Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Onnoghen has described the allegations and evidence brought against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) as invalid.
He said this as the tribunal kicked out his no-case submission, and asked him to go ahead and defend the charges against him.
Onnoghen is facing a six-count charge bordering on non-declaration of asset after 2005.
Faulting the tribunal’s procedure in the trial Friday, Onnoghen, through his counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, said the exercise was not conforming with standard procedure.
Onnoghen, who was at the CCT during the session, made the position known while arguing his no-case-submission before the three-man panel headed by Danladi Umar.
Onnoghen’s submits
Making his submission after the prosecution had closed its case at the last adjourned date, Onnoghen’s legal team, led by Awomolo said they would present their application for a no-case-submission at the next hearing date.
He, nevertheless, faulted the arguments advanced by the prosecution.
Taking on the points one after the other, Awomolo said the Code of Conduct of Bureau accused Onnoghen of failing to declare his asset between 2005 and 2015, contending there was no report by the bureau to support such position.
He said: “Count one alleges that between 2005 and 2015, the defendant did not file any asset form. No report of investigation to show that this is true.
“Pw 2 told the tribunal that there is a register and a director managing the register where all declaration of asset are registered and kept.
“Neither the register nor the director nor the departmental schedule officer were brought before the tribunal.”
On this premise, the defence counsel said the allegation was a mere ‘hearsay, irrelevant and useless.’
On the documents presented as exhibits two and three; Awomolo said the CCB confirmed that the declaration forms were not verified by the bureau.
On this, he said the Supreme Court had ruled during a similar case involving Senate President Bukola Saraki, insisting that such verification was necessary.
“They must show that exhibits two and three have been verified, otherwise without verification, there can be no allegation of false declaration or omission,” he said.
At this point, the defence counsel read through sections of the Supreme Court ruling to suggest that the authorised person must have investigated the statement in the declaration form.
On the admissibility of the bank documents, he said they were addressed to an institution other than the parties involved in the matter.
He also faulted the procedure, saying the Supreme Court had ruled that the EFCC and the State Security Service (SSS) have no business being part of the CCB investigation.
To this end, he said exhibits four and five are not part of the court proceedings.
He therefore contended that the charges against his client were lacking in substance and should therefore be dismissed.
No-case submission
In its ruling, the CCT dismissed Onnoghen’s no-case submission brought before it .
The panel, led by Danladi Umar dismissed the application, saying the argument that the CCB, which is the prosecution, failed to abide by its guidelines amounted to a mere internal communication flaw.
The tribunal said the procedure which is internal cannot be above the constitution.
The CCT chairman said the prosecution had provided more than enough evidence to establish a prima facie case against the defendant, and therefore ordered him to enter his defence.
Specifically, Umar referred to a confessional statement made by the defendant admitting he forgot to declare the five domiciliary accounts he was operating in Standard Chartered Bank since 2009.
According to the tribunal, that confessional statement on its own, was enough to compel the suspended CJN to enter his defence if there was any.
At this stage, the session went rowdy, when, upon giving his ruling, the tribunal chairman adjourned until Monday (April 1, 2019) for the defendant to open his defence.
This drew the ire of lawyers in the defence team who loudly protested as Umar looked the other way despite several appeals by Onnoghen’s legal team that the adjourned date was too short for their client to adequately prepare his defence.
And while Awomolo was still on his feet making a case for the panel’s possible change of mind, the tribunal chairman stood up and walked away, with other members also following suit.
Looking rather unhappy about the development, Awomolo said, “If this is justice, then, God bless Nigeria.”
This was after counsel on both sides had shouted at themselves over the adjourned date.
