Walter Onnoghen: The Travails Of An Incorruptible Judge -By Ibrahim Gaddafi Tanko

By virtue of there judicial temperament, courage, integrity as well as there professional ethics, judicial officers are expected to always be transparent and above board in the discharge of there functions as well as in their engagement with members of the society. They hardly socialize.

Based on his calm mien, candour and cool-headedness, Justice Walter Onnoghen perfectly fits into the description of an incorruptible Judge who is known to be imbued with the inherent values of transparency, accountability, and discipline.

It is on record, that Justice Onnoghen is one of those courageous judges alongside justices Adesola Oguntade, and former CJN Aloma Maryam Mukhtar that delivered a powerful dissenting judgment in favour General Muhammadu Buhari in the locus classicus case of MUHAMMADU BUHARI VS INEC.

It is important to state that ab-initio the Buhari led federal Government has never hidden it disapproval to the appointment of Justice Onnoghen as the chief justice of Nigeria.

It took a courageous move by the then acting president Yemi Osinbajo to appoint the learned judge as the 16th indigenous C.J.N in substantial compliance with section 230 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

However , in a sudden twist of event, recently the nation has been in undaunted with tales of the failure of the CJN to declare his assets which includes over 3 million dollars in substantial compliance with the provisions code of conduct bureau act.

This has ultimately led the federal Government to proffer 6 counts charges against the CJN before the code of conduct tribunal presided by justice Danladi Umar.

A move that has been described by legal practitioners as unconstitutional. it has been argued that although the CJN as per section 308 CFRN does not enjoy immunity , the current state of our law is that judges must be disciplined first by the National judicial council before they are to face criminal trials; Ngajiwa’s case. If this is the case the CJN should not appear on any issue regarding the current trial he is been subjected to before the code of conduct tribunal.

And whoever tells Buhari, FG, or AGF or whoever is stoking this fire that they can order the CJN to vacate his office . if i am the CJN, i will not even recuse myself from any of my official functions.

Gaddafi is a student of the department of private and property law in the faculty of law at the taraba state university Jalingo.