drama In Cct As Orubebe Meet Saraki

SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 (THEWILL) – There was a mild drama over priority of case between Godsday Orubebe, former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and that of Senate President, Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, (CCT) on Wednesday.

The Chairman of the CCT, Danladi Umar, at the beginning of the trial on Monday, stated that the court hearings will be on a daily basis from 10am -6pm.

Umar had also scheduled a hearing on the charges levelled against Orubebe for the same time as Saraki's hearing.

Orubebe arrived a few minutes before Saraki, who arrived at 10:03am in company of at least four Senators, as his trial enters its fifth day.

While Saraki is facing a 13-count charge of false declaration of assets, Orubebe is facing a one-count charge of the same alleged offence.

Umar arrived the court today at exactly 11:39am instead of his scheduled 10:00am and attempted to hear Orubebe's case first informing the tribunal that 30 minutes would be allocated for the matter.

Displeased, Selekeowei Larry, counsel to Orubebe, countered the judge's statement, saying Saraki's case was not more important than his. He went on to insist, by shouting, that his case must proceed without latitude before Saraki's.

He added that they were served a notice to adjourn the matter to April 20 and no communication was made to his office about a possible need for further adjournment as he and his team had come from a far distance, and should therefore be given the right to be heard.

However, the prosecution counsel in Saraki's case, Rotimi Jacobs, posited that it was against the tenets of the bench to begin with a case relating to a junior colleague.

Larry retorted: “We cannot be pushed aside because there is another case on the cause list.”

Visibly angry, Umar stepped down the case relating to Orubebe saying, “We will proceed with your case tomorrow morning. Call the second case.”

Story by David Oputah