Nigerians online have continued to react to the judgement of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) which convicted former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, after finding him guilty of false assets declaration.
The tribunal led by Danladi Umar ruled that Mr Onnoghen should forfeit the funds in the five bank accounts which he was accused of not disclosing.
The tribunal said he acquired the funds fraudulently since he could not provide evidence on how he acquired them.
Relying on the provision of Section 23 of the code of conduct law, the tribunal ordered that Mr Onnoghen should not be allowed to occupy public office for the next 10 years.
Before now, the embattled justice had sent a notice of retirement to President Muhammadu Buhari in line with the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
While some Nigerians charged the Federal government to probe other corrupt officials in the country, others mocked the ruling.
See tweets below:
Waiting for when @SenatorAkpabio will be jailed for corrupt enrichment while in office as Governor of Akwa Ibom state
— Isang Utom Obong (@OtoIsang) April 18, 2019
Walter Onnoghen, why r the mighty falling into corruption? But when will these political thieves in APC government receive their own judgement? One day God will judge rightly if man can't. Walter Onnoghen, u got to d peak of ur career no matter what… pic.twitter.com/AS3tzBxMMW
— Tosin Odesola (@OdesolaTosin) April 18, 2019
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has hailed the conviction of the suspended CJN, Walter Onnoghen.
No problem, l hope the southern fools are watching
— Rita Ebiuwa (@ebiuwa123) April 18, 2019
OK guys.. we successfully, selfishly, malodorously, power intoxicatingly, and democracy suppressingly banned Walter Onnoghen.
Now can "incorrupt" @MBuhari now declare his assets too.— Calabar olodo ?? (@InahRichard) April 18, 2019
The recently sacked Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen is a testament of weak justice institutions in Nigeria. The resultant effect is always weak leaders and policies. We really need to strengthen our democracy!
— Abdulsamod Balogun (@habdulsamod) April 18, 2019
Walter Onnoghen's situation is a classic case of "it is criminal to stand with the opposition".
Man's name has been dragged in the mud and his years of public service, tarnished and laid to waste.A huge loss for our Judiciary, a huge loss for our democracy.
— Mitch ?? (@mitch_ihejirika) April 18, 2019
How would you describe Walter Onnoghen's Judgement?
Please vote & retweet.
— Stockman (@StockmanNigeria) April 18, 2019
In the same vein, Onnoghen was convicted on the six counts preferred against him.
Specifically, the Federal Government, acting through the Code of Conduct Bureau, had, in the charges filed on January 11, accused Onnoghen in the first count of failure to declare his assets to the bureau between June 2005 and December 14, 2016.
In the rest of the five counts, the defendant was alleged to have falsely declared his assets on December 14, 2016, by allegedly omitting to declare his domiciliary dollar, euro and pound sterling-denominated accounts, as well as his two naira accounts, all maintained with the Standard Chattered Bank (Nig.) Ltd.
Before passing the sentence, the tribunal chairman noted that Onnoghen, who only called one witness, failed to dispute the evidence of the three prosecution witnesses.
He said, “The tribunal, having considered the case of the prosecution and documents tendered without objection, find the exhibits tendered worthy of consideration.
“The evidence of Prosecution Witness 1, Prosecution Witness 2 and Prosecution Witness 3 was not disputed.
“The statement of the defendant made in his handwriting alluding to forgetfulness to declare the five accounts is enough to hold that the defendant clearly contravened the Code of Conduct for Public Officer.”
Convicting the erstwhile CJN, the tribunal chairman said, “Having regard to Section 23(2) of the Code of Conduct Tribunal and Bureau Act, the defendant has clearly contravened the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and he is here by convicted.”
Source: Premium Times