Senate President, Bukola Saraki will face the Code of Conduct Tribunal today September 22 against a 13-count charge of false asset declaration brought against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau. This came after he failed on Monday to stop his arrest and trial by the tribunal.
“I will be there, I have nothing to hide. One was exercising his own right both at the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal. So, I will appear before the tribunal. The most important thing is that I believe in the process and I will ensure that I am there tomorrow morning,” Saraki told journalists covering the Senate in Abuja.
The courts refused to stop Saraki’s trial. On Monday September 21, both the Court of Appeal and a Federal High Court in Abuja had refused the Senate President’s ex-parte applications to halt his arrest and trial respectively.
Saraki had asked the FHC to stop the CCB and the CCT from prosecuting him while demanding from the Appeal Court an order to stay the execution of the order of arrest made by the Justice Danladi Umar of the CCT as well as the proceedings of the tribunal. But Justice Ahmed Mohammed, who presided, refused the application and ordered that the respondents be put on notice.
Saraki may be facing a legal battle that will be a watershed in the politics and justice system of Nigeria. It is the first time a judge would order the arrest of a Senate President in the country.
