The need for integrity in the judiciary and other sectors of public life dominated discourse yesterday as the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) found ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen guilty of concealing assets, report Adebisi Onanuga, Joseph Jibueze.
Integrity among public
officials important,
say Utomi, lawyers
A Professor of Political Economics, Pat Utomi, has called for integrity among public officers in the interest of nation-building and unity.
He reacted to yesterday’s conviction of ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, of breach of Code of Conduct for public officers.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) chaired by Danladi Umar convicted Onnoghen, 68, and ordered his immediate removal as the CJN.
The CCT stripped him of all offices he occupied, such as the Chairman of the National Judicial Council and Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.
The tribunal also ordered the forfeiture of money in five accounts which Onnoghen failed to declare as part of his assets.
The tribunal equally ordered that he should not hold any public office for 10 years.
In an interview with NAN, Utomi said: “The times suggest that the point that we have always made about the importance of integrity is critical for nation building and individual sense of unity.”
Mr Wale Ogunade, a lawyer and the President of Voters Awareness Initiative (VAI), said that Onnoghen’s conviction showed that no one should be above the law.
He urged that corruption investigations should not be politicised.
He said: “For such a step to be taken against a high ranking official, particularly against the head of the judiciary, then there is smoke behind the fire, I knew something was wrong and, indeed, he was found guilty.
“I was convinced that he was guilty when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) wrote a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC) which recommended his resignation and so on.
“I was one of those who suggested, when he started, that he should eat the humble pie and resign as an honourable man but unfortunately he allowed himself to be misled by his kinsmen who believed that it was politics.
“Law and politics are like water and oil, there is no way you can mix the two, the law will always stand and politics will fall like what you have seen.
“It also shows that there is no sacred cow; those who think they are above the law now know they are under the law, it does not matter that you are the chief law officer.”
SERAP urges CCB to release details of assets of ex-presidents, ex-governors
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Dr Muhammed Isah, to provide information on specific details of asset declarations submitted to the bureau by successive presidents and state governors since the return of democracy in 1999.
SERAP is seeking information on: “details of asset declarations by successive presidents and state governors between 1999 and 2019, including details of declarations made immediately after taking offices and thereafter, and for those who have left public offices, at the end of their term of office. Information is also sought on the number of asset declarations so far verified by the CCB and the number of those declarations found to be false and deemed to be in breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, by the Bureau.”
It urged the CCB to disclose, by publishing on a dedicated website, details of asset declarations submitted by presidents and state governors since the return of democracy in 1999; details on the number of asset declarations so far verified by the CCB and the number of those declarations found to be false and deemed to be a breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers by the Bureau.
It also asked the bureau to take cases of false asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for effective prosecution of suspects, and include banning the politicians involved from holding public offices for at least a period of 10 years and seeking refund of stolen public funds as part of the reliefs to be sought before the Tribunal.
The request was made under the Freedom of Information Act dated April 18, 2019, and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare.
SERAP gave the CCB 14 days within which to grant its request, failure of which it said its Registered Trustees would take all appropriate legal action under the Freedom of Information Act to compel you to comply with our request.
The organisation said it welcomed the judgment by the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Justice Walter Onnoghen.
“We now urge the CCB to the extent its mandates to enforce constitutional provisions on asset declarations by public officers to cover elected officers and to vigorously pursue the prosecution of any such officers who use their powers either as presidents or state governors over public funds to enrich themselves.
“While judicial corruption is bad, the level of corruption involving many politicians since 1999 and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators is equally appalling. Publishing the asset declarations of elected public officers since the return of democracy in 1999 to date would improve public trust in the ability of the Bureau to effectively discharge its mandates. This would, in turn, put pressure on public officers like presidents and state governors to make a voluntary public declaration of their assets.”
The request further read in part: “SERAP is concerned that many politicians hide behind the fact that members of the public do not have access to their asset declarations to make false declarations, and to cover up assets illegally acquired in corruption or abuse of office. The CCB can use the opportunity presented by the Onnoghen judgment to increase the accountability of politicians through the asset declaration provisions if it is not to be accused of witch-hunting the judiciary.
“The persistent refusal by successive presidents and state governors to make public their asset declarations is entirely inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the 1999 Constitution and has been particularly harmful to the country and its people, especially given the widespread evidence of grand corruption among politicians holding public offices in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) seeks to prevent corruption and abuse of office through its provisions on the declaration of assets not just by judicial officers but by all public officers including elected officers like presidents and governors.
“Nigerians can longer accept the excuse by high-ranking government officers that declaring their assets before the CCB is enough, as such pretext is not supported by the oaths of office by elected public officers. The failure by successive presidents and state governors to voluntarily make public their asset declarations would seem to suggest that they have something to hide.
“Given that many public officers being tried for or convicted of corruption are found to have made a false declaration of their assets, the CCB should no longer allow politicians to undermine the sanctity and integrity of the asset declaration provisions of the Constitution by allowing them to continue to exploit legal gaps for illicit enrichment.”
“SERAP believes that while elected public officers may not be constitutionally obliged to publicly declare their assets, the Freedom of Information Act 2011 has now provided the mechanism for the CCB to improve transparency and accountability of asset declarations by elected public officers.”
“Asset declaration forms are public documents within the meaning of section 109 of the Evidence Act, and therefore, Nigerians are entitled to have access to such information. SERAP urges the CCB to vigorously push for change in the law to provide penal sanctions for politicians that fail to make public their asset declarations.”
“SERAP notes that provisions on the declaration of assets by all public officers in Nigeria are entrenched in the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, contained in Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. The primary objective is to prevent corruption and abuse of office and to ensure transparency in public officers.
“SERAP also notes that public officers for the purposes of the Code include the President and the Vice-President of the Federation, state governors and their deputies; the President and Deputy-President of the Senate, the Speaker and Deputy-Speaker of the House of Representatives and Speakers, the Chief justice of Nigeria, justices of the Supreme Court, the President and justices of the Court of Appeal, and other judicial officers and all staff of courts of law.”
Onnoghen’s conviction good for judiciary, says ex-UN chief
A senior lawyer and multilateral diplomat, Dr. Babafemi Badejo, said the conviction of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal was good for the Judiciary.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to stop at Onnoghen but to remove other corrupt judges.
Badejo, a former Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, said: “The conviction of a serving Chief Justice of Nigeria is a sad day in the annals of Nigerian history.
“It is a precedent that does not augur well for the entire nation within the community of nations.
“If the Chief Arbiter with respect to justice has been shown to be corrupt, then the world would rightly continue to see most of us as corrupt.
“Judges are everywhere expected to live for higher ideals and should not to be chasing the same day to day crass materialism and have the same moral yardstick as the thieves who claim to be our leaders.”
Badejo, a former University of Lagos don, now a consultant to the African Union, said the judiciary’s image needed redemption.
“All Nigerians should support the position of the Ebun Sofunde Group of 20 SANs.
“We need to redeem our image as a nation by seeing the conviction of Walter Onnoghen as a necessary sacrifice for cleaning up the sins of our country.
“President Buhari, as I said earlier and supported by the 20 SANs, should not stop at Walter Onnoghen alone.
“To let ago because Onnoghen has been removed would be unfair to the nation. It would be injustice.
“The President needs to give a free hand to the institutions we have to clean up the Supreme Court and promote new clean judges to replace corrupt ones.
“Onnoghen should be a clear indication to the world that President Buhari is not partial.
“He should carry out the promises he has been making to Nigeria of giving the example of good clean governance for Nigeria and Africa,” Badejo added.
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