Lagos, ABUJA- Impeccable sources within the National Judicial Council (NJC) have revealed to Saturday INDEPENDENT that suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen was forced to resign his appointment.
According
to the sources, the failure of the NJC to reach an agreement on the fate
of Justice Onnoghen and the acting CJN Justice Tanko Muhammad, as
exclusively reported on Wednesday by Daily INDEPENDENT, necessitated his
eventual resignation.
Another source within NJC told Saturday
INDEPENDENT that persuading him to resign was in national interest. He
said that if the Federal Government wants to retire him, it would
require two-thirds of the Senate to achieve that which he said would be
very difficult as the Senate is presently constituted, even if it wants
to wait for the 9th Senate to retire him.
Similarly, following
Friday’s resignation of Justice Onnoghen, some lawyers and the House of
Representatives have wished the former CJN well, saying that the
decision is in the best interest of the nation.
The position of
the House was communicated by its spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas (APC,
Adamawa) on Friday via a telephone conversation with our correspondent
in Abuja.
Namdas said: “Justice Onnoghen is a Nigerian who
reserves the constitutional right to decide any course of action
regarding his personal life and career.
“As a result, we can only
support him in his decision and wish him well as a Nigerian who has
served his fatherland at the highest level of his profession,” Namdas
said.
He added that the House cannot at this point go into the
circumstances of his resignation as there are still pending issues of
litigation at the tribunal which may become subjudice.
Some
lawyers on Friday, in an exclusive interview with our correspondents,
lauded the embattled Justice Onnoghen for mustering the courage to
tender his resignation from office as Chief Justice of Nigeria.
They
said the beleaguered jurist toed the path of honour by his gesture,
arguing, however, that the action was neither an admission of guilt or
self-indictment.
Raji Ahmed, SAN, commended Onnoghen for his bold
decision, saying it is a welcome development which will save the image
of the judiciary and indeed the whole country in the comity of nations.
“While
I commend the former CJN for the bold decision, I most sincerely plead
with the president to accept the resignation in the interest of all. My
humble appeal also goes to the amiable vice president in this regard
being highest political office holder with a sound legal mind.
“All pending cases before any court or tribunal in connection with the ex-CJN should abate as well,” Raji said.
According
to Chief Emeka Ngige, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), not only did
Onnoghen by the move save himself the continued embarrassment occasioned
by his trial, he saved the judiciary and indeed the legal profession
same.
He said, “What Honorable Justice Walter Onnoghen did was for the interest of the legal profession.
“The
truth is that having a serving CJN in the dock is an anathema, a great
embarrassment not just to the holder of the office, but the judiciary
and indeed the legal profession as a whole.
“The legal
profession came under serious attack the moment the CJN was dragged and
docked before such lowly court as the CCT. So his resignation was the
best thing he could have done in the circumstances.
“When the
government is fighting you, as they did to Onnoghen, you need to be an
angel to survive. And angels are scarce on earth.
“It is a matter
of great distress that this is how it all ended for a fearless jurist
and a fine gentleman as Honourable Justice Onnoghen. He did the right
thing.”
Speaking to Saturday INDEPENDENT in a similar vein, Mr.
Adesina Adegbite, the immediate past Welfare Secretary of the Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA), hailed Onnoghen for throwing in the towel, saying
he acted like a nobleman, as no guilt has yet to be established against
him.
He said, “I think before now the charges leveled against him were still in realms of allegation.
“It
stands to reason that he took the decision in light of NJC’s
recommendation for his immediate retirement. It is the most honourable
thing to do. Fact is that his continued trial was a huge embarrassment
to the judiciary as it was bringing negative publicity to the
institution.
“So, he has done what a noble person should do. I
believe he tried as much as possible to establish his innocence, but at
what cost? He has acted wisely. It is the proper thing a person in his
shoes will do.”
Also speaking, Samuel Ikon, a House of
Representatives lawmaker and former Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of
Assembly, has accused the Presidency of weakening the institution of the
National Judicial Council, (NJC), as well as the Code of Conduct
Tribunal (CCT), which he alleged was being used for hatchet jobs.
The
lawmaker attributed the travail that has finally forced Justice Walter
Onnoghen, to resign his office as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), to a
weak National Judicial Council (NJC), as presently constituted.
Hon
Ikon, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, reacting to his
Onnoghen’s eventual resignation on Friday, told our correspondent that
his travail was strengthened by the NJC, which could not summon the
courage to insist that known rules and precedencies must apply in this
case.
The lawmaker said that the country’s institutions have
suffered more under this government as previous NJC compositions were
able to resist such muzzling by the executive.
“What we have just
witnessed in this case is the function of a weak institution. We have
to build strong institutions. If the institutions are strong, we will
not see what we are seeing today. The NJC is not strong. The NJC failed
to make its report public because it said it was subjudist. Today,
people are suspecting that the CJN was being hunted. If the institutions
are strong we would not have suspected that the CJN was being hunted.”
Ikon
said while the NJC was reported to have claimed that Onnoghen’s
continuous stay as CJN was not good for the image of the judiciary, the
President was shielding Danladi Umar from justice given the corruption
allegations preferred against him.
