The Court of Appeal, Abuja division, on Monday, overturned the conviction of the Umar Danladi tribunal, which found a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, guilty of false asset declaration.
The appellate court in a judgment, discharged and acquitted Onnoghen from the conviction delivered against him by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The conviction, which was delivered on April 18, 2019, was dismissed following the resolution of the issues that led to his trial and conviction.
Justice Abba Mohammed, who predicated the judgment on the terms of settlement by the Federal Government and Onnoghen, ordered that the four bank accounts previously ordered to be forfeited be returned to him.
The terms of the settlement read, “The Appellant herein was charged at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on six counts dated January 11, 2019, to which he pleaded not guilty;
“The tribunal before the commencement of trial, heard and granted an ex-parte application seeking for an order for the appellant to step aside as the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, and for the President to swear in the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court as acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, thereby removing the appellant from office.
“The appellant before and during the trial, raised objections challenging the jurisdiction of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), to hear and determine the matter same having not been brought by due process of the law, as the appellant being a judicial officer, ought to have been reported to the National Judicial Council first; whose findings and recommendations would determine the action(s) to be taken against him;
“The appellant also filed an application asking the chairman of the code of conduct tribunal to recuse himself from the proceedings because of the biased conduct he exhibited during the proceedings. The parties herein have expressed a collective desire to settle the appeals out of court.”
The statement continued, “Pursuant to the above, it is hereby agreed by the parties as follows: That the respondent concedes the appeals in the following terms:
“That the three appeals namely: (1) CA/A/375c/2019 (2) CA/A/376c/2019 and (3) CA/A/377c/2019 be consolidated for the purpose of hearing and settlement herein.
“That in relation to appeal nos: CA/A/375c/2019 and CA/A/376c/2019, it is settled that the code of conduct tribunal lacks jurisdiction to try and convict the appellant (a judicial officer) without first resorting to the National Judicial Council (NJC) in accordance with the following decisions: FRN vs NGANJIWA (2022) 17 NWLR (Pt.1860) 407 @ 468; NGANJIWA vs FRN (2018) 4 NWLR (Pt.1609) 301; OPENE vs NJC (2011) LPELR-4795 (CA).
“Secondly, that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction to have tried and convicted the appellant even after the appellant had tendered his voluntary retirement letter and same was accepted unconditionally by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” among others.
The court added that the terms of the settlement were voluntarily entered into by the parties.
The acquittal comes nearly six years after Onnoghen’s controversial suspension by former President Muhammadu Buhari on January 25, 2019, just 29 days before the presidential election. The suspension, which occurred hours after Onnoghen announced his decision to inaugurate judges for election petition tribunals, was widely criticized as a coup against the judiciary by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other observers.
The Court of Appeal’s decision follows a settlement agreement reached between the Federal Government and Onnoghen, as revealed by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
As part of the settlement terms dated October 24, the court ordered the immediate unfreezing of Onnoghen’s account with Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited.