Walter Onnoghen clarifies that he retired and did not resign from office after EFCC indictment

EMBATTLED chief judge of Nigeria Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen has declared that he retired from service and did not resign from his position as had been previously reported by those aware of the development.

In January this year, President Buhari suspended Justice Onnoghen and replaced him with Justice Tanko Mohammed, who was sworn-in as the acting chief judge of Nigeria (CJN). Over recent months, Justice Onnoghen has been involved in intense political jockeying with the government that involved him being charged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) with false asset declaration.

This week, things took a turn for the worse when President Buhari was advised by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to retire Justice Onnoghen based on findings by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In what appeared to be the final straw, Justice Onnoghen decided to quit after the NJC made its recommendation.

According to one of the senior lawyers in his defence team, Justice Onnoghen has sent his resignation letter to President Buhari. However, Adegboyega Awomolo, who is the lead counsel to Mr Onnoghen in his false assets declaration trial, said that the CJN decision is a retirement and not a resignation from office.

He said: “What he has done is to send his notice of retirement to the president and he has done so in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. His position from day one has been that it is only the NJC that can discipline him and now that the NJC has spoken, out of respect for the NJC and the office of the chief justice of Nigeria and the Nigerian judiciary, he sent his letter of retirement, not resignation.

“All he has done is to send a letter to the president, saying thank you. I have served this country for about 32 years, I want to retire and that’s all he has done."

Justice Onnoghen’s retirement is coming 51 days after his trial began at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on January 14 and 58 days after the petition which birthed the said trial was submitted. Appointed a justice of the Supreme Court in 2005, Justice Onnoghen was recommended for the position of chief justice of Nigeria on October 6, 2016, by the NJC.

He was, however, not confirmed by the senate until March 7, 2017 due to the reluctance of President Buhari to submit his name for confirmation. He was eventually sworn-in on March 7, 2017, by then acting president Professor Yemi Osinbajo, after the senate confirmation.