The suspended Chief Justice of
Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, was finally on Thursday, April 18, convicted of
false and non-declaration of assets.
The embattled ex-CJN had been
arraigned by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), following a petition brought
against him by a group, the Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative.
Onnoghen was charged on six
counts, for allegedly failing to declare some of his accounts in the asset
declaration form submitted to the CCB in December, 2016.
According to the charge, Onnoghen
also failed to declare his assets after the expiration of his declaration form
filled in 2005. But Onnoghen, who had noted that he forgot to update the form,
told the tribunal that he was not guilty of the charges brought against him.
During the proceedings, the
defence, in their final arguments, maintained that the prosecution failed to
prove the six counts beyond reasonable doubt as required by law and urged the
tribunal to dismiss the case.
It added that the charges against
Onnoghen were incompetent and unconstitutional as they were based on the
provisions of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and Bureau Act which were in
conflict with the relevant provisions of the Constitution.
However, Danladi Umar, CCT
chairman, found him guilty of the six counts preferred against him by the
federal government.
Umar held that the federal
government had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Onnoghen breached the code
of conduct for public officers.
“The defendant has clearly
contravened the code for public officers,” he said.
“The prosecution has discharged
the onus placed on it and it has proved its case beyond doubt.
The defence has failed to prove
that the chairman is biased.” Thus, he ruled that Onnoghen be removed as CJN
and chairman of the NJC and banned from holding public office for 10 years.
The tribunal further ruled that
“all monies in the five accounts which were not declared by the defendant be
confiscated, seized and forfeited to the federal government as they were all
acquired illegally by the defendant.”
He said the defence could not
prove how Onnoghen legitimately owned the funds found in the five accounts.
We've highlighted the total
amount of monies Onnoghen will forfeit in 5 bank accounts:
Domiciliary US Dollar account No.
870001062650 – $56,878* (N20.4m)
Domiciliary Pound Sterling account
No.285001062679 – £13,730.70. (N6.42m)
Domiciliary Euro account No.
93001062686 – €10,187.18. (N4.11m)
e-Saver savings (Naira) account
No.5001062693 – N12,852,580.52 (12.85m)
Another Naira account
No.010001062667 – N2,656,019.21. (N2.65m)
The total amount in Naira is
about N46.43m Daily Trust added that all the balance is as at December, 2018,
except the US Dollar account.
According to the newspaper,
except the conviction is overturned by appellate court, Onnoghen cannot be
pardoned by the president through prerogative of mercy.
Section 23(7) of the CCT/B Act
provides that: “The provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria 1999, relating to prerogative of mercy, shall not apply to any
punishment imposed in accordance with the provisions of this section.”
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