•  The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has ordered key security agencies in the country to arrest the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, and produce him for trial on Friday.

The Danladi Umar-led panel tribunal specifically directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS) to execute the arrest warrant to ensure that Justice Onnoghen was brought before it on the adjourned date.

The order followed an application by the Federal Government for a bench warrant to be issued against Onnoghen after he failed to appear before the tribunal to enter his plea to the six-count charge pending against him.

Onnoghen, accused of failing to declare his assets as prescribed by the law and of operating foreign bank accounts in contravention of the code of conduct for public officials, had on three previous dates, refused to appear before the CCT for arraignment.

At the resumed proceeding on Wednesday, prosecution lawyer, Aliyu Umar, relied on section 6 (1) of the CCT Practice Direction and section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015, to apply for a bench warrant against the defendant.

“May I draw your attention and the honorable members to the fact that the defendant is not in court today. “I hereby humbly apply for a warrant of arrest against the defendant”, Umar stated.

Reacting, counsel to the embattled CJN, Chief Adegboyega Awolowo, SAN, urged the tribunal to refuse the application and proceed with hearing Onnoghen’s motion challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT and legal competence of the charge against him.

Awomolo further relied on section 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to argue that the tribunal ought to firstly determine the issue of its integrity and impartiality, before proceeding with the trial arguing that the presence of the defendant was not mandatory during hearing of an objection to the charge.