He alleged that he was being
protected to execute hatchet jobs against perceived opponents of the
government of the day, worrying also that the CCT should have been
removed from the executive to face its judicial functions in the
judiciary.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has
said the resignation of Onnoghen has vindicated President Muhammadu
Buhari and the ruling party, underscoring the need for all to rise above
sentiment if the country is to make progress.
Reacting to the
resignation of the former judicial boss, the party said the decision by
Onnoghen to throw in the towel is also a call for the opposition and a
section of the civil society groups to be circumspect and shun the rush
to read political motives in every action of government.
Spokesman
of party, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary, who
commended President, said the party has always known that Buhari would
not act in the manner he did without facts.
He said the president
did thorough background checks on the CJN, adding that the party saw
that the allegations against the former judicial henchman were too
weighty to be ignored.
“We knew right from the beginning that
what the immediate past CJN (that is if his resignation letter is
accepted)… the allegations were too serious and we know that the
president does not act on frivolities, he must have done his background
checks, he must have gotten good information to have taken the action he
took and not just taking that action, that there was basis for the
action that can be legally proven, and those lawyers, so-called Senior
Advocates of Nigeria who had over the years dipped their hands along
with some of these judicial officers, in detaining this country,
continued to lampoon the president, lampoon the APC and blaming this
government that is doing its best to right several of the wrongs that we
have been used to.
“We all can only be hiding behind one finger,
otherwise we knew Nigerians, reasonable Nigerians knew from the word
‘cooked’ that those allegations were not cooked up and if they were
real, the next thing for the CJN to have done was to have stepped aside
and the question of, he wouldn’t be the only one, why him? There is
nowhere in the world where judgment is passed on every sinner at once.
“The
issue we have in this country is that, many people, especially those
who have been part of the impunity of the past who are struggling badly
to adjust to the reality of rule of law. That is the major issue we are
facing in this country. There is so much struggle to allow the past that
is not good enough for us as a country to allow it go and for all of us
to rise and face the future, future of promise, future of change, so
that we can move to the ‘Next Level’.”
Onilu expressed hope that
with the unexpected arraignment, in the life of present administration,
of the Heads of the legislative and judicial arms of government, it may
not be long before a Nigerian President is made to face the long arms of
the law, maintaining that all are equal before the law.
Onilu
said: “Now, you have seen the head of National Assembly, Senate
President, you have seen him in the dock. Now, you have seen the CJN in
the dock. So, one day, we will see a President that will also misbehave
in the dock which now shows that nobody is above the law of this country
that we are all equal before the law.”
Reacting, Prof. Itse
Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against
Corruption (PACAC), on Friday, said he is not impressed by the
resignation adding that it came too late.
Sagay, who said there
is no value in the resignation, argued that Onnoghen should have
resigned in January when the charges were made against him and he
admitted that he erred.
“The resignation has come too late. It
was a face-saving resignation because if he had not resigned, he would
have been sacked. There is no question about that. At the very best, he
would have been retired if not actually dismissed.
“There is no
value in the resignation anymore. It lacks the honour and dignity that
would have accompanied it if he had done it since January when the
charges were made,” he said.
The resignation of the suspended CJN was confirmed to newsmen by a senior lawyer in Onnoghen’s legal team on Friday.
“I
have just spoken with him. He confirmed to me that he resigned
voluntarily yesterday,” said the senior advocate, who stated that he did
not have Onnoghen’s authorisation to speak on the issue.
Onnoghen
had reportedly sent his resignation letter to President Muhammadu
Buhari, on Thursday, barely 24 hours after the National Judicial Council
concluded investigating him for various allegations of misconduct.
There
has not been an official confirmation of Onnoghen’s resignation from
his spokesperson, Mr. Awassam Bassey, who did not respond to telephone
calls from our correspondents as at the time of filing this report.
Similarly,
Dr Festus Aweneri, Director of Information, Supreme Court, said the
apex court is yet to receive an official correspondence from the
embattled former CJN.
Onnoghen is billed to know the judgment date in his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on April 15.
Onnoghen is being prosecuted by the Federal Government on a six-count charge of false and non-declaration of assets.
The
National Judicial Council had decided on the report of the five-man
committee it set up to investigate petitions against the suspended Chief
Justice of Nigeria, and the acting CJN Justice Tanko Muhammad.
The NJC took the decisions in an emergency meeting, last Wednesday.
A
statement by Soji Oye Esq, Director, Information, NJC, said “Council
decided that the allegations relating to assets declaration that were
levelled against Hon. Mr. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON were subjudice
and therefore abstained from considering them.
“Council reached a
decision on the petitions written by Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and others and conveyed its decision to President
Muhammadu Buhari.
“Council also resolved that, by the nature of
the decision reached, it would be inappropriate to publicise it before
conveying it to Mr. President,” Oye stated.
The National Judicial Council had on February 13, raised a five-man panel to investigate the petitions against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria and acting CJN Tanko Mohammed.
Source:- Independentng
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