Like many Nigerians, I am eager to see our justice system work. I want to see a situation where criminal cases are speedily adjudged with increased efficiency by the courts, followed by the conviction of members of the political and non-political class if found guilty.

You will agree with me that this is the Nigeria most want to see. Unfortunately, its an open secret that our judicial system is broken and nothing suggests that the pieces will be put together any time soon.

A case in view is the structure of the current trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, over a 13-Count allegation bothering on false asset declaration.

It is important to note that the hiccups experienced in the build-up to the trial emanated from the fact that the federal government was eager to prosecute Saraki while it failed to produce witnesses from the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and also establish if it was dealing with a criminal case or false asset declaration putting into the consideration that the Tribunal is a lower court and only quasi-criminal in nature.

One thing is clear: Nigeria’s justice system is also undergoing trial. While Saraki’s trial at the CCT is believed to be politically motivated, legal luminaries have however, decried the danger such trend portrays to our democracy.

Many have equally frowned at the Economic Financial Crimes Control (EFCC) for taking over the functions of the CCB/CCT by lining up witnesses from the anti-graft agency to testify against Saraki. This gives credence to recent assertions that the sacked Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, also has a role to play in the hijacking of the judiciary to settle political scores.

Recall that some news media reported a case of judgement racketeering involving the CCT Chairman, Danladi Umar, the Secretary General of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and the APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu.

The meeting between the trio was allegedly convened to perfect Saraki’s political demise by striking out his objection of denying him his right as provided by Section 379 of ACCJ to present statement to be attached to his charged sheet. Similarly, a publication in Vanguard newspaper of October 18, 2015, Babachir disclosed that Tinubu influenced his appointment as the SGF. This too, adds to the growing suspicions.

Ironically, Saraki’s travail may have been compounded by the decision of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges to invite the former EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde to answer questions bothering on financial misappropriation during his 4-year spell as the boss of the anti graft body.

Severally, Lamorde refused to honour invitations for questioning on funds recovered by the EFCC; rather he unleashed his partner and lawyer, Festus Keyamo on the Senate committees. The riot act was read to Keyamo who in turn notified his boss that the Senate was indeed unyielding on its course to prosecute corrupt public office holder.

The picture becomes clearer when Ibrahim Lamorde discharged Danladi Umar who was embroiled in N10million bribery scandal at that time and the charges were quashed by Lamorde based on self-recognition. When all these roforofo alliances are put together, collusion to ignore injustice is inevitable.

EFCC Witness, Michael Wetkas succeeded in raising to high heavens the hopes of his sponsor’s wish to expedite Saraki’s persecution and to a large extent sway public opinion with his revelations. His uncanny demeanour at being theatrical with mere documents yet to be ascertained or disproved by Saraki’s legal counsel leaves much to be desired.

In one of the allegations, Wetkas said: “On October 16, 2006, the defendant obtained a loan of N380 million from Guaranty Trust Bank. On that same day, there was a bank draft in favour an implementation committee in the sum of N286.3 million.’’

In addition Wetkas also alleged that Bukola Saraki left office as Kwara State governor in 2011, but his account statement shows that he received salary up until the 31st of August 2015.

“As of June 3, 2011, the salary was N291, 124. On July 4, there was another payment with the narration Kwara State Government, June 2011 salary. The amount was N572, 286. On August 29, 2011, there was another payment in the sum of N744, 002 from Kwara State Government’’

The EFCC detective has only succeeded in retrieving the defendants account details vis-à-vis money coming in and going out, nothing suggests that the said lodgements contravene the CBN’S financial rule. The Kwara State government as at no point in time declared that state’s fund was missing, what the documents establishes at the moment is that most of Saraki’s properties could have been bought with repayable bank loans.

Moreover, the Kwara State government through the Secretary to the State Government in a press release disclosed that Saraki was not receiving salary after he left office, stating that only his pension was being paid after June 2011.

If care is not taken, the said bank documents now admitted by the CCT could be distorted along the line, if both the EFCC and CCB fail to justify that the money in question was indeed used to purchase landed properties. The implication is that prosecution misconduct will rein supreme while false confessions and incriminating statements from untruthful testimony will now be admitted as exhibits.

Saraki no doubt is familiar with the essentiality and philosophy of our legal system which presuppose that until proven guilty by law court, a victim remains innocent.

Now that the evidences are weaning out, the CCT is looking to correct its errors by changing the narratives, but correcting a major foundational error is not easy, it takes time and costs money. The CCB/CCT will waste useful time and spend tax payers’ money to travel down the same line of incompetency.

It is disheartening that successive governments have promised to reform the justice system and none of these attempts have succeeded. But in the corrupt world of our judicial system, like Saraki’s trial, justice isn’t what matters. How does one explain a scenario where an allegation of multiple cash lodgements within 24hrs without evident or traces to property purchases made which is the crux of the 13-count charge the CCB has based its charge sheet on ab initio.

The missing gap in the system is uniformity in dispensing justice which invariably gives room for alteration in criminal cases. Nigerians are unanimous in their desire for a free, transparent judicial process that conforms to established judicial procedure devoid of interference from external bodies. It is in this that our democracy can be nurtured without hindrance.

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Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

Wale Bakare is a writer and a social media enthusiast with strong affection for politics, agriculture and the conservation of the environment. He tweets via: @waleflame and can be reached at [email protected]