By Bayo Bernard
The President Muhammadu Buhari’s government must have been shocked that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN Walter Onnonghen defied the federal government by failingto appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja on Monday.
His absence at the trial came on the heels of threat by Niger Delta militants to ground all oil infrastructures in the region over what they described as harassment of one of their own.
A group of Niger Delta militants under the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators accused the federal government of plot to remove the CJN.
The group said the CJN was being persecuted “ becausehe was from Niger Delta and that the petition against the CJN was “plotted by the presidency to forcefully remove Onnonghen as the CJN and replace him with a Northerner.”
No chief justice of Nigeria has ever been put on trial
Onnoghen has denied all the charges against him by the CCT.
The presidency has been under stringent criticism by many who consider the trial an attack on the judiciary.
Many have also accused of harassing judicial officers since he came to power in 2015.
Some judges have been put on trial in the last three years over corruption related issues.
The worst onslaught against the judiciary by the administration was an early morning raid by the Department of State Service, DSS on the residences of some judges in 2016 which the secret police said led to the recovery of substantial amounts in local and foreign currency.
Justice Onnonghen was on Monday represented by over 150 lawyers among them many senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, led by legal luminary, Wole Olanipekun who told the tribunal that it has no legal grounds to try the accused.
Critics warn that the appearance of the senior lawyer is a warning to the Buhari’s government that the judiciary would not allow its officers to be disgraced.
The nation’s number five citizen was dragged before the anti-graft body over allegation that he breached the law that prevented public officers in Nigeria from operating foreign accounts.
Justice Onnonghe was also accused of not declaring all his assets after becoming the CJN in 2016.
The federal government acted on the petition written against the CJN by one Dennis Aghanya of the Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative, ARDI.
Aghanya once served as President Buhari’s aide between 2009 and 2011, he was the national publicity secretary of Buhari’s defunct party, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.
The government critic says the trial must follow due process. For instance, they claim that the nation’s extant law only allows the CJN to be tried by the National Judicial Council, NJC.
The CJN is the chairman of NJC and Justice Onnonghen said he’s innocent of the charges against him.
The National Industrial court has issued a restraining order against the federal government over the trial.
Opposition to the trial has gathered momentum following the meeting held last week by five state governors from the nation’s Niger Delta region who stringently warned the federal government to stop the trial.
Justice Onnonghen is from Cross Rivers state, one of Nigeria’s the oil producing states.
The meeting called at the instance of Bayelsa state governor Seriake Dickson was attended in Abuja by four other governors: Governors Ifeanyin Okowa of Delta, Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom and Nyeson Wike of Rivers state.
The governors are all of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP.
Among the groups that oppose the trial are the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, Igbo social cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Southern and Middle Belt Forum and the Social Economic Rights Project.
The groups have warned that the way the trial was being handled could plunge the country into chaos.
Meanwhile, the presidency has said that it was unaware of the CJN trial. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this on Tuesday while reacting to the matter.
