Onnoghen’s exit: Probe other judges, SANs ask Buhari
…Expresses disappointment on explanations offered by Onnoghen to petition against him
…Say probe necessary to ensure public confidence in the judiciary
Andrew Orolua, Abuja
More judges are likely to be forced out of the bench following the exit of Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, some senior lawyers said.
This is imminent if the Federal Government heeds the advice of a powerful lobby group made up of 20 Senior Advocates of Nigeria who are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe other judges.
The group was said to be disappointed with the revelation and spurious explanations offered by Justice Onnoghen to the petition that occasioned his resignation and are currently lobbying top security officials to extend the probe of the Judiciary.
They are particularly angered that some deposits credited on Onnoghen account by some lawyers and his other alleged misdemeanor “raised significant questions about the financial practices of the Nigerian judiciary and the various heads of courts.”
The Group stated that given the gravity of the allegations against the suspended Justice Onnoghen and his admission, the law should be made to take its course to show that it respects no one.
A member of the group who craved unanimity on Tuesday, said the SANs have also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to subject all other judges to the same type of probe that Onnoghen went through, so as to fish out all other judges living above their legitimate means.
According to the SANs, the details of the allegations of financial mismanagement which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) leveled against Onnoghen in the petition it submitted to the National Judicial Council, and Onnoghen’s response to the allegations, “raised significant questions about the financial practices of the Nigerian judiciary and the various heads of courts. ”
They said that “beyond Honourable Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, the JRP believes the revelations that have been made in the course of this affair necessitate that urgent steps be taken to identify and sanction all other Nigerian judicial officers who are found to possess inexplicable wealth that cannot be reconciled with their legitimate income or their asset declarations, two of the allegations made against Justice Onnoghen.
“These steps are necessary for a variety of reasons. First, to ensure public confidence in the judiciary and disabuse the notion that all judicial officers in Nigeria are corrupt and that justice is for sale.
“Second, to disabuse the notion that Justice Onnoghen’s travails are a mere witch- hunt motivated by ethnic and political interests rather than the result of a genuine concern for sanitising and reforming the Nigerian judiciary.
“Third, to eliminate the suspicion that the executive arm of government is using the information it has access to, by virtue of its control over the apparatus of the state, to take selective action only against those judicial officers that fail to do its bidding.”
The SANs appealed to all lawyers in the country as well other members of the public not to hesitate to forward to relevant regulatory agencies corruption information on any judge they know.
They argued that there was a need for the judiciary to regulate itself, so as forestall the Onnoghen experience in the future. The group said it was closely monitoring unfolding developments and would at the appropriate time make more recommendations for the reform of the justice sector.
Related to this topic:
