By Yahaya Umar, Abuja
Legal battle by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, against the judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, that ordered his removal from office in 2019 is scheduled to resume today at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
It would be called that the suit filed at the appellate court following Onnoghen’s removal is praying the court to void and set aside the CCT judgment delivered against him on April 18, 2019.
In this vein, his lead counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, is asking the appellate court to quash the conviction of the former CJN primarily on the ground of want of jurisdiction, bias and absence of fair hearing.
The CCT convicted Onnoghen in all the 6-count charges of breach of code of conduct for public officers brought against him by the Federal Government.
The judgment delivered by Chairman of the CCT, Danladi Yakubu Umar, he had ordered the immediate removal of Onnoghen from office as the CJN.
A notice for hearing of the appeal marked “CA/ABJ/375 & 376 & 377/2019 BTW: Justice Onnoghen and FRN” reads “please take notice that the above matter is listed for hearing on Tuesday the 20th day of August, 2024 at 9 o clock in Court Appeal, Abuja Division.
“Please take note that this serves as a hearing notice”.
In the lead judgment delivered by the Chairman of the CCT, Danladi Yakubu Umar, he had ordered the immediate removal of Onnoghen from office as the CJN also stripped him of all offices earlier occupied among which were the chairman of the National Judicial Council, NJC, and also the chairmanship of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.
Furthermore, it ordered the forfeiture of his five bank accounts and the money in the accounts which Onnoghen did not declare in his asset declaration form submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
