Justice Walter Onnoghen. |
Legal
luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has described the proposed trial on Monday
of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, at the Code of
Conduct Tribunal over alleged failure to fully declare his assets as
“denigration of the country’s Judiciary and Constitution.”
Babalola,
in a statement on Sunday entitled, Proposed arraignment of the Hon Justice
Walter Onnoghen: Again, I say two wrongs do not make a right, said the law had
made it clear the processes for the trial of judicial officers and as well
their removal, hence the need to desist from contempt and denigration of the
judiciary.
He
said: “I am of the view that the Constitution requires that any infraction by
the said Judges be firstly investigated and resolved by the National Judicial
Council to the exclusion of any other body or authority”.
Babalola,
who stated that the decision of the Court of Appeal in Nganjiwa v Federal
Republic of Nigeria (2017) LPELR-43391(CA) “still subsists and has not been set
aside,” said: “I therefore see no justification for the decision to arraign the
CJN before the CCT.
“Again
the point must be made clear that the Constitution clearly provides for the
procedure with which the CJN can be removed from office. Section 292(1)(a)(i)
and 292(1)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As
Amended) addressed it”.
According
to him, given the clear provisions for trial and removal of judges, “it becomes
more worrying to learn that aside from laying the proposed charges, the
prosecution has also filed an application seeing an order directing the CJN to
rescue himself from office pending the conclusion of the trial”.
The
senior advocate said: “By proceeding as proposed, the government is unwittingly
or perhaps deliberately creating a wrong impression in the minds of millions of
Nigerians that the Judiciary is a criminal organisation. For the sake of our
democracy this is a misconception that must not be allowed to fester.
“No
country, no matter how well intentioned its political leaders are, can aspire
to greatness if its judicial arm is denigrated and held in contempt. While the
Judiciary itself must be awake to its huge responsibilities, its efforts in
this regard will surely not be helped by the erosion of its independence,” he
stated.
Culled
from the Punch.
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