Nigeria’s suspended chief justice on Friday was charged by a tribunal for breaching asset declaration rules, a day before the country’s presidential elections.
Justice Walter Onnoghen pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge leveled against him.
His trial was adjourned until after the February 16 polls in which incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is facing a stiff challenge in Atiku Abubakar.
Onnoghen’s suspension has been condemned by many including the opposition in Nigeria and the country’s bar association
The charges
Onnoghen who was suspended on January 25 by President Buhari is battling charges of failing to declare his assets as prescribed by the law.
He was accused by Nigeria’s federal government of operating foreign bank accounts since 2011, contrary to section 15(2) of the country’s Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
Nigeria’s Vanguard Newspaper reports that Onnoghen had on four previous dates, declined to appear before the tribunal.
He claimed it lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the charge against him.
Arrest warrant
The tribunal then issued an arrest warrant for him on February 13 with a specific direction to the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Service, DSS, to execute the arrest warrant.
Onnoghen however voluntarily appeared before the tribunal to enter his plea to the charge, avoiding the order from being executed.
Onnoghen’s trial will commence on March 11 as he has been granted bail.
The election
Nigerians will on Saturday February 16 either be voting to retain President Buhari or show him the exit and replace him with his main challenger Abubakar.
The two candidates are the leading contenders for the crucial presidential vote.
Buhari who took office on May 29, 2015 defeated the then sitting President Goodluck Jonathan.
That was the first time in Nigeria’s history that an opposition candidate won at the ballot box against an incumbent head of state.
Source: Africafeeds.com
