…details 3-stage plan adopted for Onnoghen’s ouster
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
There were indications Sunday night that the federal government had
taken fresh steps to ensure that the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria,
Walter Onnoghen, does not return to his seat but finds a place in one
of the country’s prisons to spend some time off.It was learnt
that the government had taken the new initiative to press new criminal
charges against the embattled CJN irrespective of his clearance or
otherwise by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, currently trying him for
non-declaration of assets.The new plan is to drag him to a
Federal High Court with wider jurisdiction than the CCT and fresh
criminal charges slammed on him, thereby making it more difficult for
him to escape justice. A top federal government official, who pleaded
anonymity, told Vanguard last night that while there is a lot of focus
on the CCT case, there are actually three aspects to the Onnoghen trial.According to the source “when President Muhammadu Buhari decided to
suspend Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen on the 25th of January, 2019, it
was in response to serious allegations of irregularities, illegalities
and criminal conduct contained in petitions submitted against the top
judicial officer, and indeed some findings of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC), which not only substantiated those petitions
but threw up even more damning facts.Since then, there have
been several public revelations and judicial proceedings which are
sometimes confusing to members of the general public. “Continuing
the source added that “For clarity, there are two different cases
currently ongoing before constituted panels and a separate ethical issue
in the public domain, The source, who is familiar with government’s
plan over the matter then went ahead to list the three aspects thus:A: CASE BEFORE THE CODE OF CONDUCT TRIBUNAL
The
first point of focus has been the failure of the Chief Judge to declare
his assets immediately after taking office and every four years
thereafter, as required by the 1999 Constitution, which is the supreme
law of the land, and the Code of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal
Act. This particular illegality has been admitted in writing by the
Chief Justice himself and is a matter for criminal prosecution now
before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).But we must note that
because of its specialized nature, CCT has a narrow jurisdiction and the
case before it is confined to the issues of asset declaration, failure
to declare assets as required by law and false declaration of assets.That
is what the CCT had been hearing since charges were first filed against
the CJN on the 10th of January, 2019. The prosecution recently closed
its case and lawyers to the suspended CJN are now to open the defence or
make a no case submission. Just for clarity, it is worth emphasizing
that the CCT will only treat issues relating assets declaration.B. CASE BEFORE THE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COUNCIL
The
more interesting aspect of the suspended CJN’s dilemma involves
allegations of several breaches of the criminal and anti-corruption
laws, including money laundering, bribery and tax evasion. It is
alleged, for instance, that the suspended CJN is the owner of some
domiciliary accounts primarily funded through US dollar cash deposits
made by himself.More disturbing is the pattern of deposits
which, according to EFCC, were made in a manner inconsistent with
financial transparency and the code of conduct for public officials.
These include instances of repeated cash deposits of 10,000 US dollars
each, totalling close to two million dollars.These serious
allegations would ordinarily have gone to the High Court for
prosecution, but for a case precedent which stipulates that such
allegations against a judicial officer should first be presented to the
National Judicial Council, more or less an internal disciplinary panel
for erring judicial officers, before being prosecuted in a criminal
court.The allegations of unexplained wealth, huge cash deposits
being made into the suspended CJ’s naira, dollar and pound sterling
accounts directly from the court and well beyond his estacode and other
allowances; unexplained payments into the suspended CJN’s account by
lawyers who at the same time were appearing before him for adjudication,
etc, are currently being handled by the NJC and would be filed in court
after the NJC has made its decision on them.According to the
source “We must not miss the point that EFCC is also a petitioner
against the suspended CJN. After carrying out an extensive
investigation, some of the findings submitted by the Commission are
truly shocking. For instance, there are findings to the effect that the
CJN received a Mercedes Benz car and dollar cash deposits from a certain
Joe Agi, appearing as a Senior Advocate before the Supreme Court in
high profile cases.Worse still, the CJN is shown to have
received cash gifts directly into his bank accounts from several other
senior advocates, one of which is currently the President of the Bar
Association. These implicating cash transactions were going on, in
dollar and naira, even up to 2017 and 2018.“Even as the world
eagerly awaits the decision of NJC on these matters, it is pertinent to
emphasize that the conclusion of the cases before the CCT and NJC is not
likely to be the end of the matter. Criminal charges are still to be
filed in court.C. THE ETHICS ISSUE AND THRESHOLD OF PERMISSIBLE JUDICIAL CONDUCT
The
source explained further “Beside the two streams of ongoing legal
action against the suspended CJN, is the big ethical question. For good
reason, it is often said that it is not enough for a judge to be above
board. He must indeed be seen to be above board at all times. Thus, the
traditional standard by which judicial officers are measured goes beyond
the ordinary.“The question boils down to what kind of judicial
officers we wish to have. For instance, should a judicial officer who
has admitted to the breach of a fundamental constitutional provision,
with the explanation that he ‘forgot’ his duty to declare his assets
correctly, be allowed to continue to function in his judicial office?
Should forgetfulness therefore be admitted to the class of legal
defences? “Certain other questions also arise.When, having
failed to declare his assets as required by law, the highest judicial
officer files two inconsistent asset declarations on the same day,
omitting to mention in the first one cash in bank, which he already had
on the relevant dates, should he continue to sit in judgment over others
while the mess is being sorted out? Where the asset declarations are
made, but vital omissions are shown to exist in them, should the
relevant judicial officer remain in office, whether or not technically
culpable?What moral justification would such a judicial
officer have, sitting in judgment over cases of other Nigerians whose
alleged violations are akin to or even less than the violations he so
openly and categorically admitted to? Wouldn’t Nigeria be a laughing
stock in the comity of nations when we shout and scream “we stand
against corruption?” Wouldn’t condonation of such behaviour in judicial
officers vitiate any claim we lay to being a civilised nation? Concluded
the source: “These are the questions all Nigerians must consider and
provide answers to, in trying to make.
Source:- Vanguardngr
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