Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari is coming under intense pressure to reinstate the suspended chief justice of the country.
Buhari last Friday suspended Justice Walter Onnoghen just weeks before the country’s crucial presidential election next month.
He then quickly swore in an acting chief justice in the person of Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed.
Justice Walter Onnoghen has been accused of failing to declare his assets before taking office in 2017.
President Buhari backed Onnoghen’s suspension with the ongoing hearing at the Code of Conduct Tribunal relating to him.
But there are agitations greeting Buhari’s decision although he has rejected claims that the decision is political.
Lawyers on strike
The Nigerian Bar Association has already directed its members to boycott courts across the country. The lawyers are unhappy with the way Onnoghen was suspended.
The lawyers are to stay away from all courts for two days starting Tuesday January 29 to Wednesday January 30, 2019.
On Monday the Nigerian senate also filed a suit at the Supreme Court asking for the reinstatement of Justice Onnoghen.
According to court papers, the Senate is asking for “a declaration that the suspension, by the President, of Hon. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen from his office as Chief Justice of Nigeria on or about January 25, 2019, without an address calling for the removal, supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate is in violation of section 292(1)(a)(i) of the constitution and therefore null and void.
An order rescinding or setting aside the suspension of Hon. Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen from his office as the Chief Justice of Nigeria and restoring him to the said office.”
The senate is also seeking “an order restraining the defendants from continuing or repeating the violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and disregarding the powers of the Senate at the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The opposition in Nigeria has condemned the suspension of the Chief Justice. It describes it as an act of a dictator.
Other foreign governments have also condemned the decision. The European Union, United States and Britain raised concerns.
Source: Africafeeds.com
