By BREAKING! CCT FIXES DATE FOR FINAL JUDGMENT ON ONNOGHEN’S TRIAL
The fate of the embattled and reportedly resigned Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen is now slated to be decided on Thursday, April 18th 2019. This development was revealed by the Code of Conduct Tribunal earlier today.
BlackBox Nigeria gathered that the Danladi Umar-led three-man bench fixed the date for judgment after the prosecution led by Mr. Aliyu Umar (SAN), and the defence led by Mr. Okon Efut (SAN), adopted their final addresses.
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During the proceedings, the defence, in their final arguments, maintained that the prosecution failed to prove the six counts beyond reasonable doubt as required by law and urged the tribunal to dismiss the case.
Efut maintained that the statement made by Onnoghen to the Code of Conduct Bureau was not confessional as alleged by the prosecution.
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He added that the charges were incompetent and unconstitutional as they were based on the provisions of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and Bureau Act which were in conflict with the relevant provisions of the Constitution.
According to the prosecuting team, the defence team was only attempting to redefine what constituted “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”.
He urged the tribunal to hold that the prosecution indeed proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and “return a guilty verdict”.
Adjourning till Thursday for judgment, the tribunal chairman, said the verdict would be delivered along with two pending rulings on Onnoghen’s applications, one challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear the case and another one asking the CCT chairman to disqualify himself from further presiding over the case for being allegedly bias.
Recall that few days ago, the news broke that Onnoghen has voluntarily resigned his position as the CJN. Meanwhile, this is yet to be confirmed by the Presidency.
