Exactly one week ago, President
Muhammadu Buhari suspended Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN),
over alleged false assets declaration.
In his speech at the occasion
where Onnoghen was suspended and Ibrahim Muhammad appointed in acting capacity,
Buhari said Onnoghen had admitted that he failed to “follow the spirit and
letter of the law” in declaring his assets.
Defending his action which was
severely criticised, Buhari said ’’mistake and forgetfulness’’ are totally
unknown to the law.
What were the exact words of
Onnoghen in response to the query of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), which
filed a six-count charge against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT)?
Below is the former CJN’s
response which was obtained by TheCable:
DATE: 1st January, 2019
I WALTER S. N. ONNOGHEN of THE
SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA hereby voluntarily depose to the statement averred
herein knowing that whatever I write or state may be tendered against me as
evidence in court. I also volunteer to state that the statement was not taken
in evidence from me under duress but after the administering officer has
explained and made known the details of the allegations against me.
Rank/Position: CHIEF JUSTICE OF NIGERIA
Date of Birth: 22nd DECEMBER, 1950
Residential Address: CTN DRIVE ASO VILLA, ABUJA
Date of 1st Appointment into Service: 1st OCTOBER, 1989
Date of Substantive Appointment: 7th March, 2017
Category of Appointment: TENURED
Duration of Tenure (if Applicable): FOUR YEARS
Date of Declaration of Assets: 14TH DECEMBER, 2016
Details of Companies/Enterprises: NONE
Bank account Details: STD. CHARTERED 0001062667 AND OTHERS AS PER
MY ASSET DECLARATION FORM
No of Children: FOUR
State any other full Time Employment (if any): NIL
Name (s) of Spouse/Date of Birth: MRS NKOYO W. N. ONNOGHEN 11TH
JULY, 1957
Name of Children/Date of Birth:
·
ORIMINIWEFA N. ONNOGHEN
·
EWUWUNI N. ONNOGHEN
·
EFA N. ONNOGHEN
·
TITE N. ONNOGHEN
Response to the Allegation(s):
My Asset Declaration for Nos.
SCN000014 and SCN.0000 5 were declared on the same day, 14th December, 2016
because I forgot to make a declaration of May, 2005 declaration of my assets
after the expiration of my 2005 declaration in 2009. Following my appointment
as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria in November, 2016 the need to declare my
asset anew made to realize the mistake and then did the declarations to cover
the period in default. I did not include my Standard Chartered Bank Account in
SCN. 000014 because I believed they were not opened during the period covered
by the declaration. I did not make a fresh declaration of assets after my
substantive appointment as CJN because I was under the impression that my SCN.
000015 was to cover the period of four years which include my leave as CJN. The
deposits made in my US Dollar account No. 87000106250 with STD. Chartered Bank
of $10,000 at different intervals of 28/6/11 were sourced partly from my
reserve and saving from my estacodes including medical expenses. The same
applies to my deposit of 27/7/11 of the sum of $10,000 twice. It is important
to state that prior to my opening the US dollar account I had foreign currency
which I kept at home due to the fact that there existed a government policy
that proscribed the operation of foreign currency account by Public officers
including judicial Officers. It was when I got to know that the policy had
changed that I had to open the said account. Upon opening the account, I was
made to understand that I cannot pay in more than $10,000 at a time and per
payment slip. I cannot remember the total amount I had in reserve at the time
but it spread from my practice days as a private legal practitioner from
1979-1989. Some of the deposits are a result of forex trading. AGRICODE and
other investment returns were from proceeds of my investments into them. The
withdrawals in the account are partly to pay children fees and upkeep abroad
and further investments. My British Pound and Euro accounts with Chartered
Standard Bank are savings accounts.
WALTER SAMUEL NKANU ONNOGHEN
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Walai... Who's this man Kidding? He forgot to declare his assets? It happened that he forgot to declare his assets twice? How does one forget something twice? The periods he failed to declare his assets, was in PDP regime respectively. Now, we have a government that keeps all public servants/officers in check. There's no room for forgetfulness. It's almost like asking a soldier why he isn't wearing his beret, then he says he forgot. C'mon
ReplyDeleteHas Buhari declared his own Assets ? Mr integrity
ReplyDelete