Saraki Could Face 14-Year Jail Term & Ban From Public Office If Convicted

Saraki Could Face 14-Year Jail Term & Ban From Public Office If Convicted

Saraki Could Face 14-Year Jail Term & Ban From Public Office If Convicted

With the collapse of the fierce
battle at the Supreme Court on
Friday to stave off his trial by the
Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for
allegedly falsifying his declaration
of his assets, Senate President,
Bukola Saraki, on conviction risks
14 years jail term, losing his
position, 10 years ban form holding
public and forfeiture of any asset
related to the alleged offence.
The Code of Conduct Bureau and
Tribunal Act empowers the Code of
Conduct Tribunal to impose any of
the punishments prescribed in
section 23 of the act.
Section 23 of the Code of Conduct
Bureau and Tribunal Act provides:
“(1) Where the tribunal finds a
public officer guilty of
contravening any of the provisions
of this act, it shall impose upon that
officer any of the punishments
specified under subsection (2) of
this section.”
Section 23(2), however, states: “The
punishment which the tribunal
shall impose shall include any of
the following: (a) vacation of office
or any elective or nominated office
as the case may be; (b)
disqualification from holding any
public office (whether elective or
not) for a period not exceeding 10
years; (c) seizure and forfeiture to
the state of any property acquired
in abuse or corruption of office.”
The prescribed sanctions are also
provided for in paragraph 18 of
Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the
1999 Constitution (as amended).
However, to show that the
prescribed sanctions may not be
exhaustive, as the Act employs the
word “include,” section 23(3) of the
Code of Conduct Bureau and
Tribunal Act provides:
“The punishments mentioned in
subsection (2) of this section shall
be without prejudice to the
penalties that may be imposed by
any law, where the breach of
conduct is also a criminal offence
under the Criminal Code or nay
other enactment or law.”
Under this provision, if found
guilty of breach of the Code of
Conduct for Public Officers, Saraki
may also be punished for perjury,
as his asset declaration was done
under oath. The Criminal Code Act
prescribes imposition of 14 years
jail for perjury.
Section 118 of the Criminal Code
Act states: “Any person who
commits perjury is liable to
imprisonment for 14 years. If the
offender commits the offence in
order to procure the conviction of
another person for an offence
punishable with death or with
imprisonment for life he is liable to
imprisonment for life.”
But whether a false declaration on
oath amounts to perjury depends
on the interpretation accorded the
provisions of the law creating the
offence.
What amounts to perjury is defined
in section 117 of the Criminal Code
Act. The section states: “Any person
who, in any judicial proceeding, or
for the purpose of instituting any
judicial proceeding, knowingly
gives false testimony touching any
matter which is material to any
question then pending in that
proceedings, or intended to be
raised in that proceeding, is guilty
of an offence which is called
perjury.”
Shedding light on the offence, Mr.
Sebastine Hon (SAN) said what
constitutes perjury depends on the
law creating the crime. Whether
merely falsely swearing to an oath
amounts to perjury, he said,
depends on the law creating it.
Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) also
agreed that perjury depends on the
provisions of the law creating it.
He, however, said merely falsely
swearing to an oath, including false
declaration of assets, cannot
amount to perjury under section
117 of the Criminal Code Act.
For a false declaration on oath to
amount to perjury under the
section, he explained, the deponent
must have done so in a judicial
proceeding or intended such
declaration on oath to be used in a
judicial proceeding.
Source: SunNews