The sitting of the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja  last week was not short of drama. The  trial of the  Senate President, Dr. Abubakar  Bukola  Saraki, who  was before the tribunal to answer a 13-count charge bordering on  irregularities in  asset declaration had commenced properly  with the prosecution calling its  first witness. It was  a  certain  Micheal  Wetkas  of the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),  a man  who seemed given to drama  and theatrics.

Giving  his testimony,  Wetkas  alleged that the Senate  President was involved in several fraudulent transactions through his GT Bank accounts running  into  millions of naira.  In one instance, he claimed  associates of the Senate President made 87 lodgments into his GTB  account without  providing  forwarding  address therefore,  making it difficult to trace.

“On February  27, 2007  there was a cash deposit of N3 million by one  Josiah Samuel,” he said. “On  April  3,  2007 there was a telegraphic transfer of N180,675,000:00  as part payment to the Presidential Implementation Committee on Landed Properties. Also on  Sept. 7,  2007 there were some cash lodgments by one Ubi  who made cash lodgement in five tranches on the same day in the sum of N11million, N20 million, N20 million, N20 million, N6 million; the total was N77 million. The position of the account was in a debit balance of N81,960,289.”

To  add  spice to the tale,  Wetkas  further claimed that the Senate President continued to draw his salary even after he left  office as Governor of Kwara. His words: “In exhibit 15, the defendant was still collecting salaries as Governor till  August31,  2015 after he  had  ceased  to be one since  May  29,  2011 when his second tenure ended. As at July 2007, the account statement of the defendant was N254,412,125. In June 2011, it was put at N291,124  with the narration KWSGMAY2011 salary.   On  July 4,  2011,  there was another payment with narration KWSG May 2011 salary.”

The gist of the  evidence by  Wetkas  appears to be very  weighty;  especially as it is  of criminal  nature. But a  close review  suggests that there is no connection between  the evidence  and the charges against  Saraki. Let’s not forget,Saraki  is before the Code of Conduct Tribunal because of alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct Act,  for failure to declare certain property he  acquired when he  was governor between 2003 and 2011. For matters bordering on crime and stealing  of  government’s funds, Nigeria is not short of courts which are  statutorily empowered  to try suspects for such infractions.  It therefore appears to me that the tribunal  has overstepped its boundary by  delving  into  matters which it is not empowered to deal with.

If indeed the man was guilty of stealing  Kwara  State funds as the evidence implied, then he should have been charged to a regular court to face trial for corruption. That should be the right thing to do. The Code of  Conduct  Tribunal is not the right place to try such weighty allegations of corruption, since it is  only quasi-criminal  in nature and  without the power to jail anyone. And the fact that  Saraki  was brought before it  somewhat validates  his claim that he was being politically  persecuted, and not because  of  any infraction he committed.

Therefore,  even though the testimony of  Wetkas  enjoyed wide reportage in the media and the witness has been celebrated like a super star,  the defense counsel, Chief  Kanu   Agabi, SAN, must be  inwardly  happy with  the way the matter has progressed. One, the prosecution has failed to prove  that any of the lodgments in the GT Bank account of the Senate President is as  a  result of  corrupt enrichment  or stealing of government  funds. Just because someone lodged money into an account  50  times in one day is not enough  to conclude that corruption has  taken place. Two, they have  also failed  to show  the  connection  between lodgmentsin GT Bank and  the property that were allegedly acquired by Saraki.  If anything else, what the  testimony of  Wetkas  has proved was  that  Saraki  bought a lot of the properties  from loans obtained from banks, particularly, GT  Bank. Nothing that  has been  said so far has proven  that  Kwara  State Government money has been diverted into buying those properties.

A  tough task, no doubt,  for the prosecution.  Probably, that is why  it  seems to rely  more on drama and sensationalism  rather than  on  concrete  proof to convict  Saraki. If not, of what  material value  to the case  is the allegation  that he continued to draw  his salary  after he ceased being the governor  of  Kwara  State? This allegation no doubt  must have caused a lot of gasps in the tribunal and made  good  newspaper  headlines  the next day. But, in  practical terms,  what has this got to do with the case other than to play with  the emotion of the public thereby prejudicing their minds against the defendant, a good job the tales of multiple deposits and illegal salaries have done. Some people have started calling on  Saraki  to resign. He is presumed guilty even before he has the opportunity to present his side of the story. What manner of justice.

I believe the prosecution appears to be doing a good job of  convicting  Saraki  in the media. But  the real trial should be taking place in the tribunal where what  really matters  is the law and not the drama and the farce  being reported. The truth is that the case appears very weak.  The foregoing gives cause to worry about the efficiency of our judicial system and its persistent inability to secure criminal convictions. What we have witnessed largely,  over the last few years in Nigeria, is a situation where  our legal system has recorded more convictions on the pages of newspapers  than in the court of law.  Will the Saraki trial be different? Time will tell.

• Aiyedun lives in Abuja.