NJC Meets Over Onnoghen, Tanko Matter Today

The National Judicial Council (NJC) will today meet to look at
the replies to the queries it issued to the suspended Chief Justice
of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and the acting CJN,
Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed., Nigerian Tribune reports

The Council, at its meeting held on January 29, 2019, directed
Justice Onnoghen to respond to a petition by Zikhrillahi Ibrahim of
Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civil Education, while Justice
Mohammed was directed to respond to two petitions by the Centre for
Justice and Peace Initiative, and Olisa Agbakoba (SAN).

The petition against the suspended CJN Onnoghen border on
alleged non-declaration of assets, which was the case brought
against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) at the Code of
Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in Abuja after an earlier petition by Dennis
Aghanya of the Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative
(ARDI).

The acting CJN Mohammed is facing allegations by Agbakoba of
presenting himself to be sworn-in as acting CJN without the
recommendation of the NJC.

A statement by the Director of Information of the NJC, Spji Oye
at the end of the Council’s emergency meeting last month said, in
line with its procedure, NJC forwarded the petitions against
Justices Onnoghen, and Tanko Muhammad to them for their
responses.

He said: “In view of the gravity of the matters involved,
Council abridged the usual response period from fourteen to seven
working days for the Justices to respond”, Soji disclosed in the
statement.

Both Onnoghen and Muhammad recused themselves from the emergency
meeting and consequently, Council elected former President of the
Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, as Interim Chairman to
preside over the meeting.

The federal government had slammed a six-count charge, bordering
on non-declaration of assets against Justice Onnoghen before the
Umar led CCT.

President Muhammadu Buhari had suspended Onnoghen and swore-in
Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad as acting CJN, on the strength of an
ex parte order by the CCT.

The action of the federal government was condemned by lawyers
and civil society organisations.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), while condemning Onnoghen’s
suspension, directed its members to boycott the court for two
days.

Meanwhile, Onnoghen had rushed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja
Division to challenge the jurisdiction of the CCT to try him on the
charge preferred against him by the federal government.

The suspended CJN, who is yet to be arraigned before the CCT,
has asked the chairman of the tribunal, Danladi Yakubu Umar to
hands-off from further participating in the hearing of his case on
grounds of likelihood of bias.

He alleged that the chairman had constructively convicted him
without hearing him or formally arraigning him before the
tribunal.

Onnoghen stated that the CCT chairman is a tainted arbiter
because he is facing a bribery charge filed against him by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and could trade the
charge to convict him for a plea bargaining.

Recalled that the NJC had referred the petition against the CCT
chairman by the Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative to the
Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) which is the appropriate
constitutional body empowered to deal with it.