About 50 public officers are to be arraigned by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over allegations of a breach of office code.

Their arraignment which will take place in November followed their refusal to honour the summons by the Tribunal chaired by Justice Danladi Umar.

A visibly angry Justice Umar at Wednesday’s sitting warned serving and non-serving public officers against ignoring the Court’s summons, threatening “that any public servant in or out of the office that failed to honour Tribunal summons would be met with the bench warrant.”

A statement by the Special Adviser, Media to the CCT Chairman, Atekojo Usman, said that the offenders were made up of officers from the Federal Capital Territory and outside it.

The statement also disclosed that the Tribunal heard six other cases involving defendants drawn from Ministries, Agencies and Departments of government.

“The complete panel of the Tribunal Chaired by Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar adjudicated all matters listed for the day, and five of the six defendants were present in court for their trial.

“The cause list which was sighted by our correspondent had one defendant narrowly escaped bench warrant for not responding to the Tribunal summon without any cogent reason for his absence.

“Mr. K.I. Baba-Gana case was adjourned magnanimously for an opportunity for the defendant to appear against a bench warrant being issued for being absent for trial as requested by the prosecution.

“Also, a defendant was noticed by the Court as being seriously sick and was undergoing treatment when CCB1 forms were issued. The defendant was discharged on compassionate grounds.

After hearing various cases, the presiding Judge Danladi Umar adjourned the case till 9th November 2022,” it noted.