Pending the determination of the alleged false asset declaration case against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the Federal Government has asked the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, to freeze five accounts of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
The Federal Government took the move via a letter by the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, to the NFIU, dated January 14. This emerged as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, absolved his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, of being behind the trial of Justice Onnoghen before the CCT. Speaking at a one-day conference organised by Online Publishers Association of Nigeria, OPAN, with the theme: Free Press and Objective Reporting in the 2019 Election Year, Osinbajo said Buhari did not have any fact of financial misdemeanor involving the CJN until Saturday evening. He said it is highly regrettable that the CJN has to go through this process but that Buhari had issued specific instructions that anti-graft institutions be allowed to do their jobs without any interference. “I must tell you in clear terms that President Muhammadu Buhari, his whole approach is that institutions should just do their work, I can tell you for a fact that he did not even know about this until Saturday evening. This came as the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, served the charges on Justice Onnoghen, yesterday, in readiness for his arraignment on January 22.
