Onnoghen asks A’Court to void removal as CJN

A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has approached the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, to resume his legal battle against the judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal that ordered his removal from office in 2019.

The suit, which was filed since April 2019, will be heard on Tuesday, August 20, at the Court of Appeal.

Justice Onnoghen, in his appeal, is praying the court to void and set aside the CCT judgment delivered against him on April 18, 2019, on various grounds.

The former CJN argued that all the allegations brought against him constituted no offence and should not have formed the basis for his conviction and removal from office.

He wants the court to declare that the CCT  lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case against him and that its chairman, Danladi Umar, ought to have recused itself from the proceedings.

He also wants the court to set aside the CCT order for the forfeiture of his assets.

Onnoghen filed the appeal marked CA/ABJ/375 & 376 & 377/2019, through his lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), with the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the sole respondent.

Our correspondent sighted the hearing notice of the appeal on Monday.

“Please take notice that the above matter is listed for hearing on Tuesday the 20th day of August, 2024 at 9 O’clock in the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.

“Please take note that this serves as a hearing notice,” the notice read.

The CCCT had in 2019 convicted Onnoghen of six counts bordering on failure to declare assets.

The Umar-led CCT ordered Onnoghen’s removal and the forfeiture of his assets, including funds in five bank accounts, to the Federal Government.

The tribunal had also stripped him of all offices earlier occupied among which were the Chairman of the National Judicial Council and also the chairmanship of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

Although Onnoghen had been on suspension since January 25, 2019 and had resigned on April 4, the tribunal nonetheless ordered his removal from office as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Dissatisfied with the CCT decision, Onnoghen in 2019 approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja with 16 grounds on why his conviction by the CCT should be quashed.

Among others, he maintained that the Umar-led CCT panel erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice against him, when it failed to decline jurisdiction to entertain the charges against him.