CJN, Onnoghen In Trouble As FG Files Corruption Charges Against Him

The Federal Government has filed corruption charges against Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen.

The charges stemmed from a petition against the number one law officer of the nation.

Reports say the charges were filed by the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct Tribunal over failed assets declaration by Onnoghen.

Walter Onnoghen became the Chief Justice in March 2017, less than six months after the homes of several federal judges, including those of the Supreme Court, were searched in an anti-corruption raid.

On January 10, the Nigerian government filed charges against the head of the country’s judicial arm, accusing him of asset declaration offences.

The government said it was only in 2016 after the controversial crackdown on judges that Mr Onnoghen partially declared his asset, but still failed to declare a series of bank accounts, denominated in local and foreign currencies, linked to him at a Standard Chartered Bank branch in Abuja.

The government consequently filed six charges of non and fraudulent declaration of assets by Mr Onnoghen, with trial expected to commence on January 14 at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

The CCT said in a separate statement, according to PREMIUM TIMES, Saturday that trial would commence on Monday at the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, commercial neighbourhood in Abuja.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately return requests for comments Saturday afternoon.

The trial could further strain relations between the judicial and the executive arms of the federal government, which had been largely tense since the raid on federal judges’s homes in October 2016.

Two judges of the Supreme Court were amongst those whose houses were raided. They were charged for corruption, but none of them has been found guilty of wrongdoing.