Discordant tunes over CJN as Fed Govt cautions foreign envoys

The Federal Government yesterday warned representatives of foreign counties and organisations operating in the country to stay clear of Nigeria’s internal matters.

A statement by the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman, George Ehidiamen Edokpa, warned embassies to desist from actions and divisive utterances.

Reacting to the recent comments by foreign partners on the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, the government urged for caution.

The statement reads: “The Federal Government of Nigeria notes with deep concern statements made by representatives of foreign Governments and international organisations resident in Nigeria, notably the Embassy of the United States of America, the High Commission of the United Kingdom as well as the European Union Election Observer Mission, regarding the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), which demonstrate serious and unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Nigeria.

“The various statements, especially of those referred to above, appear prejudicial and signify alignment with the opposition and endorsement of its position that the ruling party, and by extension the Federal Government of Nigeria, is working on rigging the forthcoming elections in Nigeria.

“These statements also portend tolerance for corrupt acts and downplay the anticorruption crusade of the Buhari Administration, knowing fully that the suspended CJN had not denied the charges against him and that probity requires of him to step aside while the case is under scrutiny.

“It is pertinent to underscore the unfortunate fact that statements, as referred above, are inimical to the wellbeing and development of Nigeria, given their nuisance value of promoting sectional and religious divide in the country, anarchy and retrogression. Now, more than any other time, Nigerians and true friends of Nigeria should be working towards repositioning Nigeria to realise her potential and sustainably provide the leadership expected of her.

“His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari had consistently demonstrated respect for the rule of law as a presidential candidate and as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and would engage in nothing to the contrary.

“He also remains a man of integrity, who has severally pledged free and fair elections. It is therefore absurd to presume that the suspension of the CJN is geared towards rigging the forthcoming elections in favour of the ruling party.

“For the avoidance of doubt, be it known that on three occasions that Mr. President went to court, as a presidential candidate and lost his case, in 2013, 2011 and 2007, the presiding judges at the Supreme Court were all northerners and Muslims: Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais, Idris Lebo Kutigi and Dahiru Mustapha respectively.

“In fact, in one instance, the presiding judge at the Appeal Court was from Katsina State and the President’s former classmate, yet, he lost the case. The minority judgements in his favour were given by two judges, both of them southerners and Christians: Justices George Adesola Oguntade and Sylvanus Nsofor.

“Resident embassies and international organisations invited to observe the forthcoming elections must therefore be wary of being drawn into the camp of the opposition, otherwise their neutrality, which is the hallmark of election observers becomes questionable.

“It is indeed unfortunate that foreign missions would align with the opposition and seek to negatively interpret actions by the Federal Government, no matter their positive basis and intention. Had the Federal Government been high-handed, would the opposition have been able to express its views, even to the point of pouring invectives on Mr. President?

“How best can the corruption in the judiciary, which has enormously undermined the rights of the common man and made justice available only to the highest bidder, be best tackled than by ensuring that known cases are fundamentally tackled? Where is the rule of law, if justice is applied selectively?”

Why Atiku, PDP are crying, by APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the opposition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Onnoghen’s suspension is a clear testimony of the frustration they faced in their ploy to use the judiciary to rig their way into power.

In a statement titled “Why Do PDP, Atiku Oppose Onnoghen’s Suspension as CJN?” by the National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu, the APC said: “In recent weeks Nigerians have been inundated with reports regarding self-confessed discrepancies in the asset declaration made by erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen. So acting on an order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday took the decisive action of suspending Onnoghen.

“The strident opposition to Justice Onnoghen’s suspension coming from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by its presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar again points to their penchant for anything corrupt and criminal.

“We must ask ourselves these questions, why was Justice Onnoghen suspended? What are the charges against him? It is on the basis of this, we had expected the PDP, Atiku and their agents to assess the President’s action.

“Justice Onnoghen was accused of non-declaration of assets — a requirement by law for every public officer. While under investigations, other transactions have been traced to Justice Onnoghen’s personal accounts, all undeclared as required by law. Justice Onnoghen has personally admitted to this in writing claiming that he made a “mistake” and “forgot” to declare his assets.

“In the spirit of good conscience, integrity, character and general conduct expected of occupants of public office, we are of the strong position that Justice Onnoghen should have resigned immediately to face his trial after his confession and spare the Judiciary further disrepute. Justice Onnoghen did not. This in itself smells mischief.

“For one, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike’s hold on Justice Onnoghen and a few others in the Judiciary is well-known. This was their trump card to hijack power post-election. It is clear that Justice Onnoghen’s suspension has devastated the PDP as their plans to get back to power through the “cash and carry” justice system they put in place during their unfortunate 16 years reign is in serious jeopardy.

“In citing the election tribunals as reason for Justice Onnoghen’s suspension, has Atiku given himself away on his now busted plot to use the tribunals to steal the people’s mandate in the presidential election he knows he will lose?”

