Onnoghen loses at Appeal Court, CCT trial to resume

The Appeal Court in Abuja has turned down the request of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen to halt proceedings in the criminal charge pending against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

The judgement delivered by a three-man panel led by Justice Abdul Aboki was premised on the provision of Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), which states that the Appeal Court lacked the power to stay proceedings in criminal cases.

This ruling means that the CCT is now free to proceed with the charge before it.

Recall that Onnoghen was dragged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the Executive for failure to declare large sums of money in foreign currency found in banks accounts linked to him.

On Friday, January 25, 21019, President Buhari, acting on an ex parte order issued by the CCT, suspended Onnoghen and sworn in Justice Tanko Muhammad as acting Chief Justice of Nigeria.

This move has generated mixed reactions from the populace.

The main opposition party, PDP, has also condemned Buhari accusing him of subverting the Nigerian constitution.

The international communities have also waded in with the likes of United Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and European union (EU) expressing concerns over what they described as an "unconstitutional" act.