to objectively analyse issues followed somebody to court.
This is somebody who went ahead to nominate himself as President of Senate. He is not even a lawyer, he is medical doctor. So, where did he get the knowledge to legislate? Legislation is purely a judicial matter. Legislation is based on law. If somebody studied medicine, and he didn’t study law, and he is Senate President, what type of Senate is that?” He also said of Saraki’s possible victory at the CCT: “You see, the facts are very obvious, even to a law student. The facts speak for themselves. It is very amazing that a whole Senate will get up and follow somebody to court who perjured. Perjury is calling God to witness. You called God to witness something wrong.
That itself has consequences, which must be paid for now and in the hereafter. If he wins, it shows that the system is not working. “And, now, you can release all prisoners that are there in the prisons, who have committed crime. The law is no respecter of anybody. What is going on in the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very terrible. We have to look at it objectively. Now, with the way we are going, very soon, people will start to revolt. People are pushed to revolt in this type of anomaly. “The CCT is a legal body which can deliberate on matters, which can sentence somebody if they find him guilty. If the CCT finds him guilty, he has to leave as Senate President because that is one of the things that Federal Republic of Nigeria did by having the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The CCT is a legal body. Its decisions are final and binding,” he added
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