The National Judicial Council (NJC) has summoned an emergency meeting over the suspension of Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN).
TheCable understands that the meeting will be held in Abuja by 10am on Monday.
The meeting was called by some NJC members in line with its rules.
A
member of NJC told TheCable on Sunday that neither Onnoghen, whose
suspension has become a subject of controversy, nor Ibrahim Muhammad,
the acting CJN, will be allowed to preside over the meeting.
WHAT DO NJC RULES SAY?
According
to the rules guiding the conduct of NJC meetings, five or more members
can summon a meeting subject to a request made to the chairman.
TheCable was unable to confirm if this requirement was met.
The rules state that:
The council shall hold meetings at such times and place as the chairman may appoint.
Notwithstanding
the provision of paragraph (1) of this regulation, a meeting of the
council shall be convened if five or more members make a request to that
effect, in writing to the chairman, specifying the business to be
transacted.
Every meeting of the council shall be presided by the
chairman and in his absence, by a member selected by a simple majority
of members present and/or nominations in the call of expression of
interest and in the request for nomination.
The quorum for a
meeting shall not be less than one-third of the total number of the
council members as at the date of that meeting.
A member shall be entitled to one vote and the simple majority votes shall be the decision of the council.
WHO ARE NJC MEMBERS?
According to 1999 constitution, members of the council are:
the chief justice of Nigeria who shall be the chairman
the next most senior justice of the supreme court who shall be the deputy chairman
the president of the court of appeal
five retired justices selected by the CJN from the supreme court or court of appeal
the chief judge of the federal high court;
five
chief judges of states to be appointed by the CJN from among the chief
judges of the states and of the high court of the FCT, Abuja
one
grand kadi to be appointed by the CJN from among grand kadis of the
Sharia courts of appeal to serve in rotation for two years;
one
president of the customary court of appeal to be appointed by the CJN
from among the Presidents of the Customary Courts of Appeal to serve in
rotation for two years
five members of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) who have been qualified to practise for a period of
not less than 15 years, at least one of whom shall be a SAN, appointed
by the CJN on the recommendation of the national executive committee of
the NBA to serve for two years and subject to re-appointment, provided
that the five members shall sit in the Council only for the purposes of
considering the names of persons for appointment to the superior courts
of record; and
two persons not being legal practitioners, who in the opinion of the CJN, are of unquestionable integrity.
WHAT ARE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF NJC?
The constitution says the NJC shall have power to, among other things:
recommend
to the president the removal from office of the specified judicial
officers and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers;
recommend to the governors the removal from the office of the judicial officers
collect, control and disburse all moneys, capital and recurrent, for the judiciary;
advise
the president and governors or any matter pertaining to the judiciary
as may be referred to the council by the president or the governors;
appoint, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over members and staff of the council
WHAT IS THE STATE OF PLAY?
President Muhammadu Buhari replaced Onnoghen with Muhammad on Friday, citing an order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
The
Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) had filed a six-count charge against the
CJN based on a petition written by the Anti-Corruption and Research
Based Data Initiative (ARDI), a civil society group.
In the petition dated January 7, the group, had among other things, accused Onnoghen of false assets declaration.
While administering oath of office on Muhammad, Buhari said security agencies traced millions of dollars to accounts Onnoghen.
“Although
the allegations in the petition are grievous enough in themselves, the
security agencies have since then traced other suspicious transactions
running into millions of dollars to the CJN’s personal accounts, all
undeclared or improperly declared as required by law,” he had said.
But
many lawyers and civil rights activists have kicked against the
president’s action, saying the NJC ought to have investigated the
allegations levelled against Onnoghen.
In a statement, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) accused Buhari of usurping the powers of the NJC.
“The
action of the Executive portends a slide into anarchy and complete
deconstruction of the Rule of Law and due process,” read the statement
signed by Paul Usoro, NBA president.
“It amounts to an absolute
breach of the Constitution and the usurpation of the powers of the
Senate and the Nigerian Judicial Council.”
Source:- Thecableng
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