Lawmakers urge President to send acting CJN's name for confirmation

The Cross River state caucus in the National Assembly has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to send Walter Onnoghens name to the Senate for confirmation as Chief Justice of the Nigeria (CJN).

President Buhari appointed Onnoghen on Thursday, November 10, 2016, as the acting CJN after Mahmoud Mohammed retired.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, January 31, 2016, Senator John Enoh described as "unfortunate" President Buhari's delay in forwarding Onnoghen's name for confirmation.

"President Buhari's inaction in this instance has acted as a cannon fodder for those alluding a vast conspiracy to deny justice Onnoghen his earned position," Senator Enoh said.

“Pursuant to its mandate, what is required from the presidency, in this case, is a decisive action of simply transmitting the name of justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen to the senate for confirmation which unfortunately has not stopped.

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“This unfortunate development has enveloped the supreme court and judiciary with an intriguing cobweb of uncertainty and given conspiracy theories a field day to decode why this obvious travesty has endured up till now.

“Under these circumstances, the continuous delay of the president to forward the name of Hon. Justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen to the senate for confirmation without any lawful and constitutional cause has brought the issue of the independence of the judiciary and security of tenure of judges to doubt and public discourse.

“It has opened the floodgate of political and social insinuations and entrenched the perception of ethno-regional prejudice and politicisation of the judiciary. This is most unfortunate.”

Meanwhile, President Buhari has renominated Ibrahim Magu as chairman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

President Buhari in a letter to the Senate said he had been adequately briefed on the security report which led to the Senate's rejection of Magu as chairman of the EFCC.