A five-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad unanimously upheld Saraki’s appeal, by dismissing the remaining three count charges, declaring that the evidence led by the prosecution is hearsay.
In a lead judgment today, Friday, Justice Centus Nweze upheld Saraki’s appeal and dismissed the Federal Government’s appeal.
He held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to have restored three out of the 18 count charges earlier dismissed by the CCT when it agreed that the evidence led by the prosecution was hearsay but went ahead to isolate three of the counts as having been proved.
Justice Nweze quoted a part of the Court of Appeal’s judgment where it held that “the prosecution failed to call those who have direct knowledge of the facts sought to be proved, to testify.”
The judge faulted the Court of Appeal’s turn around to restore three of the counts based on the evidence it had declared as hearsay.
The Danladi Umar-led CCT had, in June last year, terminated the trial upon an application by Saraki, by dismissing the entire 18 counts preferred against the Senate President.
The CCT’s decision was based on the grounds that the prosecution, with its four witnesses and 49 exhibits tendered, only led hearsay evidence which could not be the basis to link Saraki to the 18 countcharges preferred against him.
However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja ruling on December 12 last year, in an appeal filed by the Federal Government against the decision of the CCT, restored three out of the dismissed 18 count charges and ordered Saraki to return to the CCT to defend the three charges.
While Saraki had appealed to the Supreme Court against the part of the Court of Appeal’s decision restoring three of the 18 counts, the Federal Government had cross-appealed against the part of the decision affirming the tribunal’s dismissal of the rest of the 15 counts.
