Senate President Bukola Saraki has accused Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), of bias.
Arguing a motion seeking the withdrawal of Umar from his trial, Saraki through Paul Erokoro, one of his counsel, alleged that the CCT chairman had already decided his fate unfavourably.
“It is no longer possible for my lord to be fair in this trial,” he alleged.
Erokoro argued that the statement of Umar- in which he said that Saraki was tactically delaying the trial to avoid final consequences- had shown the CCT chairman as being bias against his client.
He, therefore, urged the judge to “recuse” himself for the sake of fair hearing.
But Rotimi Jacobs, prosecuting counsel, asked the tribunal to dismiss the motion saying that: “The argument is based on a false premise.”
He said that there was no basis for the motion because the tribunal had not shown itself to be biased.
Earlier, Saraki had filed a similar motion asking the judge to withdraw from the trial on the grounds that he was under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In the previous motion, his argument was that the CCT chairman was under the control of the EFCC- which was investigating him.
But Umar dismissed the application for lacking in merit.
On Tuesday, after listening to the arguments of the counsel, the tribunal judge adjourned to case to July 13 for ruling on the motion- after saying that he would be travelling on Wednesday.
