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CCT To Deliver Judgment On Onnoghen Today

On Monday, the three-member panel, led by Danladi Umar, fixed the date for judgment after the prosecution led by Aliyu Umar (SAN), and the defence, led by Okon Efut, adopted their final addresses.

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Walter Onnoghen, the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), who resigned his post recently over allegation of false declaration of assest will know his fate on today when the Code of Conduct Tribunal delivers judgement on the charges levelled against him.

The CCT will also rule on two applications filed by the CJN, who tendered his resignation two weeks ago.

One of the applications is challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear the case.

The other application is asking the CCT chairman to disqualify himself from further presiding over the case for his alleged bias.

On Monday, the three-member panel, led by Danladi Umar, fixed the date for judgment after the prosecution led by Aliyu Umar (SAN), and the defence, led by Okon Efut, adopted their final addresses.

The Nigerian government had preferred six charges against Onnoghen for failing to declare some of his assets.

The government asked the CCT to convict and impose maximum punishment on the suspended CJN, contending that it successfully established that Justice Onnoghen acted in breach of the code of conduct for public officers in the country.

In the charge marked CCT/ABJ/01/19, the prosecution alleged that Onnoghen’s failure to properly declare his assets, was in violation of Section 15(2) of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.

Onnoghen was also alleged to have operated five foreign bank accounts, and thereby contravened the code of conduct for public officers.

However, in opposition to his trial, Onnoghen queried the validity of the charge against him, contending that the government violated established judicial precedents by not allowing the National Judicial Council to first investigate the allegation against him, before it rushed the matter to the CCT.

He argued that failure to channel the petition against him, as well as the outcome of the investigation that was purportedly conducted on assets declaration forms he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau to the NJC, rendered the charge invalid.