On Monday, Justice Walter Onnoghen, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), was cleared and dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, for a false assets declaration offense for which the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) found him guilty and removed him from office.
In its ruling of April 18, 2019, the Umar Yakubu Danladi-led CCT ordered the Federal Government to seize Onnoghen’s five bank accounts in addition to condemning him for the false assets declaration charge.
However, in a ruling issued Monday by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed, a three-member panel of Appellate Court Justices overturned the CCT’s rulings, citing the conditions of the settlement struck between the Federal Government and the former CJN.
As stated by the appellate court, “the judgment is entered in the appeal as per terms of settlement between the appellant and the respondent dated October 24.” The court also ordered that the former CJN’s assets and all of his bank accounts with Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited be returned to him right away.
Regarding the matter’s resolution, all parties concurred that the CCT erred in condemning Onnoghen without consulting the National Judicial Council (NJC), which is a body authorized by the constitution to punish Nigerian judges.
As the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, signed on behalf of the federal government, Onnoghen and two of his attorneys, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, and Dr. Ogwu James Onoja, SAN, approved the terms of the settlement.
Tijani Gazali, SAN, who represented the federal government at Monday’s sessions, confirmed the terms of the settlement, which were revealed by Onnoghen’s main attorney, Awomolo, on October 24 but submitted on November 1.
The Court of Appeal’s panel of justices, led by Justice Abba Bello Mohammed, declared the settlement terms to be the court’s ruling.
In 2019, Onnoghen was found guilty on all six counts of violating the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, which was brought against him by the federal government when he was the head of the nation’s court.
Onnoghen was ordered to resign from his position as CJN immediately in the lead judgment delivered by CCT Chairman Danladi Yakubu Umar. He was also stripped of all previous positions, including those of Chairman of the NJC and Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).
In addition, the tribunal directed that Onnoghen’s five bank accounts and the funds in them that he failed to disclose on his asset disclosure form to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) be forfeited.
Despite Onnoghen’s resignation on April 4 of the same year and suspension since January 25, 2019, the tribunal ordered his removal from his position as the CJN and the chairman of the NJC and FJSC.
On April 29, 2019, not happy with the CCT’s ruling, Onnoghen filed a 16-point appeal with the Court of Appeal in Abuja, arguing that his conviction by the Tribunal should be overturned.
The former CJN requested, on a number of reasons, that the Court of Appeal declare the April 18, 2019, CCT ruling against him null and unlawful.
Using his primary attorney, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, Justice Onnoghen appealed his conviction under CA/ABJ/375 & 376 & 377/2019, arguing that the appellate court should overturn it due to lack of jurisdiction, bias, and an unfair hearing.
He argued, among other things, that the CCT chairman should have resigned from overseeing his trial and that the Danladi Umar-led panel committed a legal error by failing to decline jurisdiction to consider the six-count against him, resulting in a miscarriage of justice against him.
Onnoghen filed a seven-point relief request, asking for an order to discharge and acquit him of all allegations against him, set aside his conviction, and revoke the order for the confiscation of his assets.
In contrast to the conclusions of the CCT, Onnoghen claimed that he did not acknowledge the fact that, while serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2005, he had failed to register his assets. He added that he simply forgot to do so in 2009.
Onnoghen contested the order to seize his assets, arguing that they were lawfully obtained in violation of Section 23 of the CCB Act’s paragraph three, which only allows the seizure of assets “if they were acquired by fraud.”
The prosecution’s failure to bring petitioner Denis Aghanya before the tribunal whose petition resulted in the allegations against him was criticized by him.
argued that he should not have been convicted because none of the accusations against him “constitute no offense.”
In a succinct statement following the ruling, Onnoghen’s attorneys, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo and Chief Ogwu James Onoja, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), thanked President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for seeing the matter through to completion. They also called the ruling historic and extremely important.
According to Awomolo, “it is significant because it restored the honor, integrity, and dignity of Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria.”
Read Also: APC Criticizes Oyo Governor Seyi Makinde for Attacks on Tinubu Administration Amid Political Ambitions
More significant than these individual benefits to His Lordship is the fact that the harm done to the judiciary—the third branch of government established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution as amended—has been repaired and restored.
The integrity, independence, and public image of the judiciary were severely harmed by two Executive Arm of Government judgments and acts between 2016 and 2019.
The first was when, in the early hours of the morning, common criminals and robbers broke into the residences of judicial officers of the realm, including justices of the Supreme Court. The judicial personnel were accused of corruption, according to the report. Ultimately, none of the judges—who had been publically humiliated—were convicted of wrongdoing.
The second, according to the senior attorney, was Onnoghen’s removal, which was unconstitutional. He described it as a blatant violation of a constitutional clause and added that there is no precedence or rationale for the Executive’s action.
The public has a negative opinion of the judiciary and lacks trust in its independence and integrity as a result of the two incidents, according to Awomolo.
