CCT TO DELIVER JUDGMENT ON ONNOGHEN TODAY
On Monday, the three-member panel, led by
Danladi Umar, fixed the date for judgment after the prosecution led by Aliyu
Umar (SAN), and the defence, led by Okon Efut, adopted their final addresses.
Walter Onnoghen, the suspended Chief Justice
of Nigeria (CJN), who resigned his post recently over allegation of false
declaration of assest will know his fate on today when the Code of Conduct
Tribunal delivers judgement on the charges levelled against him.
The CCT will also rule on two applications
filed by the CJN, who tendered his resignation two weeks ago.
One of the applications is challenging the
jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear the case.
The other application is asking the CCT
chairman to disqualify himself from further presiding over the case for his
alleged bias.
On Monday, the three-member panel, led by
Danladi Umar, fixed the date for judgment after the prosecution led by Aliyu
Umar (SAN), and the defence, led by Okon Efut, adopted their final addresses.
The Nigerian government had preferred six
charges against Onnoghen for failing to declare some of his assets.
The government asked the CCT to convict and
impose maximum punishment on the suspended CJN, contending that it successfully
established that Justice Onnoghen acted in breach of the code of conduct for
public officers in the country.
In the charge marked CCT/ABJ/01/19, the prosecution
alleged that Onnoghen’s failure to properly declare his assets, was in
violation of Section 15(2) of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
Onnoghen was also alleged to have operated
five foreign bank accounts, and thereby contravened the code of conduct for
public officers.
However, in opposition to his trial, Onnoghen
queried the validity of the charge against him, contending that the government
violated established judicial precedents by not allowing the National Judicial
Council to first investigate the allegation against him, before it rushed the
matter to the CCT.
He argued that failure to channel the
petition against him, as well as the outcome of the investigation that was
purportedly conducted on assets declaration forms he submitted to the Code of
Conduct Bureau to the NJC, rendered the charge invalid.
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