Saraki Reacts To CJN Onnoghen Suspension, Coup Against Democracy

[Edoman]

POLITICSNGR

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has described the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari, as a coup against democracy and a deliberate attempt to endanger our hard-won democracy.

PoliticsNGR gathered that Saraki, in a statement personally signed by him stated that the suspension was another act of desperation by President Buhari. He noted that by the suspension of the CJN, Buhari has acted outside the provision of the constitution, has exercised the powers which he does not have and that this action amounted to gross misconduct.

“This is an action aimed at undermtining the nation’s judiciary, subverting the constitution, intimidating judges of all the courts of record, and creating uncertainty in the electoral process, thereby laying the foundation for influencing the outcome of litigations that might arise from next month’s elections.

“There are already the general belief that this hasty action was taken to pre-empt the already scheduled inauguration of election petition tribunals by Hon. Justice Onoghen and to destroy national institutions that are perceived to be unco-operative in his bid to manipulate the electoral process leading to next month’s general elections.

“By unilaterally suspending the CJN without following the provision of the constitution, President Buhari has taken an action which amounted to gross misconduct. He has simply sent a dangerous signal to the entire world that Nigeria is no longer a democratic nation and that we have returned to the old, jaded era of military dictatorship .

“Our constitution makes no provision for suspension of the nation’s highest judicial officer. The constitution provides a clear process for removal of the CJN and specify the roles of the three arms of government, beginning from the National Judicial Council (NJC), the National Assembly and lastly, the Presidency, have different roles to play in that process. There is no condition under which the President can usurp the powers of other arms of government. I do not know where the President and his advisers got this idea of suspending the CJN on the so-called order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal but this is novel, disingenuous and alien to our laws.

“The President and his team must have seen this so-called suspension as a short-cut to getting Hon. Justice Onnoghen out of the way since the appellate court has eventually stopped the CCT from continuing with the trial of the CJN. It is strange that President Buhari is claiming to be taking orders from a Tribunal which has been ordered by a superior court to halt all actions on the trial.

“With this action, President Buhari has initiated a process the consequence of which nobody can predict. They have precipitated a constitutional crisis.

“At this point, all democratic institutions in the country, the international community and democrats across the world should rise against this blatant act of impunity. We should jointly condemn this retrogressive, uncivilized and despotic measure”, Saraki stated.

He however called on President Buhari to immediately reverse this decision and allow the due process of law to take its natural course in determining the guilt or otherwise as well as the suitability of Hon. Justice Onnoghen to continue as the head of the nation’s judiciary.

https://politicsngr.com/breaking-saraki-reacts-cjn-suspension-reveals-next-line-action/

[Edoman]

Don't Allow Buhari To Decimate Judiciary - Coalition Of Laywers Warns Senate


POLITICSNGR

The Coalition of Lawyers against Corruption, COLAC has hailed the Senate for reconvening to look into the controversial suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Nkanu Onnoghen.

In a statement signed by the National Coordinator of CACOL, Barr. Olusegun Bamgbose, made available to PoliticsNGR on Sunday morning, the group warned the Senate not to allow President Buhari to decimate the Judiciary. The statement read;

"We want to sincerely commend the National Assembly for planning to reconvene on Tuesday to look into the illegal, unconstitutional and obnoxious suspension of Justice Onnorghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. This is quite appreciated and commendable. We equally want to thank the US, EU and UK for rising up to the occasion to express their deep concern for this odious act of the Presidency to subvert and subjugate our Constitution.

"It's very clear that this government has gone ga ga in its attempt to cause confusion ahead of the Presidential elections coming up on 16th February 2019.

Buhari must respect our Constitution which he swore to uphold on the 29th of May, 2019 or honorably vacate the State House. He has no business occupying the State House if he will not respect our Constitution. We want to assure concerned Nigerians and the International community that there is no cause for alarm as there would be no election in Nigeria except the offensive decision is reversed. We shall leave no stone unturned until sanity returns.

We shall explore all lawful means to cut the President to size. We shall within the ambits of the law resist any form of executive rascality and recklessness. The law must have his way. We want to assure Nigerians that there will be no going back until the decision is reversed.

No one messes up with Judiciary and go scot free. We want to tell the parties to continue with their campaigns as there are strong moves to restore the dignity and the integrity of Judiciary before the 16th day of February this year. We will equally want to alert the National Assembly to speak with one voice come Tuesday.

We are quite aware that the Presidency is seriously engaged in lobbying members of the National Assembly in order to cause confusion as the Senate reconvene on Tuesday. However, we urge them to resist all attempts to use them to destabilize the polity."

https://politicsngr.com/dont-allow-decimate-judiciary-coalition-laywers-senate/