President Muhammmadu Buhari on Saturday reacted to the acquittal of Senate President Bukola Saraki by the Supreme Court, of alleged false assets declaration.
Buhari; in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu; said the country’s judicial system, “no matter the challenges it faces, is truly working and no one should be allowed to undermine or break it.”
The apex court had Friday finally laid to rest, Saraki’s trial on assets declaration and other charges instituted against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
A five-man panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad, unanimously upheld the Senate president’s appeal, declaring the evidence led by the prosecution as hearsay.
In his reaction to the judgment, Buhari said Saraki’s journey from the lowest to the highest court of the land provided an important example for Nigerians to emulate.
The president said he had seen Saraki take the tortuous path of using the judicial process, acknowledging that the Senate president persevered.
Buhari stated: “I have seen many instances where individuals and groups seek the destruction of the judicial institution in the foolish thinking of saving their skin, instead of going through the painstaking process of establishing their innocence.
“In the case of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, I have seen him take the tortuous path of using the judicial process. He persevered, and in the end, the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, says he is not guilty as charged.
“This is what I have done in the three elections in which I was cheated out, before God made it possible for me to come here the fourth time I ran for the office.”
