Appeal Court voids Onnoghen’s conviction over asset declaration
05 November 2024 |
5:37 am
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division has discharged and acquitted former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, of a false asset declaration charge, for which he was convicted and removed from office by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
• ‘Ruling strengthens judiciary as bastion of democracy’
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division has discharged and acquitted former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, of a false asset declaration charge, for which he was convicted and removed from office by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
The CCT had, in its judgment, upheld the false assets declaration charges slammed against Onnoghen by the Federal Government and ordered seizures of his five bank accounts.
However, a three-man panel of Justices of the Court of Appeal (JCAs), in its ruling, yesterday, based on the terms of settlement reached in the matter between the Federal Government and the former CJN, set aside the decisions of the CCT.
“Judgment is entered in the appeal as per terms of settlement between the appellant and the respondent,” the appellate court ruled and ordered that all the bank accounts and assets seized from the former CJN be restored to him immediately.
Onnoghen was prosecuted in 2019 by the Federal Government on alleged false declaration of assets at the CCT, found guilty and removed from office. He was also made to forfeit assets missing from his asset declaration form submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
In his appeal, the former CJN pleaded with the court to set aside the April 18, 2019, judgment of the CCT that removed him from office and ordered the forfeiture of his five bank accounts.
In 2019, former President Muhammadu Buhari removed Onnoghen as CJN during the pendency of a charge against him at the CCT. In his appeal marked CA/ABJ/375 & 376 & 377/2019, Onnoghen, through his lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), asked the appellate court to quash his conviction primarily on the ground of want of jurisdiction, bias and absence of fair hearing.
In the lead judgment, the Chairman of CCT, Danladi Umar, had ordered the immediate removal of Onnoghen from office as CJN. The tribunal also stripped him of his position as the Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.
Dissatisfied with the CCT’s decision, Onnoghen approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja with 16 grounds on why his conviction by the tribunal should be quashed.
Among other articles of defence, 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 six counts against him. He contended that the CCT chairman ought to have recused himself from presiding over his trial.
In his seven-point relief, Onnoghen applied for an order setting aside his conviction and quashing of the order for forfeiture of his assets and to discharge and acquit him of all the charges against him.
Listing some of the particulars of error in the CCT’s verdict, Onnoghen argued that he was a judicial officer at the time the charges were filed against him on January 11, 2019, and as such cannot be subjected to the jurisdiction of the lower tribunal.
Contrary to the CCT findings, Onnoghen said he did not admit the fact of non-declaration of assets from 2005 as the Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC), adding that he only stated that he did not declare in 2009 as required because he forgot .
Onnoghen challenged the order for the confiscation of his assets because the assets were legitimately acquired, as against the provisions of paragraph three of Section 23 of the CCB Act, which only permits the seizure of such assets “if they were acquired by fraud. He faulted the failure of the prosecution to present the petitioner, Denis Aghanya, before the tribunal whose petition led to the charges against him.
Onnoghen maintained that all the allegations brought against him “constitute no offence and should, therefore, not have formed the basis for his conviction”.
Responding to the judgment, Onnoghen’s legal team praised the Court of Appeal’s decision, emphasising its critical role in restoring respect for the judiciary’s autonomy, which is essential under the 1999 Constitution.
“The ruling strengthens the judiciary’s foundation as the backbone of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy, providing a beacon of hope for Nigerians to renew their confidence in judicial integrity,” noted Awomolo. “Justice is rooted in public confidence, and that confidence must remain unshaken by any form of executive interference.
“We hope this case serves as a reminder that the judiciary’s honour, independence and integrity must never again be undermined.”
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