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| Empty dock in court last Monday |
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, Olaniyonu, said.
Mr.
Olaniyonu however declined further comments, saying he was already seated in
the courtroom.
Some
of the senators in court, according to eye witnesses, 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 apologized
for the delay in the commencement of proceeding. He said the tribunal was
sorting out some matters.
PREMIUM TIMES report continues:
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 or
humiliated by the police.
A
supporter of the Senate President, now also inside the courtroom, said, “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.
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