Clark calls for trial of past corrupt presidents, blacklist from state functions

….hails Kekere- Ekun’s intervention in Onnoghen, FG legal tussle

By Tunde Opalana

First Republic minister of Information and foremost leader of the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Clark has on President Bola Tinubu to try past presidents of the country found culpable of corruption and abuse of human rights.

This is as he commended the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere- Ekun for the role played in settling the legal rift sparked by the unlawful dismissal of a former Chief Justice of the country, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

Such intervention he said is a good step towards cleaning up the judiciary, stressing that without an efficient and incorruptible judiciary, Nigeria will end up as a failed country.

He gave the recommendation in an open letter to Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Chief Justice of Nigeria, on Sunday titled “A New Dawn in the Judiciary”.

Chief Clark thanked the CJN for her intervention and redressing the greatest humiliation ever done to a higher judicial officer ever witnessed in his entire 60 years of been a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

In the letter, the second republic senator said “I have today decided to extol the Chief Justice of Nigeria for resolving into finality the humiliation meted to the brilliant former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen. The almighty God will definitely reward you when the day come at any time.”

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According to him, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen was oppressed and humiliated by President Muhammadu Buhari and his Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN.

He, therefore said ex- President Buhari, his Attorney General, Malami and others fingered in Onnoghen’s humiliation should not go unpunished

Clark said “at this juncture, let me say this, President Tinubu’s government must not allow sacred cows to exist in Nigeria no matter whose ox is gored. There is no one who is above the law in his own country. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Russian President Vladimir Putin are today being looked for, for trial but they are on the run.

“A president of a country is just one of the ordinary members in the country, but once elected, enjoys immunity. There is nowhere therefore in the constitution or any legal document where it is stated that immunity is for life.

“Today in Nigeria, we have corrupt Presidents and some of them today are accusing their successors of corruption without looking back at what they themselves stole while in office but no one dares to touch them.

“Perhaps, it is an irony of fate for the former CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen who was one of the Supreme Court Justices whose judgment favored President Muhammadu Buhari in his presidential election case in the Supreme Court in 2011. While the other four (4) Justices led by the CJN and strongly supported by Justice Niki Tobi voted in favor of President Jonathan.

“President Buhari in compensating the justices whose judgement favored him in 2011, he sent one of the Supreme Court justices on retirement to London as the High Commissioner of Nigeria in London, a high-profile assignment. The second Justice who got similar appointment was my good friend when we were together in the British council hostel called Hans Crescent, Knight Bridge, London in 1961.

“Many Nigerians were shocked that a man of such an age and ill health was allowed for personal aggrandizement. The story was different in the case of the third Supreme Court Justice, who voted for President Buhari; he allowed him to rise to the post of CJN but he saw that, that was not good enough for him because if Justice Onnoghen was to remain the CJN, the mess and mischievous things they wanted to carryout during the Presidential election in 2019, Justice Onnoghen will not accept it and the best thing was to remove him and this was the secret plan between President Buhari and his Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

“The show of shame that took place at the time was so disgraceful, callous, unjust and so barbaric that instead of the President of Nigeria who swore to an oath of office that he would maintain security and welfare of Nigerians chose to stoop so low in order to humiliate a fellow Nigerian because he wanted to be president of Nigeria at all cost for a second term. It is a shame which Nigeria has just recovered from.

“Is it not disgraceful and unpatriotic to invite such person to council of state meetings, public functions or any government functions, pretending these were good Head of State and President of Nigeria? No.

“I was much concerned about the injustice that was being executed by President Buhari with impunity. To humiliate a whole Chief Justice of Nigeria, another tier of the government, must be condemned and infact brought to trial in the law court for this unpatriotic act.

“President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, 25th January, 2019 suspended Justice Walter Onnoghen, the erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria and swore in an Acting CJN, Mr. Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed without the involvement of the NJC. Justice Tanko Muhammed immediately nominated and screened several Judges to the High Court as proposed members of the Judicial Tribunals to try all the cases after the Presidential election in 2019.”

He berated the National Judicial Commission for not challenge the action of Mr. President, while Justice Walter Onnoghen was shamefully humiliated out of the service after
the Code of Conduct Tribunal called for the suspension of Onnoghen from office pending the final determination of his false assets declaration case before the tribunal.

“The three-man tribunal led by Danladi Umar also ordered Onnoghen’s removal as the Chairman of both the National Judicial Council and the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

It banned him from holding any public office for a period of 10 years.

Convicting the erstwhile CJN on all the six counts, the tribunal chairman, who read the judgment, said, “Having regard to section 23(2) of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and Bureau Act, the defendant has clearly contravened the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and he is hereby convicted,” he said.

Congratulations Justice Kekere- Ekun for her role in brokering peace, Clark said “I am therefore very happy to have read that both the judiciary, particularly the Court of Appeal and the former CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen have come to an amicable settlement and I wholeheartedly congratulate him for passing out the ordeal he was subjected to by the former President and I pray God will protect him and for him to always have the courage to fight for his right because Nigeria belongs to all of us and we are all equal citizens.”