Court adjourns case seeking to stop CJN’s trial

Justice Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Abuja has adjourned two separate suits seeking to stop the trial in the case of false assets declaration filed against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, till January 28. The CJN is facing six charges of false assets declaration filed against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The plaintiffs are the Incorporated ‎Trustees of the Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative, and the Incorporated Trustees of International Association of Students. The two plaintiffs had through separate applications on January 14 obtained interim orders directing the parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive suits, which was fixed for Thursday for hearing. The respondents are the chairman, Justice Danladi Umar; the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; the Inspector General of Police, the National Judicial Council chaired by Onnoghen and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki. When the case filed by the Incorporated ‎Trustees of the Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative was mentioned, the Plaintiff’s counsel, R.A. Lawal Rabana SAN, informed the court that the business of the day was to move the motion on notice. He said all the respondents to the suit, except the Senate President, had been served with the processes and the enrolled order of the court. He prayed the court for a short adjournment to ensure that the Senate President was served in the interest of justice. The National Judicial Council was the only respondent that attended the hearing on Thursday.