A front-line lawyer and human
rights activist, Femi Falana SAN, has faulted the decision by the suspended
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, to challenge his trial at the Code
of Conduct Tribunal, in court.
Falana, in an interview with
Channels Television on Sunday, said that both the Executive and the Judicial
arms of government have failed Nigeria.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria
pointed out that Onnoghen himself had stated during the case of Senate
President Bukola Saraki and the Federal Government that the CCT was the only
forum empowered to try public office holders.
According to him, “The judicial
arm of government and the Executive arm of government have disappointed
Nigerians.
“Once your client is invited by
the police or any law enforcement agency, what we were taught in the law school
is that you can accompany your client to the police station; ask for the bail
of your client.
“If the bail is refused, you go
to the High Court and ask for bail.
“But you cannot by the invitation
of your client by the law enforcement agency go to court to say, ‘thou shall
not invite my client; thou shall not investigate my client; thou shall not try
my client.’ It is not part of our law.
“The courts’ injunctions stopping
Onnoghen’s trial are wrong under our law. Because by virtue of section 303 of
the administration of the Criminal Justice Act, once a trial commences, there
shall be no stay of proceedings; no suspension. There’s no way, any court;
anywhere; can stop a prosecution before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
“In the case of Saraki and the
Federal Government, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Onnoghen, had said that the
Code of Conduct Tribunal is the only court; only forum exclusively empowered to
deal with issues of code of conduct for public officers.
“So you cannot go to a national
industrial court, Customary Court of Appeal, or Federal High Court, which have
no jurisdiction on allegations of bridges of the code of conduct.”
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