Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), was absent when the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) commenced sitting on Monday.
Danladi Umar, chairman of the CCT, convened the session at 10am.
The tribunal had summoned Onnoghen following a petition submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) by a civil society group identified as the Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative (ARDI).
The CJN was accused of false declaration of assets and a six-count charge was filed against him.
Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Onnoghen, challenged the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear the matter.
He said Onnoghen had not been indicted by the National Judicial Council (NJC), the body responsible for probing allegations levelled against serving judges.
Olanipekun said the CJN was not given enough time to prepare for his arraignment before he was summoned by the tribunal.
But Aliyu Umar, counsel to the federal government, said since the CJN has been served with the summons, he ought to be arraigned.
Umar said the trial could not proceed in Onnoghen’s absence but Olanipekun said the issue of the trial could not arise because the jurisdiction is being challenged.
The CCT chairman adjourned the matter till January 22.
Some governors from the south-south region where Onnoghen is from had asked the CJN not to honour the summons, which they described as an attempt to intimidate the judiciary.
The cable
