The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has
arrived the courtroom of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal in Abuja to face trial over a 13-count
charge of corruption levelled against him by the
Code of Conduct Bureau.
Mr. Saraki arrived the tribunal premises at 9:32
a.m., accompanied by about 50 senators and some
members of the House of Representatives, his
spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, told PREMIUM
TIMES.
Mr. Olaniyonu however declined further comments,
saying he was already seated in the courtroom.
Some of the senators in court are Theodore Orji,
Sam Egwu, Ike Ekweremadu, Shaba Lafiaji, Aliyu
Wamakko, Rafiu Ibrahim, Tayo Alasoadura, Hamma
Misau, Samuel Anyanwu, Sabi Aliyu Abdullahi,
among others.
The Chairman of the Tribunal came into the
courtroom at 10.32 a.m, and apologised for the
delay in the commencement of proceeding.
He said
the tribunal was sorting out some matters.
This newspaper learnt that the Senate President
and his supporters first converged on the National
Assembly early on Tuesday morning from where
they took off in a convoy of buses for the tribunal.
One of the senators, who asked not to be named
said he and his colleagues decided to provide cover
for the senate president to prevent him from being
arrested and humiliated by the police.
A supporter of the Senate President, now also
inside the courtroom told PREMIUM TIMES, “We
are already seated. No shaking. The plan is to
humiliate the man, not minding if they break the
law or violate the procedure.
“We have nothing to fear. After Saraki has
exercised his fundamental human rights in relevant
courts, we are here to to show the lies contained in
the charges.”
Mr. Saraki had on Monday released a statement,
saying he was now ready to attend his trial, days
after he battled frantically to use the courts to halt
the trial.
The tribunal had ruled Monday that Mr. Saraki
must appear before it at 10am today.
Mr. Saraki failed to appear before the tribunal
during Monday’s sitting despite an arrest warrant
issued against him by the tribunal last Friday.
He is facing charges bordering on corruption and
false assets declaration.
The tribunal opened the trial last Friday but the
senate president failed to show up. He was
represented by a team of lawyers led by a former
president of the Nigeria Bar Association, Joseph
Daudu.
Consequently, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice
Danladi Umar, ordered the Inspector General of
Police, Solomon Arase, to effect the arrest of the
senate president and produce him before the
Tribunal on Monday.
Mr. Saraki’s lawyers immediately filed a suit at the
Court of Appeal for a stay of execution.
Despite the appeal, the Tribunal resumed the trial
on Monday without the senate president
appearing.
At the hearing, Mr. Saraki’s lawyers objected to the
sitting contending that the Tribunal was
incompetently constituted.
They argued that the 1999 Constitution provided
that the Tribunal can only sit with three of its
members, namely the chairman and two members
present as against two – chairman and one member
– which was the case when the trial resumed.
However, Mr. Umar responded by referring to the
Interpretation Act, which says the chairman and
one member could sit during any trial.
The police had said weekend that it did not receive
any order on Friday requesting it to arrest Mr.
Saraki.
