Oshiomhole raises issues about Onnoghen’s foreign currency denominated accounts

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The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole has reacted to the reservations expressed by the UK, the US governments and the EU Election Observer Mission EU EOM) over the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, by President Muhammadu Buhari saying Nigeria is no longer answerable to any super power or economic bloc.

It would be recalled that the US, British government and European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) had expressed their concerns over the suspension of Onnoghen saying such decision taken less than 21 days to the country’s general election raised questions about electoral justice.

Said EU EOM: “The decision to suspend the Chief Justice has led to many Nigerians, including lawyers and civil society observer groups to question whether due process was followed.

“The EU EOM) is very concerned about the process and timing of the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Walter Onnoghen, on 25 January.”

For its part, the American embassy the US was “deeply concerned by the impact of the executive branch’s decision to suspend and replace the Chief Justice and head of the judicial branch without the support of the legislative branch on the eve of national and state elections.”

Addressing journalists on Monday night in Abuja after a meeting between Buhari and APC senators said Nigeria would welcome collaboration and useful suggestions on how it could grow its electoral process.

“We welcome collaboration, we welcome peer review, we can compare notes, we welcome people who are interested in sharing experiences with us whenever the need arises, whether it is capacity building, or making useful suggestions on how we can continue to improve on our electoral process.

“Those are very valuable contributions that we appreciate. But Nigeria is not a colony. We will not accept any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Nigeria.

“Judges have been dismissed in the United States when they are found guilty of corruption.

“The Western world cannot, on the one hand, when it suits them, describe Nigeria as fantastically corrupt and when a corrupt judicial officer is being charged, people want to interfere.

“What anybody can insist on is, ‘Is anybody being framed?’ ‘Is the suspended CJN guilty of the allegations made against him?’ ‘Or is it something being cooked out from nowhere?’”

Turning to Onnoghen’s issue, Oshiomhole argued that since the suspended CJN is not a trader, he should not be maintaining bank accounts denominated in foreign currencies such as pound sterling, dollars and euros.

He said Onnoghen admitted to have committed the alleged infractions he was accused of by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

“Now, if a Chief Justice of the Federation admits that he has breached the law, if a CJN admits that he has several foreign domiciliary accounts, even though he also admits that by nature of his office, he is not a trader, what is he doing with accounts in British Pounds, US Dollars and in Euros and to the extent of forgetting that he has those accounts?

“If he has such memory failure about the size of his number of accounts as to fail to declare them, you and I know that not even ignorance is an excuse in law. So, where are we being hypocritical?

“And at a certain level of responsibility, it’s not even about legal technicalities. It’s about the moral weight, the moral burden you carry.

“So, nobody should make us feel as though we are at the mercy of any other country.

“The future of Nigeria is in the hands of Nigerians and our laws clear. Our laws are meant to be obeyed.

“If Nigerians thought that anybody other than the president and the vice president or a governor and deputy governor have immunity, it should have been so written into the constitution.

“I don’t understand what the noise is about. Some people say even if it is true, is this the proper timing? What is the best timing to prosecute a crime? Should we suspend criminal justice pending elections?

“Then, some people say you know, because of the very unique role or rather, very delicate role the judiciary has to play in settling elections issues, that is the more reason that people are worried about the timing.

“My question is, given that important role of the judiciary in times like this, is that the reason why you should allow a judge who has professed for breaching laws of the land, is that the reason to allow him to preside, to adjudicate over issues that have to do with fairness and justice?”

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