 |
| Justice Walter Onnoghen |
The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) described the suspension of Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen as a national embarrassment and an invitation to crisis.
The Secretary-General of the YCE, Dr. Kunle Olajide, who said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Saturday, said the President Muhammadu Buhari should not go ahead to arrest Justice Walter Onnoghen as being rumoured if he had such plans.
Dr. Olajide said, “The suspension of the CJN is very disturbing. One would have expected Mr President to tread cautiously. We are dealing with the head of the third arm of government and all necessary precautions should have been taken to ensure that no room is left for any mischief or suspicion.
“But the haste at which the suspension was announced was very frightening. There is a pending Court of Appeal decision that the Code of Conduct Tribunal should halt all processes on this matter. One would have expected the Federal Government to have respected that decision in conformity with the best global practices.
“Let us sincerely hope that the action will not cause a chain of reactions that might be a national embarrassment. So, going ahead to arrest him will, of course, escalate matter. I don’t want to believe he will be arrested because the consequences of doing that will be very unpredictable especially when this is coming at the election season.”
The Secretary-General of the YCE, Dr. Kunle Olajide, who said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Saturday, said the President Muhammadu Buhari should not go ahead to arrest Justice Walter Onnoghen as being rumoured if he had such plans.
Dr. Olajide said, “The suspension of the CJN is very disturbing. One would have expected Mr President to tread cautiously. We are dealing with the head of the third arm of government and all necessary precautions should have been taken to ensure that no room is left for any mischief or suspicion.
“But the haste at which the suspension was announced was very frightening. There is a pending Court of Appeal decision that the Code of Conduct Tribunal should halt all processes on this matter. One would have expected the Federal Government to have respected that decision in conformity with the best global practices.
“Let us sincerely hope that the action will not cause a chain of reactions that might be a national embarrassment. So, going ahead to arrest him will, of course, escalate matter. I don’t want to believe he will be arrested because the consequences of doing that will be very unpredictable especially when this is coming at the election season.”
In this article: