Nigeria: Amid graft trial, chief justice suspended

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday suspended the country’s chief justice amid controversies surrounding his ongoing corruption trial.

Buhari said the suspension followed an order Thursday of the tribunal which said Walter Onnoghen should step down and appear in court to plead to charges that he failed to declare some of his bank accounts and operated foreign accounts contrary to the laws governing public service.

In a speech, the president condemned Onnoghen for allegedly using his office to frustrate his trial, amid different courts giving rulings to halt the proceedings, saying such injunctions erode public confidence in the judiciary, warning “chaos” could ensue.

“Nigeria is a constitutional democracy and no one must be, or be seen to be, above the law. Unfortunately, the drama around the trial of the chief justice of Nigeria has challenged that pillar of justice in the perception of the ordinary man on the street,” the president said in Abuja, the capital.

“For it is certain that no ordinary Nigerian can get the swift and special treatment Justice Onnoghen has enjoyed from his subordinates and privies in our judicature.

“In the midst of all these distracting events, the essential question of whether the accused actually has a case to answer has been lost.”

The suspension came hours after Onnoghen said in a statement that he had not resigned from office. The government had told the tribunal that the chief justice should stand down for the trial to begin.

Buhari has already sworn in justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed as acting chief justice in a step likely to draw mixed reactions from the legal community and political opposition, which had been supporting Onnoghen.

The trial and suspension of the chief justice adds to the long list of controversial steps Buhari has taken to tackle corruption in Nigeria since he came to power in 2015, with critics insisting he lacks respect for due process.

In 2015, Buhari’s administration charged the senate’s president with corruption, although he was later acquitted. In 2016, secret police made mass arrests of senior judges for alleged corruption.