Adams Oshiomhole, national
chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has taunted Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of
Nigeria (CJN), over the accounts with foreign currencies reportedly traced to
him.
After replacing Onnoghen with
Ibrahim Muhammad, Buhari said security agencies traced foreign currencies to
him,
Speaking with journalists after
Buhari held a meeting with senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at
the presidential villa, Abuja, Oshiomhole said defended the president’s action.
Oshiomhole said rather than
criticise Buhari over the action, people ought to ask if suspended CJN is
guilty of the allegations made against him.
“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.
“The future of Nigeria is in the
hands of Nigerians and our laws clear. Our laws are meant to be obeyed.
“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?”
In separate statements, the US
and UK had expressed concern over the timing of the suspension of Onnoghen,
saying the action could have effect on the credibility of the elections.
But Oshiomhole reacted saying:
“interference is not acceptable because Nigeria is no longer a colony”.
He said the western world cannot
refer to Nigeria as fantastically corrupt on one hand, and on the other, choose
to interfere when the country take steps to deal with corrupt individuals.
“The thing is that Nigeria is not
a colony. I think we all have to be careful. We must defend the sovereignty of
our country,” Oshiomhole said.
“We welcome collaboration, we
welcome peer review, we can compare notes, we welcome people who are interested
in sharing experiences with us whenever the need arises, whether it’s capacity
building, making useful suggestions on how we can continue to improve on our
electoral process.
“Those are very valuable
contributions that we appreciate. But Nigeria is not a colony. We will not
accept any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Nigeria.
“Judges have been dismissed in
the United States when they are found guilty of corruption, the Western world
cannot on the one hand, when it suits them, describe Nigeria as fantastically
corrupt and when a corrupt judicial officer is being charged, people want to
interfere.”
Former British Prime Minister
David Cameron had been heard on tape listing Nigeria among “fantastically
corrupt” nations.
Is it an offence to have different accounts for the 3 currency? Or do you mean you do not have accounts in same currencies, USD, Euro and Pounds? Or is it only traders that open multiple currency account? Na wah for una reasoning. Tell us the facts of his crime not these èkpa talks if he is a trader.
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