Never in the history of Nigerian democracy, not even during the infamous third-term agenda of former president Obasanjo, has the presidency decided to take on the judiciary and directing the Chief Justice to stand down from office without due process of the law.
It emerged over the weekend that the government, purportedly on the strength of a petition by an obscure organisation, the Anti-corruption and Research based Data Initiative, whose leader was a former spokesperson to the President when he was in the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), hurriedly filed charges against the Chief Justice, Walter Onnoghen, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for non and fraudulent declaration of assets.
The government also took the unprecedented step, via a motion, requesting the Chief Justice to recuse himself and stand down from office until the case against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal is determined.
It will be recalled that in 2016, even after being made acting Chief Justice, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to forward his name to the Senate for confirmation as substantive Chief Justice as was the norm, even when it was clear from the constitution that he could only act for three months in that capacity.
The Vice President eventually forwarded his name for confirmation on the eve of the expiration of the three months when the president was away on medical vacation.
Interestingly, the government ignored the clear provisions of the constitution which laid down the procedures for the discipline of judicial officers and procedures for the removal of the Chief Justice.
Section 292 (1) of the 1999 constitution provided that the CJN can only be removed from office by the president acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority votes of the Senate.
More significantly, in the case of Ngajiwa Vs FRN (2017), the Appeal Court held that any judicial officer accused of an offence must first be subjected to investigation and disciplinary action by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and after only that the judicial officer can be arraigned in court.
The decision of the federal government to ignore both the constitutional provision and judgement of the court to ask the CJ to recuse himself just one month before an election, can be given a political interpretation.
“Judicial councils are bodies that are designed to insulate the functions of appointment, promotion, and discipline of judges from the partisan political process while ensuring some level of accountability,” Afe Babalola, a renowned legal luminary volunteered in a signed statement.
“It is for this reason that the 1999 Constitution in section 153 provides for the establishment of the National Judicial Council and in paragraphs 21(b) & (d) of the Third Schedule grants to the Council the power to exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers. As the allegations made against the judges are said to arise from or pertain to their office as Judges, I am of the view that the Constitution requires that any infraction by the said Judges be firstly investigated and resolved by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to the exclusion of any other body or authority,” Babalola submitted.
He submitted that whereas other judicial officers can be removed by the president acting upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, the Chief Justice of Nigeria can only be removed by the President upon receipt of an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate!
Equally, a lawyer, political economists and fellow at the London School of Economists, Olu Fasan was emphatic that regardless of the allegations against the Chief Justice, it is inappropriate to request the CJ to stand down at this material time.
“This doesn’t look good. Why was he appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria without a proper scrutiny of his asset declaration? He was acting CJN for several months and a member of the court for several years. Why wasn’t this issue brought up at least a year ago? Why now, a month to the polls?” Fasan queried in a tweet on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said abuse of due process in the proposed trial of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), would send a wrong signal to local and foreign investors about Nigeria’s system of litigation.
Reacting to the arraignment of the head of the nation’s Judiciary on Monday over false assets declaration, Saraki cautioned that the matter should be handled with care.
In a statement on Subday signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the Senate President, he advised the Federal Government to ensure that the trial does not cause chaos in the nation’s judicial system.
“All these subjective actions politicize the anti-graft fight. They weaken national institutions. They send wrong signals. The CJN is not above the law but his trial puts the entire judicial system on trial. It sends a signal to the entire world about our judiciary. It has implications for the confidence of local and foreign investors about the system of adjudication over disputes in our country. Thus, the matter should be handled with care, demonstrating intense transparency and strict adherence to due process,” the Senate President who was similarly arraigned by the Federal Government before the CCT for similar charges but was discharged and acquitted by the apex court in 2018, noted.
According to him, if the Government truly has genuine reason to put the incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria on trial, it should ensure that every step in the process is transparent and the normal process as provided by the law is followed to the letter.
He said a situation where the petition which triggered the trial was submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on Wednesday January 8 and by January 10 on Friday, the Chief Justice was presented with it for his reply only for the charges to be drafted that same day and filed in the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), all this taking place within three days and commencement of trial fixed for Monday, January 14, already indicate unnecessary haste and short-circuiting of the process of fair hearing.
“It is important for the government and members of the public to know that as somebody who has travelled this route before, we should refrain from any media trial and political players should avoid abusing the judicial process in order to achieve what they could not get through normal political contests. Everybody who is being tried should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. That is the underlining principle of our justice system.”
While noting that the anti-corruption fight has become a case of a separate rule for the people close to the executive branch and another set of rules for the rest of Nigerians, the Senate President stated that the fight has been compromised and politicized.
“This trial, coming just about a month to the commencement of the presidential elections, the aftermath of which the CJN and the judiciary he is leading are set to play crucial adjudicatory role, has already raised suspicion about the real motive. There are already suggestions that this plan is set to disorganize the judicial arm after constant attempts by agents of State to undermine the federal legislature.
“Therefore, the entire country and the international community will be watching closely every step in this trial because it is definitely unusual, unprecedented and will set a record in the engagement among the three arms of government recognized in our presidential system. This trial definitely has implications for the principle of separation of powers and concept of checks and balance embedded in our presidential system of government,” Saraki stated.
Chris Akor, Lagos & OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
