As the trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki continues, there was a mild drama at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, in Abuja on Wednesday, as Paul Erokoro, counsel to the Senate President, engaged Rotimi Jacobs, representing the federal government, in a shouting bout over a self-confessed attempt by the defense counsel to mislead the prosecution witness during cross-examination.
It all started when the defense counsel demanded that the witness, Samuel Madojemu, should specify when he visited the property located at No 15 and 15B MacDonald Street, in Ikoyi, Lagos, which is alleged to belong to Saraki.
The lawyer subsequently reframed and twisted the question, apparently in an attempt to confuse the witness, who said he could not remember.
Unsatisfied with that answer, and seeking to elicit a particular response, Mr. Erokoro again attempted to twist the same question, to which Mr. Jacobs objected, affirming that the defense was trying to confuse his witness and praying the court to protect him from harassment and intimidation by the defense.
Erokoro, in response, screamed at Jacobs. “I am entitled to confuse and mislead the witness,” he asserted. “That is why I am here and to show the court that the witness is not truthful.”
The defence counsel further accused the witness of having visited the property after he had submitted his evidence-in-chief, saying that it amounted to giving anticipatory evidence.
However, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Danladi Umar, brought the situation under control and appealed to both parties, urging the prosecution to allow the defense to cross-examine the witness.
He noted that the prosecution also had the right to re-examine his witness.
As the trial resumed, the prosecution had earlier accused the tribunal of giving the defendant two representations by allowing the two counsels to ask questions, saying that was unfair to his witness.
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