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. (Independent)