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A former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Senator Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja amid high security.
Tinubu's first appearance before the Tribunal failed to live up to the hype preceding the trial as the prosecutors merely asked for the substitution of the Federal Government charges against the former governor.
The ACN chieftain's high profile team, made up of 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria and 21 other lawyers, however, objected to the efforts of the Federal Government to get Tinubu to plead to the fresh charges. The lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, asked the Tribunal for time to study the new charges.
The prosecution had served the defence team with the motion for the amendment of the charges in the courtroom, just before the commencement of the hearing. The lead counsel for the prosecution, Mr. Alex Izinyon, SAN, had moved a motion to withdraw an earlier charge against Tinubu, dated May 22, which had been pending at the Tribunal. Izinyon wanted to substitute the charge with a fresh three-count, dated September 19, 2011, and filed in the court on September 20, 2011.
The counts are:
- Count 1: That you Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, being a public officer as listed in part 2 of the fifth schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and having subscribed to the Oath of Office as contained in the fifth schedule to the 1999 Constitution on assumption of office between 1999 and 2000 and while in office as such engaged yourself in the operation of several foreign bank accounts namely:
- Count 2: First Heritage Bank, Country Club Hills, Illinois, USA with Account Number 263226700.
- Count 3: Citibank NA New York, USA operated in the name of Bola Tinubu and Compass Finance and Investment Company Ltd with Account Nos- 39483134, 39483396 and 4650279566.
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