Judge Withdraws From Saraki’s Case [SEE WHY]

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a Federal
High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday
withdrew from the case filed by Saraki
against the Code of Conduct Tribunal and
the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The court therefore ordered that the case
file should be returned to the Chief Judge of
the FHC, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for re-
assignment.
At the resumed hearing of the case on
Wednesday, Justice Mohammed attributed
his decision to return the case file to what
he described as "negative reports" on the
case.
The judge expressed displeasure at the
reports in the media that he ordered the
CCB and CCT to stop the prosecution of
Saraki, adding that the reports had already
created a negative opinion in the mind of
many Nigerians.
Precisely, two weeks ago, Justice
Mohammed had summoned the CCB and
the CCT over the planned arraignment of
Saraki by the CCB.
Justice Mohammed had while granting the
motion ex parte that was argued before
him, directed the CCB and the CCT to
appear before him on September 21, 2015
and show cause why the interim injunction
being sought by the Senate President
should not be granted.
He also directed that all the plaintiffs should
be served with the motion ex parte and the
accompanied affidavit while hearing notice
should be served on all the respondents.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari
has said he can be impeached if he
interferes in the Code of Conduct Tribunal
case against Saraki over charges of false
assets declaration.
Saraki, on September 11, had been served a
13-count by the Office of the Attorney
General of the Federation. The Senate
President responded by calling it a witch-
hunt.
But in a statement on September 20, the
Presidency denied any responsibility for the
Senate President's trial and described the
attempt to link Buhari to Saraki's trial as
unacceptable.
The Presidency had argued that the trial of
the Senate President was purely a judicial
and constitutional issue.
Buhari, in an interview with Sahara TV,
which was monitored by one of our
correspondents on Wednesday, however,
said he could not interfere in the trial
because it would be unconstitutional to do
so.
He said, "What has the President got to do
with it as a person? The case is in court. Do
Nigerians expect me to tell the Chief Justice
to tell whichever court that they shouldn't
try the Senate President?
"Do Nigerians know the constitution of their
country; that the Legislative, Judiciary and
Executive have got their roles within the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria? Then how do they expect me to
interfere? I can be successfully impeached
if I do it."
Asked if he would pass any vote of
confidence in the Senate President, in the
light of the backing of Saraki by 83 senators
on Tuesday, the President said, "That would
depend on the outcome of the trial."
Responding to questions about his current
relationship with the Senate President,
Buhari said that he had been
communicating with Saraki through letter.
"There are some appointments which the
Senate has to approve and I cannot
remember how many letters I have
personally written to him, because it is
constitutional.
"There are people I want to work with but I
cannot work with them unless the National
Assembly approves. So, I have been writing
to the Senate President and to the Speaker
of the House (of Representatives) and it is
constitutional," he said.