The Acting Chief Justice of
Nigeria, ACJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, has said that suspended Justice Walter
Onnoghen, remains the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria.
Muhammad said he would step aside
once the Code of Conduct Tribunal or the Appeal Court reverses Onnoghen’s
matter.
He, however, claimed that
President Muhammadu Buhari does not need the permission of the National
Judicial Council, NJC, to appoint an acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
This was part of Justice
Muhammad’s response to a query given to him by the NJC.
He said, “In my respectful view,
the National Judicial Council has no role to play in the appointment of an
acting Chief Justice of Nigeria in the first instance, that is to say on first
appointment.
“The council comes in where the
appointment as the acting CJN is to be renewed or extended. I humbly refer to
Section 231(4) of the 1999 Constitution.
“It was for the larger interest
of the judiciary and the constitutionality that I accepted to be sworn in as
acting CJN with the conviction that if the order of January 23, 2019 is
eventually set aside, the status quo would be restored.
“But before it is set aside,
there should be no vacuum in the office of the CJN and the chairman of the NJC.
“On January 25, 2019, I was
summoned to the Aso Villa at the instance of the President. Prior to the
summons, I was not aware of the fact that the Code of Conduct Tribunal made any
order on January 23, 2019.
“Furthermore, beyond what I read
in the newspapers and watched on the television just like any other Nigerian, I
was not privileged to see any of the processes filed by the parties before the
tribunal. Hence, I could not really appreciate the merit or demerit of
divergent positions.
“On the 25th day of January, the
President swore me in as the acting CJN and not as the substantive CJN. Justice
Walter Onnoghen remains the CJN until he is removed from office in accordance
with the provision of the constitution. He is only suspended.”
The Acting CJN said that he was a
member of the NJC panel that removed Justice Obisike Orji of the Abia State
High Court for accepting to be sworn in as chief judge by the Abia State
Government without a recommendation of the NJC but added that his own case was
different because he was only appointed as an acting CJN.
Muhammad appealed to the NJC to
throw aside the petition written against him by a group, Centre for Justice and
Peace Initiative.
The group had written a petition
to the NJC, demanding that the council to remove Muhammad as a justice of the
Supreme Court.
They said Muhammad compromised by
allowing himself to be sworn in by the President without recourse to the NJC.
WHAT!!!!!!!!! you mean Buhari and his cabal removed the CJN because of election as people presumed? what a wayo and shakushaku zoo country
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