Embattled chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has asked Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), to withdraw from presidin
Embattled chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has asked Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), to withdraw from presiding over his trial on the grounds of bias. He described the CCT chairman as the prosecutor, judge and jury who has constructively convicted him without either hearing from the defendant or his being formally arraigned before him. Onnoghen made the submission in a motion filed before the CCT through his lawyers, while responding to a directive by the CCT chairman, asking him to appear for trial.
Onnoghen, who is being prosecuted by the federal government on alleged false assets declaration, is yet to appear before the CCT since his trial began in January. In the motion filed before the CCT on Monday, he argued that since his trial, the chairman of the tribunal has showed acts of partisanship and “demonstrated favourable dispositions towards the respondent.” He also described Umar as a tainted arbiter who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged bribery.
He urged the tribunal to issue an order directing the honourable Chairman of the tribunal, Honourable Danladi Umar to disqualify/recuse himself from further participating in the adjudication of this case on the ground of real likelihood of bias.
