The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) has informed the Court of Appeal in Abuja that it no longer has the case file related to the trial of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, five years after the trial concluded.
During the appeal hearing, Federal Government representative Tijani Gazali (SAN) revealed that the Ministry of Justice does not possess any documents concerning Onnoghen’s trial and conviction. Gazali explained that the case was handled by a private lawyer, Aliyu Umar SAN, based in Kano, who passed away four years ago.
Gazali requested an adjournment from the appellate court panel, led by Justice C. I. Jombo Ofo, to allow the AGF’s office time to retrieve the necessary documents from the late lawyer’s chambers. He noted that most of the case files had been transferred to the private lawyer back in 2019.
Onnoghen’s counsel, Chris Uche SAN, pointed out that some documents had been served to and acknowledged by the AGF’s office. He also requested an accelerated hearing of the appeal, which the court granted without objection from the Federal Government.
Justice Jombo Ofo subsequently scheduled the next hearing for September 19.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) had convicted Onnoghen in 2019 on all six counts of breach of the code of conduct for public officers. The tribunal, led by Chairman Danladi Yakubu Umar, ordered Onnoghen’s removal from his position as CJN, as well as his other roles, including Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Federal Judicial Service Commission. Additionally, the tribunal ordered the forfeiture of Onnoghen’s five bank accounts and their contents, which were not declared in his assets declaration form submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
Following his suspension in January 2019, Onnoghen officially resigned on April 4, 2019, but he appealed the CCT’s judgment later that year.
News Editor