NIGERIA: Saraki’s Trial Adjourned For 12 Days Due To Power Failure

The fraud trial of Nigeria’s Senate President Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal has been adjourned till the 18th of April 2016.

According to Sahara Reporters, Justice Usman Danladi adjourned for such a lengthy period due to power failure at the tribunal.

Power failure has compelled Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), to adjourn the trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki to April 18.

When the lights went out, a pale blanket of darkness descended on the courtroom and there was intense heat. The power failure occurred while Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), counsel to the federal government, was leading a prosecution witness in evidence.

Earlier, Kanu Agabi, counsel to Saraki, had pleaded with the judge for an adjournment, but Umar said that he was ready to continue the case until 6pm on Wednesday.

Luckily for Agabi, the lights went out and the judge was compelled to adjourn the matter.

Power was not restored even as of the time of filing this report.

Earlier at the proceedings, Michael Wetkas, a detective of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had detailed how Senate President Bukola Saraki allegedly received monthly salaries from the Kwara state government for four years after leaving office as governor.

On Tuesday, he had also alleged that Saraki used fictitious names to launder billions of naira. Testifying against the senate president at the CCT, the EFCC detective said, among many other revelations, that Abdul Adama, one of Saraki’s personal assistants, made transaction 50 times into the former governor’s account in a single day, broken down to N600,000 and N900,000 on each occasion.

He added that “after that, one Ubi made a lodgment on the same day about 20 times in the same range of N600,000 and N900,000.”

On Wednesday, Wetkas also alleged that the senate president made corruptly obtained cash deposits of $10,000 18 times in one day, into his account with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).