Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday vowed to see in court soon the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and those believed to be behind his recent charges by the Code of Conduct Tribunal over assets declaration.

In a statement by his media aide, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki, who claimed he was yet to be served the court processes as at the time of his reaction, believed that the move by the CCB was influenced by external forces bent on coming after him because of his recent stance on national issues.

Saraki, who hinged his response on the fact that as a public officer, he owed members of the public explanation on the allegations contained in the charge sheet, however insisted that all the claims contained in the charge sheet were false, incorrect and untrue."

"This is not an anti-corruption- driven case and cannot be part of the moves aimed at fighting corruption. It is simply a pure malicious and politically-motivated prosecution aimed at undermining the person and Office of the Senate President. Those behind this plot will definitely meet Dr. Saraki in court, as this case which is based on outright fabrication and mischief will not and cannot stand the test of justice."

According to the statement, Saraki argued that he had "consistently declared his assets as required by law at every point before resuming any political office and that of 2015 is not an exception. It is surprising that the alleged charges are now referring his asset declaration made in 2003 while in office as Governor of Kwara State to formulate their charges. They therefore ignored the recent declaration for which they, last week, issued an acknowledgement.

"That we believe that the CCB following their processes in which after a declaration is submitted to the bureau they carried out verification of the assets and ascertained the claims made, should not wait till 12 years later to be pointing out alleged inconsistencies in a document submitted to it in 2003. This same Dr. Saraki submitted asset declaration form in 2007, 2011 and 2015. It is not explainable that the case in question is now based on the 2003 declaration.

"This is why we are of the opinion that the present effort is a desperate move initiated due to external influence and interference. It should also be noted that contrary to the procedure indicated in the law setting up the CCB, the bureau never wrote to Saraki to complain of any inconsistency in his asset declaration forms. It should also be noted that Saraki as governor of Kwara State never operated a foreign account.

"That some of the issues contained in the charge sheet are subjects of earlier decided and on-going court cases. We therefore believe those behind the filing of these charges are engaging in forum-shopping. It should be noted that we do not know on whose authority these charges are filed when the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act clearly indicate that any prosecution must be authorised by an Attorney General and we know the nation last had an AG in May 2015," the statement states.

Saraki, therefore, maintained that "This is another clear indication that the CCT is acting under influence from outside its domain and therefore ready to bend the rules to achieve this obnoxious objective. We also note that anytime you try to fight corruption or insist that the right thing should be done, the system will always come after you. This is another case of desperation to fight Dr. Saraki because of his recent stance on national issues."

While insisting that Saraki has always held himself to global standards of transparency and accountability more than required by Nigeria's Code of Conduct protocols, the statement noted that Saraki has always lawfully and accountably declared his assets.

Regardless, Saraki still affirmed his belief in the justice system, adding that when the proposed case comes up at the tribunal, he would diligently state his case. He also promised to co-operate with the tribunal and other lawful government agencies in the bid to genuinely fight corruption and eliminate impunity in the nation's public affairs.