The Federal Government has appealed the Court of Conduct Tribunal [CCT] ruling that acquitted Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, of corruption and false declaration of assets charges.
Elombah.com had, on June 18, reported that the Special Assistant to the President on Prosecutions, Okoi Obono-Obla stated that Saraki still has case to answer notwithstanding his acquittal by CCT on June 14.
Obono-Obla, who works in the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation [AGF], stated one of the grounds of appeal is that “the tribunal misapplied the law.”
He said that “the standard of proof that the tribunal used is not applicable to charges of false declaration of asset.
“It is a strict liability offence, so you cannot apply the standard of proof that is applied in the regular criminal proceedings.
“Surely, we will file the appeal next week Wednesday,” he added.
The Tribunal had, last week, cleared the Senate President of 18-count charge of corruption levelled against him.
The government at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, filed 11 grounds of appeal challenging the judgment of the CCT.
The appeal is seeking an order setting aside the CCT judgment of June 14 that upheld the no case submission filed by Saraki.
It also prayed the Court of Appeal for an order calling upon Saraki to enter his defence.
In a related development, and to make matters worse, an online media had reported that Saraki paid the presiding judge, Danladi Umar, $2 million to be left off the hook.
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