Onnoghen’s Trial Resumes February 4

The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has fixed February 4 for the resumption of trial in the non-declaration of assets charge against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Samuel Onnoghen.

The tribunal had on Monday adjourned the trial indefinitely in view of an order of the Court of Appeal which asked it to suspend trial pending the determination of an application for stay of proceedings filed by the embattled CJN

The spokesperson of the tribunal, Ibraheem Al-Hassan, in a statement yesterday said the decision to continue the trial followed the ruling of Court of Appeal on Wednesday dismissing the stay of proceedings as contained in a correspondent from the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

“The decision was reached today (yesterday) sequel to a correspondent from Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), applying for the resumption of the trial of the case,” he said, adding that hearing notices have been appropriately communicated to all those concerned.

A lawyer in the defence team of Justice Onnoghen said the defence would be interested to appeal the ruling of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court but may not due to some legal requirement.

The premier newspaper reports that the CCB in a six-count charge filed on January 11 accused Justice Onnoghen of failing to declare his assets between June 2005 and December 2016.