A civil society group,
Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative (ARDI), has launched a legal
move to remove Walter Onnoghen as the chief justice of Nigeria.
ARDI has petitioned the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB), listing a number of allegations against Onnoghen —
notably false declaration of assets.
The group said its petition,
dated January 7, 2019, became necessary “bearing in mind the imminence of the
2019 General Elections and the overwhelming roles of the Judicial Arm both
before and after”.
The petition was stamped “received”
by the office of the CCB chairman on January 9, 2019.
The CCB is empowered by the
constitution to investigate public officers, after which it would forward its
findings to the appropriate body for trial if the allegations are confirmed.
What are the core allegations?
ARDI said Onnoghen “is the owner
of sundry accounts primarily funded through cash deposits made by himself up to
as recently as 10th August 2016 which appear to have been run in a manner
inconsistent with financial transparency and the code of conduct for public
officials”.
In the petition, the group said
Onnoghen made five different cash deposits of $10,000 each on March 8, 2011,
into Standard Chartered Bank Account 1062650; two separate cash deposits of
$5000 each followed by four cash deposits of $10,000 each on June 7, 2011;
another set of five separate cash deposits of $10,000 each on June 27, 2011,
and four more cash deposits of $10,000 each the following day.
The campaigners said Onnoghen did
not declare his assets immediately after taking office, contrary to section 15
(1) of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act; and that he did not comply with
the constitutional requirement for public servants to declare their assets
every four years during their career.
Also alleged against him is that
his Code of Conduct Bureau Forms (Form CCB 1) for 2014 and 2016 were dated and
filed on the same day and the acknowledgement slips were issued for both on
December 14, 2016 — at which point, they said, Onnoghen had become the CJN.
Onnoghen assumed office as CJN on
March 6, 2017.
ARDI alleged that prior to 2016,
Onnoghen appeared “to have suppressed or otherwise concealed the existence of
these multiple domiciliary accounts owned by him, as well as the substantial
cash balances in them”.
These account balances were
listed against his name by ARDI:
The Standard Chartered Bank dollar account 1062650 with a balance of
$391,401.28 on January 31, 2011
The Standard Chartered Bank Euro
account 5001062686 with a balance of EURO 49,971 .71 on January 31, 2011
The Standard Chartered Bank pound
sterling account 5001062679 with a balance of GBP23,409.66 on February 28,
2011.
“It is curious that these
domiciliary accounts were not declared in one of the two CCB Forms filed by
Justice Onnoghen on the same day, 14th December 2016,” the group said.
ARDI said it believed its
petition had established cases of “suspicious financial and other transactions
against His Lordship, collusion between His Lordship and various banks related
to Suspicious Transactions Reporting (STR) and financial transactions not
justifiable by His Lordship’s lawful remuneration at all material times.”
What happens next?
The Code of Conduct Bureau,
according to section 3 (e) of the Third Schedule (part 1) of the 1999
constitution, shall “receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of
the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto,
investigate the complaint and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the
Code of Conduct Tribunal”.
However, since judicial officers
are disciplined by the National Judicial Commission (NJC), it is unlikely the
CCB will refer his case to the Code of Conduct Tribunal if the allegations are
found to have substance.
It could be referred to NJC, of
which Onnoghen is the chairman, but he would have to recuse himself in the
process.
If found guilty, he could be
asked to vacate his office as CJN, in addition to other punishments.
No chief justice of Nigeria has
ever been subjected to trial, although the President Muhammadu Buhari
administration has charged judges to court over allegations of graft and money
laundering.
An early morning raid was
conducted by the secret police on the residences of some judges in 2016 and substantial
amounts of money in local and foreign currencies were recovered.
What is the link to elections?
ARDI linked its petition to the
elections and the role the judiciary plays in the final outcome, and this could
lead to speculation that it is a preemptive move against the bench.
The group said it is “inevitable
that His Lordship is also by these acts a likely hostage to the sources of
these funds and beholden to or generally corrupted by their clandestine
interests which might prove injurious to the Judiciary which he heads, and by
extension the nation”.
ARDI in the past defended actions
by Buhari — including the alleged purchase of $496 million aircraft from the US
without due process.
“The president’s only sin is that
he did not seek the approval of NASS for the release of the fund; he did not
embezzle it. For anyone to think of impeachment process against him is not
right. We have many problems at hand. Violation of a constitutional provision
is bad but it is worse to act in an immoral manner,” Dennis Aghanya, the
executive secretary, said at the time.
What does Onnoghen think?
When contacted, Awassam Bassey,
media aide of Onnoghen, said he had not seen the petition and would not want to
comment on the issue.
“I have no comment whatsoever to
make on this issue. If the petition was sent to the Code of Conduct Bureau,
then they are in the best position to state if the CJN declared his assets or
not,” he told TheCable via telephone.
Asked to react to the allegations
of foreign accounts, Bassey said: “I have just told you that I haven’t seen the
petition. How can I comment on an issue that I don’t know the genesis? I have
no comment whatsoever. Thank you.”
In September 2017, Bassey had
said Onnoghen had nothing to hide and was open to investigation.
“It is the first time he is being
aware of any allegations or intelligence against him, neither has he been
invited or called upon to offer any explanation on any impropriety. However,
the Hon. CJN wishes to assure the public that he has nothing to hide and is
open to investigation,” he had said.
“As a committed patriot who has
spent all his adult life in the temple of justice, the Hon. CJN is ready to pay
the required price to make the nation a better place.”
A senior lawyer revealed that the
ruling party “does not trust Onnoghen to do their bidding in rigging the
elections and giving judicial affirmation to their shenanigans, as you can see
in the court cases that have gone against APC in recent weeks”.
A former governor from the
south-south is allegedly behind the petition.
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