CCT orders arrest of suspended CJN, Onnoghen

Ebun Francis|

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on Monday issued an arrest warrant against the suspended chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

The tribunal ordered the nation’s security agencies to arrest Onnoghen after he failed to appear before it at its resumed hearing on Wednesday.

Aliyu Umar, lead prosecution counsel for the federal government, had asked the tribunal to order Onnoghen’s arrest over his refusal to appear before it.

Umar, while making an oral application for the arrest warrant, kicked against Onnoghen’s continued absence.

He said both the administration of criminal justice act and the practice direction of the CCT mandates a defendant to be present in court before any proceedings can be conducted in respect of a pending charge.

In his response, Adegboyega Awomolo, lead defense counsel, kicked against the application.

Lawyers for Onnoghen had asked Umar to withdraw from presiding over his trial on the grounds of “real likelihood of bias”.

But Umar said he and members of the tribunal are not judicial officers, hence they cannot be subjected to disciplinary actions by the National Judicial Council (NJC) or the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).

The suspended CJN, Walter Onnoghen is prosecuting him for alleged false assets declaration by the federal government.