By CDD urges President Buhari to withdraw the appointment of acting CJN, Tanko
The Centre for Democracy and Development Abuja, CDD has come out yesterday Sunday 27th January 2019 to condemn the Friday’s action of president Buhari on the suspension of Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria and subsequent appointment of Justice Tanko Muhammed as the acting CJN.
The civil organization made its position known via a press statement titled ‘The Onnoghen Affair: Finding a Way Forward’ where it regarded the action as putting Nigeria on the path to constitutional crisis especially because of the immediate replacement of Justice Tanko Muhammad in interim capacity without allowing the National Judicial Council and other arms of government play their constitutional roles.
The non-governmental organization further stated that the action is beyond the constitutional powers of the president and urged the presidency to backtrack from Friday’s action.
“The President is aware that he has no such powers, so he justified his action by claiming he was obeying a directive from the Code of Conduct Tribunal, before which Mr Onnoghen is standing trial. The Tribunal, however, has no such powers, and the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) strongly avers that the President Must backtrack from his action as a prerequisite for resolving the quagmire as resolving the predicament we find ourselves in as a country.” The statement reads.
CDD further explained the stand of the constitution which states that the removal of the CJN is a joint process involving not just the office of the president.
The Constitution is clear that the powers of appointment and removal are shared powers which the President cannot exercise alone. It is also settled law that only the NJC is constitutionally vested with the authority of disciplinary control including that of suspension of an erring judicial officer. The removal of the CJN has created much concern with the way processes of court and law are flagrantly being abused.
However, the group expressed that the right action to have been taken in this situation was for the CJN to have resigned voluntarily for the law to take its natural course.
The current crisis ensued over the allegation of massive amounts of money in various Naira and foreign currency accounts as well as property which the Chief Justice of Nigeria, by his own admission had forgotten to declare as required by law.
Mr Onneghen had himself presided over the establishment of the jurisprudence for suspension of all judicial officers charged for wrongdoing. He, therefore, had an absolute responsibility to step down immediately and allow the National Judicial Council deliberate and take a decision on the matter. Instead of taking the irresponsible action to stop the 88th statutory meeting of the National Judicial Council scheduled to hold on January 15, 2019, which could have deliberated on the matter and taken a proper decision based on the facts of the case and precedent.
CDD in the statement signed by its Director, Idayat Hassan, warned in strong terms the constitutional crisis that could result from the removal of Onnoghen especially less than three weeks to the Presidential election.
The group finally submitted four recommendations to the president on how to resolve the back and forth between the two arms of government which includes; withdrawal of the appointment of Tanko, involving the National Judicial Council on its recommendations, application on the provisions of the constitution in fighting judicial corruption and stop every machinations to win the election at all cost.
The recommendations read:
That President Muhammadu Buhari has no unilateral constitutional power to Appoint, Remove or Suspend the CJN. He should immediately retrace his steps and withdraw the illegal appointment of Tanko Mohammed as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
That Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen has serious charges levelled against him, and it is morally reprehensible for him to continue to stay in office until all matters are judiciously dispensed with, CDD, therefore, call on Justice Onnoghen to immediately step down and convene the National Judicial Council to meet and make a determination on the way forward.
Nigerians are seriously concerned about the entrenched culture of corruption and impunity in the country. Therefore, it beholds on the National Judicial Council to ensure justice is not just done but seen to be done in the CJN matter. And importantly, the Nigerian government is reminded that it must tackle corruption in adherence to the spirit and letters of the Nigerian Constitution.
Importantly, the Buhari Administration must note that resort to jackboot tactics such as witnessed in the unfolding Justice Onnoghen matter is delegitimising the forthcoming 2019 general elections in the eyes of Nigerians and the comity of Nation. CDD is reiterating that election is a process and not an event, therefore, all actions that unravel in the lead up to the elections either positive or negative will impact the integrity of the election.
