Mike Ozekhome, human rights
lawyer, says Walter Onnoghen resigned as chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) because
he knew his fate had been pre-determined by the cabal.
Onnoghen turned in his
resignation letter on Thursday, a day after the National Judicial Council (NJC)
recommended that he be compulsorily retired.
In a piece Ozekhome wrote on the
travails of the former CJN, the senior lawyer said Onnoghen was a victim of
politics.
“I knew it would come sooner than
later. When Justice Walter Onnoghen’s travails started in January, I predicted
that the cabal was out to rubbish him. They desired to bespatter him with the
paintbrush of shame, odium and obloquy in such a way as to make him visibly
unfit for the position of the CJN. They went after his jugular, using the
CCB/CCT,” Ozekhome said.
“The CCT was unrelenting: it discarded
its earlier precedents; ignored court rulings barring it from trying Onnoghen.
It was the case of the falcon not hearing the falconer.
“The Court of Appeal became
complicit. It refused to deliver judgments in Onnoghen’s cases argued before it
over six weeks ago. Nigerians watched Onnoghen being mob-lynched. Onnoghen was
tried in the media, criminalized, humiliated.
“So, Onnoghen, faced with the
reality of the situation, knew that his faith had been pre-determined by the
cabal, signed, sealed and delivered.”
Ozekhome also accused the NJC of
jumping into conclusion over the case.
He said the council acted on
unproven allegations and that any attempt to harass and humiliate the judiciary
is setting a stage for bidding democracy farewell.
“Otherwise, how can NJC hold that
it decided not to delve into the allegations, relating to assets declaration
leveled against Onnoghen because they were subjudice, yet convicted him on the
petitions written by EFCC and others, when the said petitions remained in the
realm of mere unproven allegations?” he asked.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com