Lagos, ABUJA- Impeccable sources within the National Judicial Council (NJC) have revealed to Saturday INDEPENDENT that suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen was forced to resign his appointment.

According to the sources, the failure of the NJC to reach an agreement on the fate of Justice Onnoghen and the acting CJN Justice Tanko Muhammad, as exclusively reported on Wednesday by Daily INDEPENDENT, necessitated his eventual resignation.

Another source within NJC told Saturday INDEPENDENT that persuading him to resign was in national interest. He said that if the Federal Government wants to retire him, it would require two-thirds of the Senate to achieve that which he said would be very difficult as the Senate is presently constituted, even if it wants to wait for the 9th Senate to retire him.

Similarly, following Friday’s resignation of Justice Onnoghen, some lawyers and the House of Representatives have wished the former CJN well, saying that the decision is in the best interest of the nation.

The position of the House was communicated by its spokesman, Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) on Friday via a telephone conversation with our correspondent in Abuja.

Namdas said: “Justice Onnoghen is a Nigerian who reserves the constitutional right to decide any course of action regarding his personal life and career.

“As a result, we can only support him in his decision and wish him well as a Nigerian who has served his fatherland at the highest level of his profession,” Namdas said.

He added that the House cannot at this point go into the circumstances of his resignation as there are still pending issues of litigation at the tribunal which may become subjudice.

Some lawyers on Friday, in an exclusive interview with our correspondents, lauded the embattled Justice Onnoghen for mustering the courage to tender his resignation from office as Chief Justice of Nigeria.

They said the beleaguered jurist toed the path of honour by his gesture, arguing, however, that the action was neither an admission of guilt or self-indictment.

Raji Ahmed, SAN, commended Onnoghen for his bold decision, saying it is a welcome development which will save the image of the judiciary and indeed the whole country in the comity of nations.

“While I commend the former CJN for the bold decision, I most sincerely plead with the president to accept the resignation in the interest of all. My humble appeal also goes to the amiable vice president in this regard being highest political office holder with a sound legal mind.

“All pending cases before any court or tribunal in connection with the ex-CJN should abate as well,” Raji said.

According to Chief Emeka Ngige, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), not only did Onnoghen by the move save himself the continued embarrassment occasioned by his trial, he saved the judiciary and indeed the legal profession same.

He said, “What Honorable Justice Walter Onnoghen did was for the interest of the legal profession.

“The truth is that having a serving CJN in the dock is an anathema, a great embarrassment not just to the holder of the office, but the judiciary and indeed the legal profession as a whole.


“The legal profession came under serious attack the moment the CJN was dragged and docked before such lowly court as the CCT. So his resignation was the best thing he could have done in the circumstances.

“When the government is fighting you, as they did to Onnoghen, you need to be an angel to survive. And angels are scarce on earth.

“It is a matter of great distress that this is how it all ended for a fearless jurist and a fine gentleman as Honourable Justice Onnoghen. He did the right thing.”

Speaking to Saturday INDEPENDENT in a similar vein, Mr. Adesina Adegbite, the immediate past Welfare Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), hailed Onnoghen for throwing in the towel, saying he acted like a nobleman, as no guilt has yet to be established against him.

He said, “I think before now the charges leveled against him were still in realms of allegation.

“It stands to reason that he took the decision in light of NJC’s recommendation for his immediate retirement. It is the most honourable thing to do. Fact is that his continued trial was a huge embarrassment to the judiciary as it was bringing negative publicity to the institution.

“So, he has done what a noble person should do. I believe he tried as much as possible to establish his innocence, but at what cost? He has acted wisely. It is the proper thing a person in his shoes will do.”

Also speaking, Samuel Ikon, a House of Representatives lawmaker and former Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, has accused the Presidency of weakening the institution of the National Judicial Council, (NJC), as well as the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), which he alleged was being used for hatchet jobs.

The lawmaker attributed the travail that has finally forced Justice Walter Onnoghen, to resign his office as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), to a weak National Judicial Council (NJC), as presently constituted.

Hon Ikon, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, reacting to his Onnoghen’s eventual resignation on Friday, told our correspondent that his travail was strengthened by the NJC, which could not summon the courage to insist that known rules and precedencies must apply in this case.

The lawmaker said that the country’s institutions have suffered more under this government as previous NJC compositions were able to resist such muzzling by the executive.

“What we have just witnessed in this case is the function of a weak institution. We have to build strong institutions. If the institutions are strong, we will not see what we are seeing today. The NJC is not strong. The NJC failed to make its report public because it said it was subjudist. Today, people are suspecting that the CJN was being hunted. If the institutions are strong we would not have suspected that the CJN was being hunted.”

Ikon said while the NJC was reported to have claimed that Onnoghen’s continuous stay as CJN was not good for the image of the judiciary, the President was shielding Danladi Umar from justice given the corruption allegations preferred against him.

He alleged that he was being protected to execute hatchet jobs against perceived opponents of the government of the day, worrying also that the CCT should have been removed from the executive to face its judicial functions in the judiciary.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the resignation of Onnoghen has vindicated President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling party, underscoring the need for all to rise above sentiment if the country is to make progress.

Reacting to the resignation of the former judicial boss, the party said the decision by Onnoghen to throw in the towel is also a call for the opposition and a section of the civil society groups to be circumspect and shun the rush to read political motives in every action of government.

Spokesman of party, Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary, who commended President, said the party has always known that Buhari would not act in the manner he did without facts.

