Appeal Court sets new date for hearing of ex-CJN Onnoghen’s appeal against CCT conviction

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Tuesday, postponed the hearing of an appeal by former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen challenging his 2019 conviction for non-declaration of assets by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to 19 September.

The appeal came up for hearing for the first time after the appeal was filed in 2019.

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal bench led by Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo further adjourned the hearing for the parties to sort out the service of filings.

Before the court adjourned the case, Mr Onnoghen’s lawyer, Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), lamented the delay the case had suffered.

He called for an accelerated hearing.

On the other hand, the Acting Director of Civil Appeals at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Tijani Gazalii, also a SAN, who represents the federal government—respondent to the appeal—said he was not sure if he had been served with all the appellant’s necessary filings.

He explained that the case was previously handled by an external solicitor, Aliyu Umar, SAN, who has since passed away, leaving the ministry without the case file.

Mr Gazaii informed the court that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was working to ensure an amicable resolution of the dispute and requested an adjournment to locate the case file and consult with the late solicitor’s firm.

However, Mr Uche pointed out that official records show that the AGF’s office was served on 9 July 2019, as evidenced by their stamp.

He agreed to a short adjournment till after the ongoing judges’ vacation, acknowledging the AGF’s efforts to reach a possible settlement.

Mrs Jombo-Ofo, the presiding justice, granted the application for an accelerated hearing without objection from the respondent’s team.

Backstory

On 11 January 2019, the federal government charged Mr Onnoghen with breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers by allegedly failing to declare his assets between 2005 and 2016. He was also charged with making a false declaration by specifically omitting to declare five domiciliary bank accounts as part of his assets in 2016.

Before Mr Onnoghen’s arraignment on 23 January 2019, the CCT issued a controversial order for his suspension from office. The Court of Appeal would later call to question the integrity of the CCT’s ex-parte order.

Acting on the order, on 25 January 2019, then-President Buhari suspended Mr Onnoghen.

The CCT convicted Mr Onnoghen in its judgement delivered on 19 April 2019.

The tribunal ordered his removal from office, barred him from holding public office for 10 years, and ordered the forfeiture of funds in his undeclared bank accounts.

Meanwhile, Mr Onnoghen submitted his letter of resignation to the National Judicial Council (NJC) before the trial came to an end.

Through his legal team, Mr Onnoghen promptly filed a notice of appeal against the judgement.

Apart from the main appeal, other sideshow appeals stemmed from the CCT trial. The appeals marked CA/ABJ/375/2019, CA/ABJ/376/2019, and CA/ABJ/377/2019 will be heard along with the substantive appeal.

Onnoghen’s legal team satisfied

Speaking with journalists after Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Uche expressed satisfaction with the proceedings.

“This matter has been pending for some time, but today, the honourable court addressed our request for an accelerated hearing, which we filed long ago. The case has now been set down for a definite hearing,” he said.

He also lauded the government’s willingness for an amicable settlement.

“The court’s adjournment provides an opportunity to further examine the issues at hand. We are pleased that the government has shown a commitment to resolving this case. This is why we have withdrawn the second part of our request, which sought permission to proceed with our appeal based on our briefs alone, given that the opposing party has not yet filed theirs.”

Grounds of appeal

Mr Onnoghen’s legal team, led by Adegboyega Awolowo, SAN, argued in the appellant’s filing that the CCT lacked jurisdiction to try a serving judicial officer and that the tribunal’s chairman, Danladi Umar, should have recused himself due to apparent bias.

The team also contended that the tribunal’s ruling was legally flawed and constituted a miscarriage of justice.

The appellant argued that the CCT should not have tried him as a judicial officer, citing precedents restricting the tribunal’s authority over such cases.

He further challenged the tribunal’s decision to forfeit his assets, asserting that they were lawfully acquired and that the seizure was unjustified.

Mr Onnoghen also criticised the CCT’s refusal to admit evidence that could have cleared him of the charges, arguing that this undermined the fairness of the proceedings.

The appeal also drew attention to perceived inconsistency in the tribunal’s handling of similar cases. For instance, in the case of another Supreme Court judge, Sylvester Ngwuta, the tribunal had suspended proceedings based on a Court of Appeal ruling that only the National Judicial Council (NJC) could discipline a serving judicial officer. Despite this precedent, Mr Onnoghen argues, the CCT overruled it in his case.

Mr Onnoghen sought to have the Court of Appeal declare that the CCT lacked jurisdiction to hear his case and that the charges against him were academic.

He also urged the court to overturn his conviction and the other consequential orders, including his 10-year ban from holding public office and the forfeiture of his assets.