ABUJA—The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Wednesday, shelved his earlier resolve to produce three witnesses to debunk the allegation that he did not declare his assets as prescribed by the law.At the resumed proceeding on the six-count charge the Federal Government preferred against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, the embattled CJN, announced his decision to close his defence with only the testimony of his driver.
FG had in the charge marked CCT/ABJ/01/19, alleged that Onnoghen’s failure to properly declare his assets, was in violation of section 15 of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.It further alleged that the suspended CJN operated five foreign bank accounts, contrary to the code of conduct for public officers.
He said: “My lords, after a very deep review and consideration of evidence already before this tribunal, the defence has taken the decision to close our case. Specifically, the suspended CJN had queried the validity of the charge against him, contending that FG failed to respect established judicial precedents by not allowing the National Judicial Council, NJC, to firstly investigate the allegation against him, before it rushed the matter to the CCT.
Justice Onnoghen drew attention of the tribunal to its judgment that quashed a similar charge against another Justice of the Supreme Court, Sylvester Ngwuta, on the ground that the NJC ought to have been allowed to look into the matter before the case was filed.Aside challenging powers of the tribunal to try him, Onnoghen, said he was afraid that he would not be accorded fair hearing by the tribunal which he described as an appendage of the Presidency.
Nevertheless, the tribunal, in a ruling on March 11, relied on section 396 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015, and Paragraph 5 of its Practice Direction, and held that it would not consider the merit of Onnoghen’s objection to the charge, till conclusion of the trial. Attempt by the defendant to stop the trial at that stage was rejected by the tribunal which he dismissed his no-case-submission and ordered him to open his defence to the charge.
FG’s first witness, PW-1, Mr. James Akpala, who is a senior investigative officer at the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, had in his testimony, told the tribunal that the charge against Onnoghen was filed before his team concluded investigation on the allegation that he falsely declared his assets.
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