*Orders FG to unfreeze his bank account
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Monday, discharged and acquitted a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, of the alleged corruption charge that led to his removal from office in 2019.
It is instructive to note that former President Muhammadu Buhari had on January 25, 2019, about 29 days before the presidential election, suspended Onnoghen from office as the CJN and swore in the next most senior jurist of the Supreme Court, Justice Tanko Muhammad, to take over the leadership of the judiciary.
Onnoghen’s suspension came barely eight hours after he announced his decision to inaugurate judges who would preside over election petition tribunals.
Ex-President Buhari’s action elicited varied reactions from both within and outside the judicial circles, with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) describing it as a coup against the judiciary.
Onnoghen was later convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, on a six-count charge of corruption that was preferred against him by the Federal Government.
It was alleged that he made a false declaration to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
But about six years after he was convicted, a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Mohammed Bello, acquitted the ex-CJN, following a settlement agreement the federal government entered with him.
President Bola Tinubu had through the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), persuaded the appellate court to stop further hearing of three separate appeals the former CJN filed to challenge his removal, conviction, and seizure of his assets.
In line with the terms of the settlement dated October 24, the appellate court ordered Federal Government to unfreeze Onnoghen’s account with Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited without further delay.
In a brief remark, a Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA), Justice Joseph Oyewole, directed the parties to file terms of settlement for adoption when eventually agreed upon.
Justice Oyewole further directed that the terms of settlement must be documented and filed before the adjourned date for the court to adopt, as its judgement in the matter.
The JCA subsequently fixed November 4 as the return date for the two parties.
