Onnoghen: Stop debasing rule of law – NBA tells FG
The Nigerian Bar Association weekend described the planned arraignment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen,before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday for allegedly not declaring his assets as a targeted assault on the judiciary.
NBA President, Paul Usoro, in a statement, asked the Federal government to stop “debasing the rule of law.”
He said the association unequivocally condemned the assault, intimidation and desecration of the judiciary by federal agencies and demanded that it be stopped immediately.
He stated: “Why has FG decided to embark on this anomalous course of charging the CJN before the CCT without first presenting whatever facts it purportedly has against His Lordship to the NJC for its deliberation and determination? The petition that triggered the CCB action was on its face received by the Bureau on 09 January 2019 and the Charge was promptly drafted and is dated the following day, 10 January 2019 - giving the CCB a record 24 hours for completion of its investigation and the drafting of the said Charge and ancillary processes!
“If one contemplates the fact that the CCT arraignment is scheduled to take place on 14 January 2019, we have in total a record number of 3 (three) working days between the receipt and processing of the petition, investigation, preparation of Charge and ancillary processes and the arraignment! Such unprecedented speed and efficiency in Nigeria’s criminal justice administration! It is clear, given the rush with which this matter was conducted by the CCB, that the NJC was not privy to it and did not conduct its mandatorily required disciplinary processes prior to the filing of the Charge before the CCT.”