From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri, Wole Balogun, Ado Ekiti

THE Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has queried the clearance issued to the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Dan­ladi Umar by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Umar is being accused of involvement in a N10 million cor­ruption scandal.

Saraki contended that there was no time the EFCC cleared Umar, and that even where such clearance exists, it was a confirmation of his (Saraki) position that the CCT under Umar, cannot ensure fairness in his (Saraki’s) trial.

The Senate President who spoke in Abuja through his lawyer, Ajibola Oluyede, argued that the clearance issued Umar by EFCC cannot override the recommendation made in 2014 by the Attorney General of the Federa­tion (AGF) for Umar’s prosecution.

Oluyede said it was only the AGF that possesses the power, under the law, to reverse a decision to prosecute, arguing that his cli­ent’s application urging Umar to disqualify himself from the trial was still before the tribunal.

He faulted media reports that the applica­tion had been thrown out by the tribunal, noting that since the prosecution was yet to respond to it, and it has not been heard, the tribunal cannot decide on it.

“We are not saying he (Umar) is guilty. We are saying he is tainted and that he cannot act independently while the EFCC that is investigating him and had indicted him is now prosecuting our client before him. That is why we asked him to excuse himself from the trial,” Oluyede said.

Referring to some additional documents he filed before the tribunal, Oluyede noted that upon the EFCC report of June 24, 2014, the then AGF directed then EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde to prosecute Umar and his aide, Ali Gambo for accepting bribe from an accused person, Rasheed Taiwo.

EFCC said in the letter to the AGF, that evidence suggested that Umar “might have demanded and collected money from the complainant (Taiwo) through his personal assistant (PA). Efforts made to recover the telephone handset used by Justice Umar proved abortive as he claimed that he had lost the telephone in 2012.

Oluyede said his client’s application for Umar to disqualify himself from the case, and their further affidavit, detailing these fresh facts would be heard when the tribunal resumes on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ali Ndume has described the purported plan to replace him with another senator as Leader of the Senate as speculative. Ndume who was reacting to the story of alleged plan to replace him with Ahmed Lawan (Yobe) maintained there was no such plan.

However, Chairman, Senate Committee on Air Force, Senator Duro Faseyi has warned that the Peoples Democratic Party would take control of the upper legislative chambers should the embattled Senate President be removed.

Faseyi, who represents Ekiti North senato­rial district, boasted that the PDP has the numerical strength to take control of the senate should Saraki fail to scale through his trial over alleged false assets’ declaration.

He described the controversy surrounding the passage of the 2016 budget as needless, saying the calabar-Lagos rail line was never contained in the original budget estimate sub­mitted before the senate by President Buhari.

The senator spoke in Iludun Ekiti yesterday during an empowerment programme he organized for his constituents in Ikole, Ileje­meje, Ido/Osi, Moba and Oye local govern­ment areas of the state.