Onnoghen said he was removed from office due to rumours from the Executive that he had a meeting with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, preparatory to the 2019 general elections.
The former CJN said the rumour was thick and spread fast but he decided not to react to it because he never travelled to Dubai or held any meeting with anybody, including Atiku.
He said: “Prior to my suspension, I was confronted with no allegation. There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai. As I am talking here today, I have never met Atiku one on one in my life. As if that was not enough, I was also accused of setting free, high-profile criminals, whereas I seized to be a High Court Judge as far back as 1978.
“In the Supreme Court, I did not sit alone. We sit in panels. In all these rumours and outright accusations, I was not given the opportunity to defend myself.
“Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen but for all Nigerians who had sworn to guide and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“To say the least, the period of my ordeal was the darkest era in the history of the Nigerian judiciary
“As I have severally, Judicial officers must be courageous. And I want to beg all serving judicial officers not to be discouraged by what happened to me in the hand of the Executive arm of the government.
“Emerging Nigerian judges should not go the direction of injustice because, without courageous judges and justices, Nigeria is doomed.
“Here, let me sound this note of warning that the appointment of judicial officers must never be allowed to be politicized, otherwise, democracy and democratic governance will be dead.
“During my tenure, the problem of Nigeria was not the Nigerian judiciary, but those who had no regard for the rule of law. We must therefore be committed to the rule of law and dispense justice without fear or favour.
“Truth stands, crush it, it will stand because it is truth.”
The former CJN said the rumour was thick and spread fast but he decided not to react to it because he never travelled to Dubai or held any meeting with anybody, including Atiku.
He said: “Prior to my suspension, I was confronted with no allegation. There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai. As I am talking here today, I have never met Atiku one on one in my life. As if that was not enough, I was also accused of setting free, high-profile criminals, whereas I seized to be a High Court Judge as far back as 1978.
“In the Supreme Court, I did not sit alone. We sit in panels. In all these rumours and outright accusations, I was not given the opportunity to defend myself.
“Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen but for all Nigerians who had sworn to guide and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“To say the least, the period of my ordeal was the darkest era in the history of the Nigerian judiciary
“As I have severally, Judicial officers must be courageous. And I want to beg all serving judicial officers not to be discouraged by what happened to me in the hand of the Executive arm of the government.
“Emerging Nigerian judges should not go the direction of injustice because, without courageous judges and justices, Nigeria is doomed.
“Here, let me sound this note of warning that the appointment of judicial officers must never be allowed to be politicized, otherwise, democracy and democratic governance will be dead.
“During my tenure, the problem of Nigeria was not the Nigerian judiciary, but those who had no regard for the rule of law. We must therefore be committed to the rule of law and dispense justice without fear or favour.
“Truth stands, crush it, it will stand because it is truth.”
from dailypost
WOW Wonders eeeeej
How much is the price of fuel and Garri in the market again?? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🙄🙄🙄🤢🤢🤢
ReplyDeleteThe Government knows how to put dirt on people, find dirt on people, plant dirt on people and finally nail you.
ReplyDeleteOnnoghen had dirt on him before apart from the ones that were put on him
Deal with it Sir, Justice Ayo Salami was also unceremoniously removed, today, he has been reinstated after six years because he worked hard to clear his name. I would suggest you do the same too.
ReplyDeleteThe man was openly running around with South South politicians like Wike and Akpabio. You can’t do that and expect their opponents to just sit idly by.
ReplyDelete