The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, challenging the legality of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to try him for alleged false declaration of assets.
The court’s three-man panel led by Adumein Moore dismissed the Senate President’s argument that the CCT has no constitutional jurisdiction to handle the criminal charges preferred against him.
“The CCT is a court of criminal jurisdiction, albeit with limited jurisdiction.
“The immediate question is whether it is a court or not. There is no inherent difference between a court and a tribunal. The only difference is that tribunals in most cases handle special cases.
“The tribunal has power to impose sanctions according to the law. It is a court with specific criminal jurisdiction,” the court said.
On whether the CCT was properly constituted to try Saraki, the court held that the tribunal has the mandate to prosecute him.
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