The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, will
on Monday (today) challenge his suspension by President Muhammadu Buhari
in court.This is just as the National Judicial Council’s 88th
meeting in Abuja has been delayed following fears of a possible clash
between supporters of Onnoghen and the acting CJN, Justice Tanko
Mohammed.A senior advocate, who is a member of Onnoghen’s legal
team, told one of our correspondents that it had become necessary to do
so as the suspension of a CJN by a President was unprecedented.He
said, “We will be going to court to challenge the suspension of the
CJN. The President relied on a CCT order despite the fact that the Court
of Appeal had restrained all parties from removing the chief justice.“The
CJN was not even served with the court processes before he was removed
by the President. So, all these will be challenged in court. When the
processes have been filed, the documents will be made public.”When
asked why the CJN waited for three days before challenging his removal,
the source said, “He was suspended late on Friday and you know courts
do not sit on Saturday and Sunday.”NJC holds emergency meeting Tuesday
Meanwhile, the National Judicial Council has fixed an emergency meeting for Tuesday (tomorrow) in Abuja by 10am.
The meeting, one of our correspondents learnt, was called over the Friday suspension of Onnoghen by President Buhari.
The spokesperson for the NJC, Mr Soji Oye, confirmed the meeting in a statement on Sunday night.
He said the notice of the meeting had already been sent by the Secretary of the council, Ahmed Saleh, to members.
“The
meeting will hold on Tuesday and notice has been sent to members. I can
confirm this to you. It is different from the rumour that was in
circulation before that a meeting had been fixed for Monday,” Oye said.In a related development, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria has called a meeting for Wednesday.
In
a statement issued on Sunday by the National President of JUSUN, Marwan
Adamu, the union said it would deliberate on the happenings in the
Judiciary and take a stand after the meeting.Adamu described the
situation in the Judiciary as unfortunate, insisting that the
independence of the Judiciary as enshrined in the constitution “is
non-negotiable.”Buhari invites APC senators to Villa over Onnoghen’s suspension
Meanwhile,
President Buhari has summoned members of the All Progressives Congress
in the Senate to a meeting at the Presidential Villa on Monday (today)
over Onnoghen’s suspension.Onnoghen was suspended on Friday by President Buhari based on an ex parte order granted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
He is facing six counts of false assets declaration filed against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Buhari’s
meeting with the APC governors will take place ahead of the Senate
emergency resumption on Tuesday (tomorrow) when decisions are expected
to be taken on Onnoghen’s suspension by the President.The APC
senators’ meeting with the President, it was gathered, would take a
position to counter the expected condemnation of the CJN’s suspension by
the members of the opposition in the Senate on Tuesday.However,
the meeting which is going to hold at the Banquet Hall, is being tagged
as a dinner. Invitations to the meeting were signed by the Director
General of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, who is also the
Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi.A source close to
the organisers of the meeting who spoke with one of our correspondents,
said the national leadership of the APC would also attend the meeting.He said apart from the senators and the APC leaders, some APC governors had also been invited to the meeting.
He
said, “You know that the Senate leadership belongs to the main
opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party. The party on its own has
taken a position on this matter.“Also, the President of the
Senate, who is also the Director General of the PDP presidential
candidate Council, Bukola Saraki, has taken a position on this matter.“So,
we need to talk to our members in the Senate and impress it on them not
to allow Saraki to impose his personal opinion on them.”APC Reps also to meet
Also, members of the APC Caucus in the House of Representatives have scheduled an emergency meeting for Monday (today).
The
Majority Leader, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, called the meeting, according to
a text message circulating among the lawmakers on Sunday.“Honourable
colleagues, there will be a meeting of the APC caucus tomorrow, Monday,
at 4pm. Venue is the White House Hearing Room 1. Thank you. Femi
Gbajabiamila,” the message sighted by one of our correspondents read.Meeting meant to bribe lawmakers, PDP alleges
But
the PDP has alleged that certain agents of the Presidency were making
moves to bribe the APC senators to protect Buhari from parliamentary
sanctions for constitutional breaches.The PDP National Publicity
Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Sunday stated that
intelligence available to the PDP showed that that was the reason the
Presidency had summoned all the APC senators to the Presidential Villa
to a clandestine meeting on Monday (today’s) night.Ologbondiyan
said, “President Buhari is not only apprehensive that the Senate might
sanction him for violating the constitution and usurping its statutory
duties regarding the handling of issues related to a CJN, the parliament
may also open an inquest into how President Buhari, who parades himself
as Mr Integrity, allegedly procured an order from the CCT upon which he
announced the illegal suspension of the CJN.“There are reports
that the said order is suspicious and subject to investigations, being
not argued or issued in the open court; following which a distressed
Buhari Presidency now seeks to corrupt and undermine the Senate.”NBA summons emergency NEC meeting, lawyers plan protest
However, the Nigerian Bar Association has summoned an emergency national executive council meeting over Onnoghen’s suspension.
This
is as a group, the National Interest Defenders, has planned a protest
rally to the NBA National Secretariat for Monday (today).According
to a notice of the rally, the group is made of Lawyers in Defence of
Democracy, public interest activists, opposition politicians, good
governance activists and civil society organisations, different ethnic
and religious leaders.The NBA NEC meeting follows a statement
earlier released on Friday night by the NBA condemning the swearing in
of Justice Tanko Muhammad as the acting CJN.The PUNCH learnt that the meeting was called to consider the strategy to press for a reversal of the action.
A senior member of the bar said, “We are going to have a serious deliberation with a view to engaging the Federal Government.”
