A high court in Kwara has fixed July 22 for the arraignment of Bukola Saraki, former senate president, after dismissing his preliminary objection challenging its jurisdiction to hear a criminal defamation charge filed against him by the state government.
In a ruling on Friday, M.O. Folorunso, the presiding judge, held that the court has territorial jurisdiction to entertain the case and dismissed the seven preliminary objections raised by the defence.
The judge also declined the prosecution’s application for a bench warrant against Saraki over his absence from court.
The criminal charge stems from a social media post published by Saraki on April 17, in which he allegedly claimed that AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, governor of Kwara, did not complete secondary school.
According to the one-count charge, the state government alleged that the publication was false, insulting and capable of causing a breach of the public peace,
