THE Court of Appeal, Abuja, has cleared a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, of the charge that led to his removal from office in 2019.
Recall that on January 25, 2019, approximately 29 days before the presidential election, former President Muhammadu Buhari removed Onnoghen from his position as CJN and installed Tanko Muhammad, the next most senior Supreme Court judge, to assume the role of head of the judiciary.
About six years after he was convicted, a three-man panel of the appellate court, led by Mohammed Bello, exonerated the ex-CJN following a settlement agreement the federal government entered with him.
The federal government, through the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi, a senior advocate, had convinced the appellate court to not continue considering three different appeals the former CJN filed to contest his removal, conviction, and asset seizure.
The appellate court in its ruling directed the federal government to immediately unfreeze Onnoghen’s account with Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited in accordance with the conditions of the settlement reached on October 24.
Buhari’s suspension of Onnoghen as CJN provoked mixed reactions from both within and outside the judicial circles, with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) describing it as a coup against the judiciary.
Onnoghen was later convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on a six-count corruption charge that was preferred against him by the FG.
It was alleged that he made a false declaration to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
The Code of Conduct Tribunal found the former CJN guilty of false declaration of assets and also barred him from holding any public office for 10 years.
Speaking about his removal as CJN in 2021, Onnoghen said his unconstitutional removal in the lead-up to the 2019 general election is a testament that the country’s judiciary is on life support.
Onnoghen said this during the unveiling of a book, “Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009,’ written by Ogwu James Onoja (SAN).
He said he was removed basically because it was rumoured that he held a meeting with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2019 election, Atiku Abubakar.
A reporter with the ICIR
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