Nigeria’s National Judicial Council, on Monday, gave the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria another seven days to respond to a fresh petition against him, this time by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The NJC, which took the decision Monday at its emergency meeting in Abuja, also resolved to constitute a complaint panel to look into the various complaints against both Onnoghen and the Acting CJN Justice Tanko Muhammad.
The council had at its sitting on January 29 adjourned to February 11 after it gave both Onnoghen and Muhammad 7 days to respond to the allegations against them.
However a statement from the NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, disclosed that the body at its emergency meeting Monday, received a fresh petition from the EFCC against Onnoghen, to which he was directed to reply within the next seven days.
“The National Judicial Council reconvened today in an Emergency Meeting to consider the responses of Justices Walter Onnoghen, GCON and Tanko Muhammad, to the three petitions written against them.
“Members resolved to constitute into the Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee in accordance with Regulation 17 of the National Judicial Council Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2017 and report to Council on the 13th of February 2019”, the statement said.
“The Council will reconvene on Wednesday, 13th February, 2019.
“Council also received a new petition written by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Justice Walter Onnoghen, and forwarded it to him for his response within seven (7) working days”, the statement read.
It added that the NJC reaffirmed its confidence in Justice Umaru Abdullahi, as Interim Chairman of the NJC.