By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's third most powerful politician went on trial on Tuesday accused of falsely declaring assets when he was a state governor.
Senate President Bukola Saraki, a member of the ruling party who heads the upper house of parliament, has pleaded not guilty to the charges relating to when he was governor of the central Nigerian state of Kwara from 2003 to 2011.
Since being elected last year, President Muhammadu Buhari has launched a crackdown on graft which has held most Nigerians in poverty despite the country's energy wealth.
Saraki's lawyers had sought to stop the trial by arguing that the attorney general had no power to mount a case against him. He said on Tuesday he was confident he would be exonerated if the trial was conducted fairly.
The 13 charges he faces at the national Code of Conduct Tribunal, a special court that deals with asset declaration misdemeanors, mostly relate to the ownership of land held by his company Carlisle Properties Ltd during that period.
Other allegations include transferring $3.4 million 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.
"In the course of our investigation, we discovered that there were several companies which were linked to the defendant," said the first court witness, Michael Wetkas, an official at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The trial was adjourned. If found guilty, Saraki would be removed as Senate president, barred from holding any public office for up to 10 years and could be jailed.
The start of trial coincides with Saraki being cited in the huge Panama Papers data leak about the tax affairs of public figures around the world.
Nigerian newspaper Premium Times, which was among more than 100 news organizations involved in the leak with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, said Saraki's family held at least four undeclared overseas offshore assets, among them one London property.
Responding to those allegations, Saraki said in statement he had declared all assets in line with the law.