The Empty dock waiting for Saraki

Abuja: 11 am: Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki as at 11 a.m today has yet to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja, where he is expected to take a simple plea of guilty or not guilty on a 13-count charge of false declaration of assets.

The court room is already filled to the brim, with many supporters of the Senate President, lawyers and journalists..

On Friday, the tribunal issued a bench warrant against the Senate President, asking the police to arrest him and bring him to trial today.

The police claimed that did not get any warrant to effect the arrest and Saraki himself tweeted he was not hiding, to avoid the arrest.

Reports at the weekend indicated that the Senate President would challenge not just the planned trial today but also the validity of the arrest warrant, based on legal advice that an order procured on Thursday night from the Federal High Court in Abuja, ought to have been enough to stop the Tribunal to sit on Friday.

The order given by Justice Ahmed Muhammed summoned the CCB and CCT to his court today, the same day that the trial at the Tribunal was billed to start.