By Eric Ikhilae, Abuja
Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) will arraign the Acting Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Lady Azuka Obiageli Azinge, on December 23, 2019.
The scheduled arraignment followed a charge filed against her by the Federal Government through the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
The CAC chief is alleged to have breached the code of conduct for public officers.
She was to be arraigned yesterday, but the tribunal rescheduled the arraignment to December 23, 2019, when she failed to turn up due to alleged ill-health.
When the case was called yesterday, prosecution lawyer Musa Ibrahim told the tribunal that the defendant’s lawyer earlier served him with an affidavit on her health condition.
Ibrahim said he would have applied for a bench warrant since the defendant had been served with the charge and hearing notice, but would leave the decision to the tribunal in view of the claim about the defendant’s health status.
The defendant was represented by a team of lawyers, including three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) Victoria Awomolo, Valerie Azinge and Chijioke Okolie.
Okolie told the tribunal that her client was absent because her health deteriorated in the morning.
He said Mrs. Azinge had taken medical leave from work, adding that her husband called him about the sudden health deterioration.
The lawyer said he advised her husband to depose to an affidavit on the development, which the defence filed before the tribunal commenced sitting.
He prayed the tribunal to adjourn till a later date or cause a team of its officials and representatives of the parties to ascertain the claim about the defendant’s health.
In a ruling, the CCT Chairman Danladi Umar agreed that the defendant’s health condition be ascertained.
He ordered that a team comprising representatives of the tribunal, the prosecution and defence visit where the defendant was receiving treatment and return with photo evidence and other materials.
Umar suspended proceedings on the matter to await return of the team with its findings before the tribunal could decide whether or not to shift the planned arraignment to a later date.
When the team returned, an official of the tribunal said the defendant was on admission at Zankali Medical Centre in Abuja.
Ruling, Umar said: “The tribunal was not really convinced with the outcome of the visit to the hospital. But be that as it may, the court granted the adjournment till next Monday, December 23, 2019, for her arraignment.”
He added that should Azinge fail to appear on Monday, the tribunal will be compelled “to order the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) to produce her in court”.
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