Why CJN has no basis for his absence at court hearing - Prosecutors tell tribunal

- The prosecution team filing charges against Walter Onnoghen, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) has said that he has no basis to be absent at tribunal

- The team, led by Aliu Umar, said that there is no law that justifies the CJN who was absent at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday, January 14

- Umar said that the CJN's claim that the prosecutors lack jurisdiction for his case was in no way tenable before the tribunal

The prosecutors of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen have insisted that he must appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) so as to have his charges read to him, Premium Times reports.

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The trial opened at the CCT on Monday, January 14, with the CJN absent, but represented by 47 senior lawyers, led by Wole Olanipekun.

In his defence, Olanipekun said that Onnoghen's absence was due to the fact that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction to hear the matter. He added that the chief judge was not properly served of court summons before his scheduled arraignment.

However, the leader of the prosecution team, Aliu Umar, argued that the CJN must appear before the CCT, adding that there is no law that says a defendant shall refuse to appear before a court just on the basis of contesting jurisdiction.

Umar said: “He should be here, but he may refuse to be arraigned and say that he is contesting the case.”

Olanipekun argued that the chief justice's personal assistant was served the court summons for onward passage to the CJN, which he said should render the process null and void.

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On his part, Umar said that this can be rectified by directing that the service be made to the CJN personally, insisting that there are no tenable grounds for Onnoghen to be absent at the tribunal.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that not fewer than 47 Senior Advocates of Nigeria stormed the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the opening hearing in the false assets declaration case against the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen.

Onnoghen is accused of failing to declare a series of bank accounts linked to him for several years, in alleged violation of the code of conduct law for public officeholders.

The charges against the chief justice were triggered by a civil society group, Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI) headed by Dennis Aghanya, a former aide of President Muhammadu Buhari.

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Source: Legit.ng