A new twist was on Wednesday added to the suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) as the chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar ordered the arrest of the suspended CJN.
Reading from a prepared ruling he brought into the courtroom, Mr Umar ordered the Inspector General of Police, and the Director General, DSS to immediately arrest Justice Onnoghen and bring him before the tribunal on Friday, February 15,2019, a day before the presidential elections.
All the lawyers in the court were shocked at the ruling made at the request of the prosecutor, Aliyu Umar SAN.
The Tribunal had at its last sitting on February 4, ordered that Onnoghen must make himself available in court today February 13, for arraignment over alleged failure to declare his assets.
When the matter came up today, Onnoghen was not in court and his lawyers led by Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN prayed the court to take all pending applications relating to the trial, particularly the issue of the tribunal’s jurisdiction to hear the matter
Prosecution counsel, Aliyu Umar SAN, however urged the court to address the issue of the defendant’s absence in court for his arraignment before the application on jurisdiction.
In a brief ruling, CCT Chairman recalled that he had insisted that the defendant appear in court today for arraignment and since he was not in court, he left the Tribunal with no choice than to order for his arrest.
He consequently ordered the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the DSS to arrest Onnoghen and produce him in court on Friday, February 15 for arraignment.
