Saraki’s Corruption Trial: Senators speed up passage of bill to amend anti-corruption law

Just 48 hours after it was read, the bill to amend the Code of Conduct Tribunal and Bureau Act has scaled second reading at Senate. In Nigeria’s lawmaking process, rarely do bills get such accelerated legislative action.

The bill seeks to amend Section 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act “to give every public officer appearing (before the) Bureau fair hearing provided for under Section 36 (2)(a) of the CFRN 1999 which provides:

“for an opportunity for the person whose rights and obligations may be affected to make representations to the administering authority before that authority makes the decision affecting that person.”

The bill, sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, one of Saraki’s loyalist, proposes that before a public officer suspected to have breached Code of Conduct law is referred to the Tribunal, the officer should first be allowed to take down his statement in writing.

This is the subject of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki’s last motion against his ongoing corruption trial at the Tribunal. He asked that the case against him be dismissed, since he was not invited by the CCB to give a written statement.

The Amendment bill also seeks to stop the CCT from using Criminal Procedure Act and the Criminal Procedure Code as a procedural template. If passed, the bill will cut down the powers of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, and CCT…. wch is good for our democracy….