If President Muhammadu Buhari
goes by the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Walter
Onnoghen, the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) could get retirement benefits in
cash and kind up to N2.5 billion.
As part of the package for a
retired chief justice, a house will be built for him in Abuja with a nine-digit
sum for furnishing — in addition to a severance gratuity that is 300% of his
annual basic salary of N3,363,972.50, as well as pension for life.
Just like state governors, a
retired chief justice is entitled to a number of domestic staff and sundry
allowances for personal upkeep.
This package for judicial
officers was put together by the NJC long before Onnoghen became the CJN in
2017.
However, if he is dismissed, he
will not be entitled to any benefits.
The president still needs the
confirmation of two-thirds of the senate to dismiss or retire him.
Section 292 (1) of the 1999
constitution says a “judicial officer shall not be removed from his office or
appointment before his age of retirement except in the following circumstances
– (a) in the case of – (i) Chief Justice of Nigeria… by the President acting on
an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate.”
TOUGH CALL
Recall that the NJC has recommended the embattled CJN for compulsory retirement after
deliberating on a petition by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) which alleges “financial impropriety, infidelity to the constitution and
other economic and financial crimes related laws”.
Onnoghen, who denies all
allegations, is also undergoing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT)
over charges of false asset declaration.
TheCable reports that members
of the NJC were not convinced by his defence but also decided that he should be
offered a “soft landing” through retirement.
This option may also include
withdrawing criminal charges against him.
“The major problem Onnoghen’s
defence had was that even though he claimed those funds found in his accounts
were his, he could not provide evidence on how he made the money,” a source in
the know of the deliberations said.
“He provided evidence of source
of income from one investment but that went nowhere near the $200,000 per annum
deposits in his account. Unfortunately, there is a supreme court judgement that
says where your assets exceed your income, the burden of proof is on you, not
on the prosecution.
“It also did not help Onnoghen
that he never touched his salary account for so many years. He said he was
living off the proceeds from his farms, but he did not provide a single proof
to back this up.
“Also, money paid into his
account by senior lawyers is completely unethical. You can say they do not
amount to much, but you cannot justify such impunity. It was a very difficult
case to make.”
NO EASY ROAD TO SOFT LANDING
Presidency sources, however, told
revealed that the option of “soft landing” will be difficult to justify “given
the anti-corruption efforts of President Buhari”.
It was discovered that before the
scandal blew into the open, Onnoghen was given the option of early voluntary
retirement.
“Under this arrangement, he would
have kept all the monies found in his accounts and received all his benefits
from the system, but he chose to fight till the very end,” the source said.
“The implication now is that the
criminal charges may go on, his assets will be frozen and will most likely be
forfeited to the federal government after his trial and he will be banned from
holding public office for at least 10 years.”
Onnoghen has closed his defence
at the CCT and the tribunal is expected to give its judgment at the next
sitting on April 15.
But for the crisis, Onnoghen, who
is 68, was due for retirement in 2020.
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