Danladi Umar, chairman of the
Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), says he ordered the suspension of Walter
Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), in line with the inherent powers and
jurisdiction of the tribunal.
Umar also said “it is left to the
appellate court to determine whether or not the order was rightly or wrongly
granted.”
The CCT chair made the
clarifications in response to a petition filed by Grace Wogor, a lawyer, that
he acted beyond his legal authority in granting an order for the suspension of
the CJN.
The petition was forwarded to him
by the federal judicial service commission (FJSC).
“The petitioner had alleged that
I granted an ex parte order directing the President to suspend the Chief
Justice of Nigeria, who is a defendant in a charge filed against him at the
tribunal,” he said.
“It is important to state that I
acted within the inherent powers and jurisdiction of the Tribunal and that
whether or not the order was rightly or wrongly granted is now a matter to be
determined by the Court of Appeal, since the defendant appealed against the ex
parte order.”
Umar said the tribunal did not
comply with orders by the high court in Abuja and the national industrial court
(NIC) to stop Onnoghen’s trial because they are courts of coordinate
jurisdiction.
He maintained that the chairman
and members of the CCT are not “constitutionally subject to disciplinary
proceedings by either the National Judicial Council (NJC) or the Federal
Judicial Service Commission (FJSC)”.
The CCT chair said only the court
of appeal and the supreme court have supervisory powers over the tribunal.
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