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| Lawyers |
The Nigerian Bar Association on Tuesday reiterated its call on the Federal Government to withdraw the charges of non-declaration of assets filed against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
The NBA, in a statement by its President, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN), called on the Federal Government to comply with due process by allowing the National Judicial Council to conclude investigations into the two petitions filed against Onnoghen at the council.
This call came ahead of the CCT proceedings and the NJC’s special sitting both of which hold separately on Wednesday (today).
The CCT had at the previous proceedings ordered Onnoghen to compulsorily attend Wednesday’s proceedings, while the CCT had on Monday adjourned till Wednesday to review the report of its pre-assessment committee on the petitions against the suspended CJN and the acting CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad.
But Usoro, in the statement he issued on behalf of the NBA on Tuesday, asked the Federal Government to withdraw the charges against Onnoghen on three grounds.
One of the grounds was that the two petitions against the CJN at the NJC “is an exact replica of the petition that motivated the CCT charge.”
Usoro added, “The second petition was reportedly presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, an agency of the Federal Government.
“We commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for adhering to due process by submitting the EFCC petition to the NJC for consideration.”
As the second grounds for calling for the withdrawal of the charges, the NBA said the suspended CJN, as the head of an independent arm of government, should not be made to stand trial before the CCT.
This, the NBA said, was because its chairman, Danladi Umar, had said he was not answerable to either the NJC or the Federal Judicial Service Commission but to the Presidency only.
“An insistence, in the circumstance, on the CJN, the head of an independent arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria, to stand trial before a tribunal whose chairman sees himself and his tribunal as being under the Presidency and is answerable to the Presidency only, mocks the concept of, and completely erodes the independence of the judiciary and the constitutional separation,” Usoro said.
As the third grounds, Usoro added that “the spectacle of having our CJN, while still holding that title, in the dock before the CCT or any other court, truly diminishes all of us, not least the executive arm of the FGN.”
He noted that the “NJC process allows an initial determination to be made on the petitions against the CJN and if His Lordship is found liable or wanting howsoever, appropriate sanctions would be imposed by the NJC including recommendation for his dismissal or retirement.”
NBA President said, “Given these non-exhaustive considerations and facts, we press on the executive arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria to please discontinue the charge against the CJN when the matter comes up before the CCT on Wednesday, February13, 2019.”
The NBA, in a statement by its President, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN), called on the Federal Government to comply with due process by allowing the National Judicial Council to conclude investigations into the two petitions filed against Onnoghen at the council.
This call came ahead of the CCT proceedings and the NJC’s special sitting both of which hold separately on Wednesday (today).
The CCT had at the previous proceedings ordered Onnoghen to compulsorily attend Wednesday’s proceedings, while the CCT had on Monday adjourned till Wednesday to review the report of its pre-assessment committee on the petitions against the suspended CJN and the acting CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad.
But Usoro, in the statement he issued on behalf of the NBA on Tuesday, asked the Federal Government to withdraw the charges against Onnoghen on three grounds.
One of the grounds was that the two petitions against the CJN at the NJC “is an exact replica of the petition that motivated the CCT charge.”
Usoro added, “The second petition was reportedly presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, an agency of the Federal Government.
“We commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for adhering to due process by submitting the EFCC petition to the NJC for consideration.”
As the second grounds for calling for the withdrawal of the charges, the NBA said the suspended CJN, as the head of an independent arm of government, should not be made to stand trial before the CCT.
This, the NBA said, was because its chairman, Danladi Umar, had said he was not answerable to either the NJC or the Federal Judicial Service Commission but to the Presidency only.
“An insistence, in the circumstance, on the CJN, the head of an independent arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria, to stand trial before a tribunal whose chairman sees himself and his tribunal as being under the Presidency and is answerable to the Presidency only, mocks the concept of, and completely erodes the independence of the judiciary and the constitutional separation,” Usoro said.
As the third grounds, Usoro added that “the spectacle of having our CJN, while still holding that title, in the dock before the CCT or any other court, truly diminishes all of us, not least the executive arm of the FGN.”
He noted that the “NJC process allows an initial determination to be made on the petitions against the CJN and if His Lordship is found liable or wanting howsoever, appropriate sanctions would be imposed by the NJC including recommendation for his dismissal or retirement.”
NBA President said, “Given these non-exhaustive considerations and facts, we press on the executive arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria to please discontinue the charge against the CJN when the matter comes up before the CCT on Wednesday, February13, 2019.”
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