Onnoghen’s Conviction: Access to Justice Condemns CCT’s Judgment

A civil society organisation, Access to Justice (A2Justice), has
described the conviction of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal
(CCT) as absurd and a travesty of justice.

Justice Onnoghen was last Thursday convicted by the CCT on a
six-count charge of false declaration of assets preferred against
him by the federal government.

In a statement at the weekend and signed by its Executive
Director, Joseph Otteh, A2Justice said the cardinal principles of
rule of law were not followed before the conviction.

It said part of the requirement of rule of law is that courts
and tribunals, which exercise judicial powers should be independent
of other arms of government and appear, in the perception of
reasonable observers, to be so independent, which was not the case
with the CCT

“Unfortunately, the CCT did not offer this guarantee of
independence, neither its perception – far from it. The CCT had,
from the word go, drawn the handwriting on the wall indicating that
it was bent on a particular outcome, and that it would look neither
to the left nor to the right in the blind pursuit of that goal,” it
stated.

The group said while it takes no position on whether Justice
Onnoghen committed the infractions with which he was charged or
indeed is guilty of offences, the trial was, in every way, grossly
and grievously unfair.

It contended that no fair-minded court or tribunal could have
descended to the depths the CCT delved into trying to convict the
former CJN on the charges against him in order to remove him from
office.

It further noted that the CCT was so desperate to convict
Onnoghen that it had to overturn or side-step its previous
judgments on similar matters, decisions such as those given in a
prior case involving another Justice of the Supreme Court.

A2 Justice added that a cardinal principle of the common law
system is that similar cases are decided alike in other to prevent
arbitrariness and caprice in the adjudication of cases.

“The tribunal had, from the word go, drawn the handwriting on
the wall indicating that it was bent on a particular outcome, and
that it would look neither to the left nor to the right in the
blind pursuit of that goal.

“At several pivotal junctures in the course of the trial, the
tribunal appeared to demonstrate that it was clearly on the same
side with the government, and was not sitting as an unbiased umpire
or judicial arbiter.

“Nowhere was this more evident as when Danladi Umar and another
member of the tribunal granted, speaking figuratively, under cover
of darkness on January 23, 2019, an ex-parte order removing Justice
Onnoghen.

“The bizarre and egregious procedure taken to unseat Justice
Onnoghen was an unmistakable indication that no barrel was too deep
to plumb in getting to achieve what the tribunal wanted to achieve,
and no rule or principle of law was strong or revered enough to
forestall its plan.

“It will not surprise many that the CCT reached the verdict it
did after using very questionable procedures from the very
start.

“It would be a serious fallacy to characterise the tribunal’s
verdict as one reached after a due process trial using even the
lowest possible denominators of what a fair trial represents.

“The procedures adopted by the tribunal in the case were far too
faulty and flawed to be regarded as a judicial process.

“To reasonable observers, it would appear that the tribunal’s
procedure and speed were deliberately contorted to enable it reach
its pre-determined outcomes, and its verdict was simply a
reflection and product of the shambolic trial.

“This is not a way to fight corruption. There is no positive,
but rather, there are plenty negatives to this flawed judgment.

“This judgment merely shows how much is still lacking in
Nigeria’s courts and tribunals and how distanced they truly are
from being independent vehicles of justice,” A2Justice stated.

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