Former secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and convener of Committee for Democratic Reforms (CODER), Barrister Ayo Opadokun has called for the immediate resignation of Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria over his failure to declare his assets as required by law.
This, according to Barrister Opadokun, has become necessary to save Nigerians the embarrassment his conduct has caused the nation.
“It is in the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerian judiciary that Justice Onnoghen should resign immediately so as to save us the national embarrassment that his conduct has occasioned”, he said.
Making the call at a media briefing in Lagos today, the former NADECO scribe argued that the suspended CJN having admitted in his own statement to have violates the law was unfortunate, adding that his action further explained the degeneration to which the Nigerian judiciary had sunk in recent years.
” How can Justice Onnoghen preside over any matter violating the provisions of the constitution when he has been caught red-handed as a violator, but hoping to gang on to the unfounded technicality to remain in office?, he queried.
Barrister Opadokun contended that the failure of Justice Onnoghen to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal having instructed that summons should be collected by his aides and his lawyers arguing otherwise demonstrated the CJN’s utter contempt for the judiciary over which he presided.
Lamenting that the case had been unnecessarily politicised by political opponents of President Muhammadu Buhari, he noted that such critics were entitled to their views, but should not be allowed to make insinuations and whip up sentiments with their partisan political preoccupation, particularly when the accused had admitted committing the crime and violation of the relevant constitutional provisions.
Citing Section 292, sub-section 111 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), Barrister Opadokun said it was unambiguously stated that a judge could be removed for misconduct or contravention of the Code of Conduct, adding that in the light of this, objective commentators would readily reject and dismiss the dubious efforts to give a legal an undeserved political partisanship and ethnic coloration being unwisely displayed over the matter.
He challenged those who argue that there were corrupt elements around the President not to be afraid to expose such elements and confront them with facts and figures.
He regretted that some senior members of the bar who had embarked on undeserved legal summersault on the matter did not do so with genuine intention to protect the rule of law, but much more for self preservation.
By Tunde Adeleke
