Onnoghen: Constitution says erring judges must be investigated by NJC only —Afe Babalola SAN

Legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has described the
proposed trial on Monday of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Walter Onnoghen, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged
failure to fully declare his assets as “denigration of the
country’s Judiciary and Constitution.”

He also noted the constitutional provision which stipulates that
any infraction by judges must first be investigated and then
resolved by the National Judicial Council, “to the exclusion of any
other body or authority.”

Babalola, in a statement on Sunday entitled, Proposed
arraignment of the Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen: Again, I say two
wrongs do not make a right, said the law had made clear the
processes for the trial of judicial officers and as well their
removal, hence the need to desist from “contempt and denigration of
the judiciary.”

He said: “I am of the view that the Constitution requires that
any infraction by the said judges be firstly investigated and
resolved by the National Judicial Council, to the exclusion of any
other body or authority.”

Babalola, who stated that the decision of the Court of Appeal in
Nganjiwa v Federal Republic of Nigeria (2017) LPELR-43391(CA)
“still subsists and has not been set aside,” said: “I therefore see
no justification for the decision to arraign the CJN before the
CCT.”

Continuing, he argued, “Again, the point must be made clear that
the Constitution clearly provides for the procedure with which the
CJN can be removed from office.

“Section 292 (1)(a)(i) and 292 (1)(b) of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) addressed it.”

According to him, given the clear provisions for trial and
removal of judges, “It becomes more worrying to learn that, aside
from laying the proposed charges, the prosecution has also filed an
application for an order directing the CJN to recuse himself from
office pending the conclusion of the trial.”

The senior advocate said: “By proceeding as proposed, the
government is unwittingly or, perhaps, deliberately, creating a
wrong impression in the minds of millions of Nigerians that the
Judiciary is a criminal organisation.

“For the sake of our democracy, this is a misconception that
must not be allowed to fester.

“No country, no matter how well intentioned its political
leaders are, can aspire to greatness if its judicial arm is
denigrated and held in contempt.

“While the Judiciary itself must be awake to its huge
responsibilities, its efforts in this regard will surely not be
helped by the erosion of its independence,” the SAN stated.