Onnoghen: Lai Mohammed says Buhari acted legally, fires back at critics

The Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, on Saturday, January, 26, 2019, said that those criticising President Buhari over the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen are hypocritical and insincere.

According to Daily Post, Mohammed said that the President’s action is in line with his fight against corruption.

Onnoghen was arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) after it was discovered that he did not declare his assets.

The President, on Friday, January 25, 2019, suspended him and appointed an acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed.

Lai Mohammed ece-auto-gen

UK, US react

Following public outcry over Onnoghen’s suspension, the British government issued a statement on Saturday calling for calm, saying that the timing is questionable.

The United States Embassy in Nigeria also asked the Federal Government to resolve the issues raised as a result of the Chief Justice of Nigeria’s suspension.

Buhari acted legally

Speaking to newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara state on Saturday, the minister of information said that the President acted legally.

According to him, “The president did not just wake up in the morning to suspend the CJN. He was acting based on the order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

“The fundamental question is that where in the world will a Chief Justice of a country fail to declare his asset, confronted with evidence that millions of dollars flowed into his account and the only defence will be that he forgot.

” I agree with the president that as soon as those allegations were made, the right thing he would have done was to excuse himself.

“I also agree with the president that the alacrity with which judgments were coming from left right and centre supporting the CJN is a departure from slow machinery of justice that we are all used to.”

President Muhammadu Buhari claims that he replaced Justice Walter Onnoghen temporarily on Friday, January 25, 2019, following a directive given by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). [NGRPresident] President Muhammadu Buhari claims that he replaced Justice Walter Onnoghen temporarily on Friday, January 25, 2019, following a directive given by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). [NGRPresident] Pulse Nigeria

“More worrisome is the fact that when the suspended CJN was confronted with the petition that he failed to declare his asset, he admitted adducing the reason that he forgot.

“The people that are crying tyranny and dictatorship should ask where the suspended CJN amass several millions of dollars which he failed to declare.

“We are talking about fighting corruption here. Are those people who are crying wolf saying we should condone corruption?’’ Mohammed added.

PDP acting suspiciously

The minister of information also wondered why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suspended its campaign in protest of Onnoghen’s suspension.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he said that the PDP is acting like there is a pact between the party and the suspended CJN.

The PDP, in a statement which it issued to newsmen, said that it suspended its campaigns to demand a reversal of the President’s action.

Also, its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar condemned the suspension of the CJN, saying that Buhari’s action has exposed the desperation of the Federal Government to win the upcoming elections by all means.

He called on Nigerians and members of the judiciary to rise and save the country from dictatorship by voting out the All Progressives Congress (APC).