Ohanaeze Ndigbo has warned that the prosecution of the Chief
Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onneghen was capable of
instigating needless political instability that could lead to the
end of the country.
It described the move as ill conceived, especially in the face
of of an extant Court of Appeal decision, which interprets the
procedure for prosecuting judicial officers.
President General of the apex Igbo sociocultural, Chief Nnia
Nwodo, in a statement in Enugu, yesterday, said failure to follow
the procedure indicated that the objective behind it was
predetermined.
The statement by Special Adviser to Nwodo, Chief Emeka Attamah
said: “The fact that the National Judicial Council has been ignored
is not just illegal but suggests deliberate court shopping and a
predetermined objective.
“Secondly, the fact that one of the issues being canvassed by
the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) before the CCT is for an order of
the CCT for the Chief Justice of Nigeria to step aside from his
exalted office pending the conclusion of the trial contrary to the
procedure for his removal from office as provided by the Nigerian
constitution, exposes the aim of the prosecution.
“A perusal of some of the depositions in the charge sheet also
shows a completely distorted conception of the regulations
pertaining to the declaration of assets. Assets acquired after
assumption of office are declared at the end of a public official’s
tenure in order to present a comparison with assets declared on
assumption of office.
“The federal government is heating up the polity. Not long ago
we were entertained with all sorts of interpretations of the Vice
President’s powers while the President is on leave.
“The general managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum
Cooperation (NNPC) was accused of violating laws pertaining to the
award of contracts. Because he comes from a protected ethnic group
and class, no investigation was conducted.
“Fulani herdsman killed 110 natives of Nimbo, in Enugu State;
Police investigations led to the arrest of some of the herdsman
with their telephone pictures of the carnage, but not one has been
prosecuted.
“The same carnage took place in Benue State. Pictures of the
murderers wearing the uniform of the choir members of a Catholic
church where they murdered their priests and members of the
congregation, were all over the social media. No one was arrested
or prosecuted.
“Their sponsors, addressed a press conference recently extolling
their ethnic agenda and making divisive and inciting statements.
Not one of them was arrested.
“The insensitiveness of the Federal Government to respect our
constitution and its patronage of double standards in the
enforcement of the law is sickening and abhorrent.
“If these developments are taken together with the obvious
rigging regulations approved by INEC, we fear that our country is
about to be thrown into a needless political instability that is
capable of leaving the country in the throes of death.”