Trial against Nigeria's Senate President Bukola Saraki kicks off

A corruption trial for Nigeria's Senate President Bukola Saraki, the third most powerful person in the country, has began in Abuja. On Friday the 11th of March Saraki, who heads the upper house of parliament, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsely declared his assets when he was governor of the central Nigerian state of Kwara from 2003 to 2011. The 13 charges he faces at the national Code of Conduct Tribunal, a special court that tries asset declaration misdemeanours, mostly relate to the ownership of land held by his company Carlisle Properties Ltd during that period. Other allegations include transferring 3.4 million dollars to an account outside Nigeria while he was governor, and sending 1.5 million pounds to a European account to cover a mortgage for a London property.