He said the president did thorough background checks on the CJN, adding that the party saw that the allegations against the former judicial henchman were too weighty to be ignored.

“We knew right from the beginning that what the immediate past CJN (that is if his resignation letter is accepted)… the allegations were too serious and we know that the president does not act on frivolities, he must have done his background checks, he must have gotten good information to have taken the action he took and not just taking that action, that there was basis for the action that can be legally proven, and those lawyers, so-called Senior Advocates of Nigeria who had over the years dipped their hands along with some of these judicial officers, in detaining this country, continued to lampoon the president, lampoon the APC and blaming this government that is doing its best to right several of the wrongs that we have been used to.

“We all can only be hiding behind one finger, otherwise we knew Nigerians, reasonable Nigerians knew from the word ‘cooked’ that those allegations were not cooked up and if they were real, the next thing for the CJN to have done was to have stepped aside and the question of, he wouldn’t be the only one, why him? There is nowhere in the world where judgment is passed on every sinner at once.

“The issue we have in this country is that, many people, especially those who have been part of the impunity of the past who are struggling badly to adjust to the reality of rule of law. That is the major issue we are facing in this country. There is so much struggle to allow the past that is not good enough for us as a country to allow it go and for all of us to rise and face the future, future of promise, future of change, so that we can move to the ‘Next Level’.”

Onilu expressed hope that with the unexpected arraignment, in the life of present administration, of the Heads of the legislative and judicial arms of government, it may not be long before a Nigerian President is made to face the long arms of the law, maintaining that all are equal before the law.

Onilu said: “Now, you have seen the head of National Assembly, Senate President, you have seen him in the dock. Now, you have seen the CJN in the dock. So, one day, we will see a President that will also misbehave in the dock which now shows that nobody is above the law of this country that we are all equal before the law.”

Reacting, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), on Friday, said he is not impressed by the resignation adding that it came too late.

Sagay, who said there is no value in the resignation, argued that Onnoghen should have resigned in January when the charges were made against him and he admitted that he erred.

“The resignation has come too late. It was a face-saving resignation because if he had not resigned, he would have been sacked. There is no question about that. At the very best, he would have been retired if not actually dismissed.

“There is no value in the resignation anymore. It lacks the honour and dignity that would have accompanied it if he had done it since January when the charges were made,” he said.

The resignation of the suspended CJN was confirmed to newsmen by a senior lawyer in Onnoghen’s legal team on Friday.

“I have just spoken with him. He confirmed to me that he resigned voluntarily yesterday,” said the senior advocate, who stated that he did not have Onnoghen’s authorisation to speak on the issue.

Onnoghen had reportedly sent his resignation letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, barely 24 hours after the National Judicial Council concluded investigating him for various allegations of misconduct.

There has not been an official confirmation of Onnoghen’s resignation from his spokesperson, Mr. Awassam Bassey, who did not respond to telephone calls from our correspondents as at the time of filing this report.

Similarly, Dr Festus Aweneri, Director of Information, Supreme Court, said the apex court is yet to receive an official correspondence from the embattled former CJN.

Onnoghen is billed to know the judgment date in his ongoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on April 15.

Onnoghen is being prosecuted by the Federal Government on a six-count charge of false and non-declaration of assets.

The National Judicial Council had decided on the report of the five-man committee it set up to investigate petitions against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, and the acting CJN Justice Tanko Muhammad.

The NJC took the decisions in an emergency meeting, last Wednesday.

A statement by Soji Oye Esq, Director, Information, NJC, said “Council decided that the allegations relating to assets declaration that were levelled against Hon. Mr. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON were subjudice and therefore abstained from considering them.

“Council reached a decision on the petitions written by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others and conveyed its decision to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Council also resolved that, by the nature of the decision reached, it would be inappropriate to publicise it before conveying it to Mr. President,” Oye stated.

The National Judicial Council had on February 13, raised a five-man panel to investigate the petitions against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria and acting CJN Tanko Mohammed.

Dannyset:
To claim and believe that a whole CJN was forced against his own will to resign despite not guilty or committing any of the allegations leveled against him is laughable and at the same time rubbishes the intellect of the writer.

This man knows the law and could present witnesses and evidences to defend himself and stand his ground if truly he was innocent. Was he forced at gunpoint? Was his child kidnapped so he could resigned?

You pushed the man this far yet he thought of the easiest way out for himself and you're on another plot to force the FG into not accepting his plea for softlanding. Continue pushing people to the dungeon. We shall see where this shallowness will lead you to.

hisexcellency34:
So they put a gun on his neck and said 'Oya, papa Onnoghen, resign now!"

ictjobber:
Lies... He wasn't forced.. he did so on his own accord...

247Dior:
The honest man retired because he was helpless seeing that NJC has been compromised

Daddyhyeni:

TRULY NJC IS COMPROMISED. NIGERIA IS HEADING TO ITS DOOM

247Dior:
The honest man retired because he was helpless seeing that NJC has been compromised

post=77312132:

You've said it all bro.
You are a very wise man.
It is always good and refreshing to know that we still have some reasonable people like you around here.

Dannyset:

My brother, these people are unbelievable. They just open their mouth and spill trash like someone who has indomie in his brain.

oloworulz:
Anything flatinoss supports is bound to fail. Be guided

Daddyhyeni:

TRULY NJC IS COMPROMISED. NIGERIA IS HEADING TO ITS DOOM