CJN May Be Arraigned Monday Over Alleged False Asset Declaration

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen may be arraigned on Monday before the Danladi Umar-led three-man panel of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for allegedly failing to declare his assets as stipulated by law.

This followed an application filed by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for arraignment and commencement of trial on a five-count charge levelled against the CJN by the federal government.

It was gathered that service of the summons has already been served on the defendant.

Meanwhile, the federal government also asked the CJN to vacate office for operating domiciliary foreign currency accounts.

This was consequent upon a petition purportedly written by a civil society group under the name, Anti-corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI), and addressed to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The letter dated January 7, bore a CCB ‘received’ stamp allegedly from the office of the Chairman, CCB on January 9.

Some of the allegations contained in the petition read that the CJN “is the owner of sundry accounts primarily funded through cash deposits made by himself up to August 10, 2016, which was allegedly operated in a manner inconsistent with financial transparency and the code of conduct for public officials.