Atiku: Nigerians must vote out Buhari

PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has urged Nigerians to vote out President Muhammadu Buhari.

This, according to him, is the surest way to ensure progress and prosperity for Nigerians.

Atiku, who spoke at the Yar ‘Adua Centre, Abuja, said the country was passing through a difficult moment and that how Nigerians react to this challenge in the following days will determine the fate of the nation’s democracy.

He described the crisis as needless, but which portends great peril to the system. Atiku blamed the government for unwilling to subject its conducts to the requirements of the constitution.

Said he: “Meanwhile, I commend all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria, who have expressed outrage over the unlawful removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, an action, which constitutes a flagrant breach of our constitution and a frontal assault on our democracy.

“I want to note the universal condemnation of this unlawful act by all Nigerians, as well as the international community. I need to state that this latest action by General Muhammadu Buhari falls squarely within the pattern of executive lawlessness that has now been firmly turned into statecraft by the APC government.

“The serial disregard of court orders, and consequent violation of constitutionally guaranteed human rights of our citizens confirms beyond all doubt that General Buhari and his government would rather obey their own whims and operate by separate rules outside the well-established constitutional order and the rule of law. It scarcely requires emphasis that this behaviour is alien to democratic rule and more in line with that of a military dictator.”

 ‘Ensure diligent prosecution, not persecution’

The Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR), Dr. Omenazu Jackson, has called for diligent prosecution and not persecution of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen.

He stated this yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, while addressing a news conference.

Jackson said: “The judiciary is the only compass guiding our footsteps towards a peaceful and orderly society, disparaging it on the altar of politics is to our doom, but the officers in the temple of justice must stand on high moral pedestal to safeguard the sanctity of the exalted offices they occupy.

“If the officers in the temple of justice fail, the society returns to stone age and the sanctity of the judiciary will be lost and nature exhibits its folly on us all.

“Members of the political class, who are bent on truncating our democratic process through unwarranted and unguarded attacks on institutions of governance, we plead with them to be patriotic in their undertakings, as politics without morality is criminality amplified.”

Chancellor of ISSJHR also called for urgent convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), having seen the lacunas contained in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, which he said had given rise to the current constitutional crises rocking the Nigerian state.

Agbakoba urges NJC to immediately remove acting CJN

A former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to immediately remove Acting Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad.

He made the demand in a January 28 letter to the NJC titled: Petition against Hon. Justice Tanko Mohammed JSC.

Agbakoba recalled that on January 25, President Mohammadu Buhari, pursuant to an ex-parte order of the Code of the Conduct Tribunal (CCT), suspended the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghnen, and swore in Justice Mohammed as the Acting CJN.

He wrote: “The Constitution is clear about the procedure for suspending or removing the Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Chief Justice of Nigeria can only be removed on the recommendation of the NJC.”

He referred to Section 153 (1), Paragraph 21 (a) of the 3rd Schedule and Section 292 (1) (a) (i) of the 1999 Constitution and the Supreme Court decision in Elelu-Habeeb v AGF (2012) 40 WRN 1.

Read also: Atiku promises to site refinery in Akwa Ibom

Agbakoba said Justice Muhammad is fully aware of the state of law, yet presented himself to be sworn in by the President.

“Incidentally, Justice Tanko Muhammad was a member of the NJC panel that removed Justice Obisike Orji of the Abia state High Court for accepting to be sworn in as Chief Judge by the Governor of Abia State without the recommendation of the NJC.

“It is a matter of regret that Justice Tanko Muhammad who participated in this process will lend himself to this constitutional infraction,” the SAN said.

He urged the NJC to remove Justice Muhammad based on the Abia precedent.

“We pray the NJC determine this petition in line with the decision in Justice Obisike Orji by immediately removing Justice Tanko Muhammad as Justice of the Supreme Court on grounds of gross misconduct by allowing himself to be sworn in by the President of Nigeria, without the recommendation of the NJC,” Agbakoba said.

Olawepo-Hashim Peace Committee, NJC to intervene

 People’s Trust (PT) Presidential candidate Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has called on the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee and the Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC) to amicably resolve the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, to avert political and constitutional crises.

Olawepo-Hashim, in an interview yesterday in Abuja, lamented that the suspension of the CJN, barely three weeks to the election.

According to him: “Such an appointment must be done on the recommendation of the Nigeria Judicial Commission (NJC), which was not the case in the appointment of Justice Tanko.”

Olawepo-Hashim called on the Acting CJN to step aside and allow a process where the next CJN in line would be recommended by the NJC.

He declared: “I am not particularly interested in individuals but how to preserve the integrity of institutions of state such as the Judiciary.

“The weighty allegations against Justice Onnoghen should still be investigated by the NJC and it should be up to the NJC to know what to do with him in accordance with the constitution the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other judicial regulations.”

