Senate President, Dr. Abubakar
Bukola Saraki has described the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria,
Hon. Justice Walter Onoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari as a coup against
democracy and a deliberate attempt to endanger our hard-won democracy.
Saraki, in a statement personally
signed by him, stated that the suspension was another act of desperation by
President Buhari.
He noted that by the suspension
of the CJN, Buhari had acted outside the provision of the constitution,
exercised the powers which he does not have and that this action amounted to
gross misconduct.
“This action is capable of
undermining the nation’s judiciary, subverting the constitution, intimidating
judges of all the courts of record, and creating uncertainty in the electoral
process.
“Our constitution makes no
provision for suspension of the nation’s highest judicial officer. The
constitution provides a clear process for removal of the CJN and specify the
roles of the three arms of government, beginning from the National Judicial
Council (NJC), the National Assembly and lastly, the Presidency, have different
roles to play in that process.
“There is no condition under
which the President can usurp the powers of other arms of government. I do not
know where the President and his advisers got this idea of suspending the CJN
on the so-called order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal but this is novel,
disingenuous and alien to our laws. It is strange that President Buhari is
claiming to be taking orders from a Tribunal which has been ordered by a
superior court to halt all actions on the trial.
“With this action, President
Buhari has initiated a process the consequence of which nobody can predict.
They have precipitated a constitutional crisis.
“At this point, all democratic
institutions in the country, the international community and democrats across
the world should rise against this blatant act of impunity. We should jointly
condemn this retrogressive, uncivilized and despotic measure”, Saraki stated.
He, however, call on President
Buhari to immediately reverse this decision and allow the due process of law to
take its natural course in determining the guilt or otherwise as well as the
suitability of Hon. Justice Onnoghen to continue as the head of the nation’s
judiciary.
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