The Danladi Umar-led three-man Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday adjourned proceedings involving the charges of non-declaration of assets preferred against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, till January 22. Umar ruled that the tribunal would hear Onnoghen’s motion challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal at the next proceedings. The tribunal adjourned the case after the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr. Aliyu Umar (SAN), conceded that Onnoghen was improperly served with the charges and the summons. Umar conceded that the CJN was not personally served with the charges and the court’s summons, as required by the law. He, therefore, requested the three-man tribunal led by Danladi Umar to direct a fresh service on the CJN. Onnoghen was absent from the Monday’s proceedings. Upon an inquiry by the tribunal chairman about Onnoghen’s absence from court, the defence team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said the CJN needed not to be present, having filed a motion to challenge the tribunal’s jurisdiction. Olanipekun said he and other defence lawyers only appeared in court in protest against the jurisdiction of the tribunal. He also said that, from the account given by the court official earlier in the proceedings, the CJN was not served with the charges and and summons personally, but through his aide. Olanipekun insisted that the law requires that the defendant be served personally. But the prosecuting lawyer said the law only requires the defendant to be aware of the pending charges, and that it was the CJN’s choice to ask his aide to receive the charges and summons on his behalf. But after a back-and-forth argument that went on for about 45 minutes, the prosecuting counsel conceded that the service of the charges and the summons ought to have been personally served on Onnoghen. “By what the registrar has said, although the defendant was the one who directed his personal assistant to accept service on his behalf and what the law says is that he must be personally served. “We agree that that the service should be properly done. The processes should be served personally on him. “If, after the service is done, and the defendant is not present, we can then argue whether or not he needs to be present on the grounds that he has filed a motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court.” PUNCH Contact Editor using editor@skytrendnews.com or call direct 0808 360 9209. READ ALSO! More Nigerians Becoming Extremely Poor, 40% Of World’s Poorest To Live There And Congo By 2050 READ ALSO! More Nigerians Now Living In Extreme Poverty — International Labour Congress READ ALSO! 10million More Nigerians Have Been Lifted From Poverty Under Buhari — Presidency Says READ ALSO! Buhari Reacts To Boko Haram’s Threat To Kill Leah Sharibu READ ALSO! More Nigerians Getting Killed, Getting Poorer, Hungrier Under Buhari’s Incompetent Regime — PDP READ ALSO! More Nigerians Have Been Murdered In Attacks Since January More Than Entire 2017 — Amnesty International READ ALSO! 10million More Nigerians Have Been Lifted From Poverty Under Buhari — Presidency Says READ ALSO! More Nigerians Travelling Out Due To Economic Hardship, Over 500,000 Since 2016 READ ALSO! The Smart CEO: Top 5 Websites To Get Cheap Domain Name Registration READ ALSO! More Nigerians In Kano, Katsina Now Using Hard Drugs — Group Says READ ALSO! More Nigerians Dying Hourly From Tuberculosis, 18 Every Hour — WHO READ ALSO! Between GoDaddy And Namecheap: Making The Best Choice For Domain Name Registrar READ ALSO! Nigeria Couples: Now You Can Know If Your Partner Is Cheating On You; SEE 11 SURE Ways ]]>