Walter Onnoghen found guilty of false asset declaration by Code of Conduct Tribunal

JUSTICE Walter Onnoghen has been found guilty of false asset declaration by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and officially removed from office as the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) and chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

 

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

 

Earlier this month, Justice Onnoghen sent his resignation letter to President Buhari ending months of intrigue and litigation. However, Adegboyega Awomolo, who is the lead counsel to Justice Onnoghen in his false assets declaration trial, said that the CJN decision is a retirement and not a resignation from office.

 

President Buhari had been advised by the 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 but he submitted his quit notice to the presidency while President Buhari was away in Jordan for a conference.

 

In a further twist to the saga, today, a three-man panel of CCT judges, headed by its chairman Danladi Umar, found Justice Onnoghen guilty of the false declaration of assets in breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct Bureau for public officials. It subsequently removed him from the office as CJN and NJC chairman.

 

Also, the tribunal banned him from holding public office for 10 years and also said Justice Onnoghen is to forfeit the money in his five bank accounts that were not declared to the Nigerian government because they were acquired illegally. According to the tribunal, it was crystal clear that the money was acquired illegally since Justice Onnoghen has failed to prove how he got it.

 

It is not yet clear if further criminal charges will be filed against Justice Onnoghen or if the EFCC will arrest him. According to the EFCC, Justice Onnoghen was in possession of funds which are not attributable to his known, provable and legitimate source of income.

 

Apart from accusing him of opening of a dollar account at Standard Chartered Bank with $30,000 the EFCC accused Justice Onnoghen of being unable to account for curious deposits in his accounts, which had accumulated to $1,716,000. President Buhari will now have the final say on what to do about the matter.

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