{"id":14846,"date":"2019-01-28T20:28:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T20:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=14846"},"modified":"2019-01-28T20:28:17","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T20:28:17","slug":"onnoghens-suspension-not-linked-to-election-dictatorship-lai-mohammed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=14846","title":{"rendered":"Onnoghen\u2019s suspension not linked to election, dictatorship \u2013 Lai Mohammed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Federal Government says the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen, does not signify the onset of dictatorship or tyranny, as some people have insinuated.
\nThe Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who gave the explanation at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, said that the suspension had nothing to do with the forthcoming elections.
\nHe said contrary to what the opposition and their likes had been saying, the CJN\u2019s suspension was a consequence of his breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
\nHe stressed that President Muhammadu Buhari \u201cis an avowed democrat, which he has proven time and time again and the Administration stands firm on the rule of law\u2019\u2019.
\n\u201cIt amounts to irresponsible extrapolation to say that the suspension of Justice Onnoghen is the onset of dictatorship.
\n\u201cThis whole issue is about the country\u2019s highest judicial officer, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, being accused of a breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, and the legal and moral conundrum surrounding that.
\n\u201cIt is about the suspicious transactions running into millions of dollars to the suspended CJN\u2019s personal accounts, all undeclared or improperly declared as required by law.
\n\u201cIt is about the Hon. Justice Onnoghen himself admitting to the charges that he indeed failed to follow the spirit and letter of the law in declaring his assets, calling it a \u2018mistake\u2019.
\n\u201cAnd it is about him refusing to take responsibility, instead opted to put the entire judiciary on trial,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nHe said that the Government had given the embattled CJN the opportunity of fair hearing, but he abused his position and the judicial process by filing frivolous applications and even dodging service of process.
\nThe minister also said that the suspension of Onnoghen was not in anyway, a threat to the nation\u2019s democracy or the country\u2019s very existence.
\nQuoting Lord Denning, the then Lord Justice of the British Court of Appeal, Mohammed said \u201ca judge should in his own character be beyond reproach, or at any rate should have so disciplined himself that he is not himself a breaker of the law.
\nHe added: \u201dNations fall when judges are unjust, because there is nothing which the multitude think worth defending.\u201d
\nThe minister berated a section of the media for shirking their agenda-setting role and failing to objectively lead the discourse on the issue of the allegation facing the CJN and his subsequent suspension.
\n\u201cIt is regrettable to note that the media, which should have led the discourse, has not done so. In fact, a section of the media has taken sides. Several newspapers have written editorials on this issue.
\n\u201cSome newspapers have employed rather crude and obnoxious language to push forth their opinions, while others have been more tempered.
\n\u201cBut curiously, none has written from a perspective that shows that they understand the big picture,\u2019\u2019 he said.
\nThe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had on Jan. 25 complied with the order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, directing the suspension of the CJN.
\nThe CJN was suspended pending the determination of the cases against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and several fora relating to his alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
\nThe President, who announced Onnoghen\u2019s suspension at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday consequently swore in Justice Tanko Mohammed as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.
\nSince then, there have been widespread reactions to the development from within and outside the country.
\nBy NAN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federal Government says the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen, does not signify the onset of dictatorship or tyranny, as some people have insinuated. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who gave the explanation at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, said that the suspension […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":14236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}