Asked
what strategy was in the offing, the member said, “That will be like
putting the cart before the horse. We will consider all options allowed
in law, the independence of the judiciary must be secured.”The NBA President, Paul Usoro (SAN), confirmed the meeting to one of our correspondents.
He, however, refused to divulge the agenda of the meeting.
He said, “Yes, we are having our NEC meeting Monday. Why not wait till then for further briefing.”
PDP leadership meets senators
Also,
the national leadership of the PDP met members of the party in the
Senate at an undisclosed location in Abuja on Sunday night.The
meeting, which was attended by the members of the National Working
Committee of the PDP led by its National Chairman, Uche Secondus, was
said to have also deliberated on the alleged plan by the Presidency to
move against Saraki and Dogara as presiding officers of both the Senate
and the House of Representatives.A source close to the party
said the meeting was aimed at countering the outcome of the meeting
expected to be held by President Buhari with the APC senators tonight.Also
on Sunday, the PDP in the House of Representatives hailed The PUNCH,
the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and others who
criticised Onnoghen’s suspension.In a statement on Sunday, the
opposition lawmakers assured Nigerians that they would stand against
anti-democratic forces that were desperate to “subvert Nigeria’s
constitution, short-circuit the legal process and truncate our democracy
out of sheer desperation to cling to power at all costs.”Buhari’s action can cause voter apathy, says TMG
Similarly,
the Transition Monitoring Group has accused the President of taking
advantage of his control of state apparatus to override the judicial
system.The TMG said the action against the CJN had created the
perception in the public that Buhari was not committed to his promise to
ensure the conduct of free, fair and credible elections in 2019.The
group, in a statement by its chairperson, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi,
said, “In our view, the onslaught by the Presidency against the
judiciary, a pillar in the democratic process, is ill-advised and poorly
timed. The TMG finds it worrisome that the clear interference by the
President in another arm of government portends dangers for the nation’s
democracy, and specifically, the 2019 electoral process.”Prosecute Lawal, Oke too, HEDA tells AGF
But,
a non-governmental organisation, Human and Environmental Development
Agenda Resource Centre, commended the Attorney General of the Federation
for the prompt prosecution of Onnoghen,” on false asset declaration
charges.”HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrenwaju Suraju, however, called on
the AGF to, in the same manner, immediately commence the prosecution of
the sacked Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir
Lawal, and the sacked Director General of the National Intelligence
Agency, Ayodele Oke, for alleged corruption.Buhari planning to remove Saraki, Dogara – CUPP
Meanwhile,
opposition political parties alleged that it had uncovered plans to
illegally remove the leadership of the National Assembly on Tuesday.It said the plan, which it claimed had received Buhari’s approval, was meant to be implemented on Tuesday.
The coalition’s first national spokesperson, Imo Ugochinyere, stated this in a statement in Abuja.
Ugochinyere said, “The judicial coup which they believed was supposed
to be more difficult went very easily beyond their imagination, hence
the need to complete the takeover of the National Assembly immediately
so that the distraction of the election campaigns will be put to use.”Ugochinyere
further claimed that to ensure the success of the plan, the Federal
Government had allegedly earmarked $70,000 for each senator and $40, 000
for each member of the House of Representatives.CNPP backs Buhari on Onnoghen’s suspension
But
the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties in Ekiti State said the
bravery displayed by Buhari in suspending Onnoghen was an indication
that he had capacity to end corruption.The CNPP state chairman,
Olu Akomolafe, in a statement in Ado Ekiti, said, “Onnoghen as a chief
law officer in the country was supposed to have stepped aside or
resigned to allow for a free, fair and unbiased trial since the
beginning of the imbroglio that led to his abrupt departure as the CJN
in order to uphold the sanctity of the judiciary in Nigeria.”I didn’t condemn CJN’s suspension – Aisha Buhari
Meanwhile,
the President’s wife, Aisha, in a statement by her Director of
Information, Mr Suleiman Haruna, on Sunday denied that she condemned
Onnoghen’s suspension by her husband.She said, “It is important
to inform Nigerians that the wife of the President has not made any
public statements on the matter and therefore the commentary is untrue
and fake. This is highly condemnable and we therefore advise the
purveyors of such news to recant and desist henceforth.”Buhari now jittery after US, UK warning – Atiku
Meanwhile,
the Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, says President
Buhari and the cabal running his government have become jittery
following the condemnation of Onnoghen’s suspension by the US, the UK
and the EU.In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public
Communications, Phrank Shuaibu, Atiku urged Buhari to ensure that next
month’s elections are free and fair or face the consequences.He
said, “Buhari’s cabal is unhappy with the statements from the US, the
British and the EU because they know that these world powers have agreed
to re-route their latest and most technologically sophisticated spy
satellites including the NAOL-47 satellite to provide comprehensive
coverage for the February 16 presidential election.“The
photographs these satellites will deliver cannot only show someone
reading a newspaper but also which newspaper they are reading.”We’re not for any candidate, says US
But,
the United States of America has said that it is not supporting any
candidate, but only interested in a free, fair and credible polls.The
US Consul General, Mr John Bray, made this remark during the ‘Vote, Not
Fight’ mega peace concert organised by 2Baba Idibia Foundation in
conjunction with Youngstars Development Initiative in Port Harcourt on
Sunday.Bray said, “We are not supporting anybody. We are here to
support a peaceful process. You are lucky because the highest number of
voters in Nigeria is within 35 years. So, you can decide who will be
your leader with your votes.”
Source:- Punchng
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