Onnoghen Rejects CCT Judgment, Heads To Appeal Court

Walter Onnoghen, suspended chief justice of Nigeria, has rejected the judgement of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Delivering judgment Thursday, Danladi Umar, CCT chairman, had pronounced Onnoghen guilty of the six counts preferred against him by the federal government.

Umar, therefore, ordered that Onnoghen be removed from office of CJN and banned from holding public office for 10 years.

The CCT chair also ordered the forfeiture of the money in the five accounts which the defendant failed to declare as part of his assets.

But Onnoghen has filed a notice of appeal at the appellate court in Abuja to challenge the ruling of the tribunal.

In the appeal filed by Adeboyega Awomolo, Chris Uche, Okon Efut, Ogwu Onoja and George Ibrahim, his counsels, the embattled judge said tribunal erred when it dismissed his application.

“The appellant was at the time the charges were filed on the 11th of January, 2019 before the lower tribunal a judicial officer and was not subject to the jurisdiction of the lower tribunal,” Onnoghen said in ground one.

In ground two, he asked the CCT chairman to recuse himself from further proceedings.
Onnoghen thereby sought for the following reliefs:

• An order allowing this appeal.
• An order that the lower tribunal lacks jurisdiction to entertain the case.
• An order that the lower tribunal ought to have recuse itself from proceedings before it.
• An order that the charge has become academic
• An order setting aside the the conviction of the appellant.
• An order setting aside the order for forfeiture of assets made by the honorable tribunal.
• An order discharging and acquiting the appellant.