Ignoring The Court Of Appeal And Suspending The Chief Justice. This Is A Power Grab Gone Too Far

Democracy and the Rule of Law hinges on due process. President
Muhammadu Buhari is doing exactly the opposite in suspending the
head of the judicial branch in a spite of the Constitution of The
Federal Republic of Nigeria – a few weeks to national elections
where the judiciary is one of the referees.

What happened on Friday January 25th 2019 in the Executive
Council Chambers of The Presidential Villa, Abuja, in the illegal
suspension and replacement of the Chief Justice of The Federation
is simply unconscionable and unacceptable in our system of laws and
democracy.

While announcing the suspension of Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen
as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on Friday, President
Muhammadu Buhari said Nigeria “..is a constitutional democracy and
no one must be, or be seen to be, above the law.” Sadly, the
president put himself above the law. he ignored The Court of Appeal
ruling staying proceedings till January 30; the president ignored
the Constitutional provisions section 292 on the removal of
judicial officers and relied on a dubious exparte Order whose
source remain unknown, but signed by a CCT Chairman Danladi Umar
who himself is under trial for corruption. For a president
notorious for ignoring orders of superior courts to move swiftly to
obey a dubious order of a tribunal beggars belief. No matter the
gravity of the allegations against Justice Onnoghen, the recourse
to self-help in dealing with the head of the judicial arm of
government, despite constitutional guarantees, is more damaging to
our democracy and the principles of separation of powers, checks
and balances, and the cause the president claims to be
fighting.

It is dangerous for our democracy that a president sworn to
upholding the constitution would cynically disregard its provisions
to achieve a predetermined end which many believe to be political
and designed to confer advantage on the ruling All Peoples Congress
(APC) and his presidential run – 3 weeks to the elections. In
football parlance, it is like a team in a march suspending and
replacing one of the referees in the game – Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) being the Referee and The Courts being
the 2nd and 3rd officials.

As the law stands today, the CJN can only be removed “by the
president acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of
the Senate”. But Onnoghen has been removed under the pretext of an
illegal suspension and, for all practical purposes, been pronounced
guilty of an offence for which he has not even been tried or giving
fair hearing – a fundamental human right. The swearing in of
Justice Mohammed Tanko as the acting CJN only heightens the
ethno-religious suspicions that have dogged this
administration.

But all is not too late to restore some order and
constitutionalism. First the dubious exparte order must be vacated
and Onnoghen restored as CJN. The Court of Appeals must then be
allowed to consider the CCT case on the merits while an emergency
NJC is convened to look into the allegations against Onnoghen with
the CJN recusing himself.

Given the danger that corruption poses to our country, every
right thinking citizen must cooperate with President Buhari to
fight it. But such cooperation and buy-in should be nurtured and
sustained through transparency and due process without ruling party
sacred cows and opposition scape goats.

Quote
It is like a team in a march suspending and replacing one of the
referees in the game – INEC being the Referee and The Judiciary
being the 2nd and 3rd officials.

Culled from Thisday Editorial