Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen (rtd),has advised that appointment of judicial officers should not be politicize in order to strengthen democracy and good governance in the country.
He spoke at a book launch titled ‘Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, Practice, Procedure, Forms and Precedents’, authored by a renowned legal luminary, Chief Ogwu James Onoja, SAN.
He also reflected on his tenure as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
He said:”During my tenure, the problem of Nigeria was not the Nigerian judiciary, but those who had no regard for the rule of law. We must therefore be committed to the rule of law and dispense justice without fear or favour. Truth stands, crush it, it will stand because it is truth, Onnoghen added.
According to him, his ordeal in 2019 was not the first, adding that at a point during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, a Commission was set up and that he was indicted of wrongdoing, even when he was not invited or a appeared before the Commission to defend himself.
Onnoghen said because former President Obasanjo was a leader who listened to advice, the matter was referred to the National Judicial Council NJC for review.
He said at the council, truth surfaced and it was upheld to resolve uncleared issues.
He also spoke on issues surrounding his removal,saying he got the boot because of the former Vice President,Atiku Abubakar
He said before his removal, there had been rumour from the Executive that he held a meeting with former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, preparatory to the 2019 general elections.
Onnoghen spoke at the unveiling of a book titled ‘Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, Practice, Procedure, Forms and Precedents’, authored by a renowned legal luminary, Chief Ogwu James Onoja, SAN.
He expressed surprise that inspite of the fact that the Federal Government had all the machineries to investigate the allegation of the rumoured meeting with Atiku, it never did so, but opted to unlawfully go after him and his office.
Onnoghen said the rumour was thick and spread fast, but he decided not to react to it because he never travelled to Dubai or held any meeting with anybody, including Atiku.
Onnoghen said that the situation climaxed when suddenly, his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal was stage managed, even when he had not been invited or accused of any wrongdoing.
The action of the government, according to Onnoghen, got to the peak when in the course of the trial and when parties had joined issues, an ex-parte application was suddenly brought in, and what followed was his illegal and unlawful suspension as the CJN.
“Prior to my suspension, I was confronted with no allegation.
“There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai. As I am talking here today, I have never met Atiku one on one in my life. As if that was not enough, I was also accused of setting free, high-profile criminals, whereas I seized to be a High Court Judge as far back as 1978.
“In Supreme Court, I did not sit alone. we sit in panel. In all these rumours and outright accusations, I was not given opportunity to defend myself.
“Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen but for all Nigerians who had sworn to guide and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria .
“To say the least, the period of my ordeal was the darkest era in the history of the Nigerian judiciary
“As I have severally, Judicial officers must be courageous. And I want to beg all serving judicial officers not to be discouraged by what happened to me in the hand of the Executive arm of the government” Justice Onnoghen stated.