Protest in Calabar over suspension

A group known as the “Concerned Cross Riverians on The Unconstitutional Suspension of the CJN” took to the streets to protest the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari, describing as unconstitutional.

They demanded the immediate reinstatement of the Chief Justice of Nigeria with all his rights and privilege as the CJN.

They also vowed to vote out the All Progressives  Congress (APC), at all levels especially President Mohammadu Buhari, as according to them, there were are so many burning issues that needed attention more than the “illegal suspension” of the CJN but have not been attended to.

Reading a communiqué on behalf of the group a constitutional lawyer, Leo Anyogo, said the people of Cross River were dismayed by the development.

“It is with total shock and disbelief that President Buhari in clear violation of S.292 of the constitution and that of the court of Appeal purportedly suspended the CJN without due process. This is clearly an assault on the Sacred Temple of Justice,” the group said.

Buhari’s campaign group knocks PDP over Onnoghen

The Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) yesterday berated the PDP for suspending its presidential campaign in protest of Justice Walter Onnoghen suspension from office as Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), saying the action is untenable.

The BCO said the party should have quit the 2019 elections completely rather than “the hypocrisy of just suspending the electioneering process”.

In a statement by its Director of Communication and Strategic Planning,  Mallam Gidado Ibrahim, the president’s support group noted that by suspending its campaign, the PDP has shown that it has nothing to campaign with in terms of viable manifesto and constructive programmes to sell to Nigerians.

Ibrahim said: “The PDP ought not to have suspend its campaign; it would have quit the 2019 elections completely. Why are they not talking about the subject of discussion, which is corruption and deceit? Is the party trying to say if anybody in a civilised country like Nigeria is found guilty of corruption,  even the president, he should not be jailed?”

Onaiyekan to Buhari: follow the rule of law

The Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, last night advised the President to allow the rule of law prevail over the suspension of the  CJN.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on the eve of his 75th birthday anniversary, the clergy said it was wrong to undermine the Constitution of Nigeria.

“What I am trying to say is that something has happened that should not happen at all. Let nobody tell me that the rule for removing a chief justice of the federation is not clear.

“That is what I am hearing that President Muhammadu Buhari has his reasons for doing what he did and that as far as those people are concerned, he did the right thing and then the big number of lawyers said no, it is not right. If we cannot agree on this, then what can we agree on?

“My hope is that with the amount of ingenuity Nigerians have, and all these great legal luminaries in no time within the next week or so, we will arrive at some conclusion which will permit the country to move forward on this matter.

“But I think we should decide what our law says. And we should hold everybody accountable to follow the law. Even President Muhammadu Buhari must follow the law.”

Presidential candidates back suspension

The forum of Presidential Candidates and Political Parties for Good Governance (PCPPGG) yesterday backed the suspension of Justice Onnoghen as CJN.

The candidates said it will not have any negative effect on the forthcoming general elections.

The chairman of the body, Alhaji Shittu Muhammed Kabir, said: “The Forum of Presidential Candidates and Political Parties for Good Governance believes strongly that President Muhammadu Buhari’s suspension of Hon.Justice Onnoghen as CJN is proper and timely.

“Majority of Nigerians have now realised that but for the pre-emptive move by the President, Onnoghen would have proceeded to constitute the Election Petition Panels.

“No wonder some interested elements are shocked that their game plan has been punctured. Desperate disease needs a desperate treatment. President Buhari acted in the overall interest of the masses of Nigeria.

“So much is required from the judiciary since they hold the power of life and death. Judges are therefore expected to live above board and be incorruptible. It would have been unfair to Nigerians to have someone who is carrying a clear baggage of corruption on his head to continue to preside over a sensitive arm of government like the judiciary, just because some elements would wish to use legal technicalities to cover up or moderate an obvious misdeed.” He, however, said as responsible actors in Nigeria’s political system, they have concluded: “That the offence allegedly committed by Justice Onnoghen is not judicial that could have warranted the intervention of NJC.

“That the constitution recognises the holder of the office of CJN as the 1st public officer in Nigeria.

“That the suspension of the CJN cannot be equated with removal as envisaged in the constitution. The suspension by the President does not, therefore, require the input of the NJC and the National Assembly.”

67 parties: suspension must not stand

Sixty Seven political parties yesterday faulted Onnoghen’s suspension, describing it as “illegal, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect.”

The parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party, pointed out that they were very disturbed by the illegal suspension of  the CJN and the swearing in of an acting CJN, saying “both actions are illegal and foreign to our constitution.”

The parties, in a joint statement, called on President Buhari to reverse the suspension.

The statement reads: “The CJN, as a judicial officer, can only be removed from office by the President acting on an address supported by two thirds majority of the Senate for his inability to discharge the functions of his office or appointment or for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct.”