The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomole, has questioned the legitimacy of foreign accounts traced to Walter Onnoghen, suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria.
After Onnoghen’s replacement with Muhammad Tanko, President Muhammadu Buhari said security agencies traced accounts with foreign currencies to the embattled chief justice.
Following the nationwide criticism regarding the president’s action, Oshiomole defended Buhari, adding that people ought to ask if the suspended CJN is guilty of the allegations leveled against him.
While speaking with journalists after a meeting Buhari held with APC senators at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Monday, January 28, 2019, Oshiomole asked why the suspended CJN would forget he has foreign accounts.
He said “ Now, if a chief justice of the federation admits that he has breached the law; if a chief justice of the federation admits that he has several foreign domiciliary accounts, even though he also admits that by nature of his office, he is not a trader, what is he doing with accounts in British pounds, US dollars and in Euros and to the extent of forgetting that he has those accounts?” he asked.
“If he has such memory failure about the size of his number of accounts as to fail to declare them, you and I know that not even ignorance is an excuse in law. So, where are we being hypocritical?
“And at a certain level of responsibility, it’s not even about legal technicalities. It’s about the moral weight, the moral burden you carry. So, nobody should make us feel as though we are at the mercy of any other country.”
Oshiomole added that ” The future of Nigeria is in the hands of Nigerians and our laws clear. Our laws are meant to be obeyed.”
The APC chairman also questioned critics who fumed at the timing the president took the action of suspending Onnoghen seeing that he is contesting in the forthcoming presidential election.
” Some people say even if it is true, is this the proper timing? What is the best timing to prosecute a crime? Should we suspend criminal justice pending elections?” he asked.
Meanwhile the Federal Government says the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen, does not signify the onset of dictatorship or tyranny, as some people have insinuated.
The minister of information, Lai Muhammed, government had given the embattled CJN the opportunity of fair hearing, but he abused his position and the judicial process by filing frivolous applications and even dodging service of process.
