CJN Onnoghen going, going…to be arraigned before Conduct Tribunal; Dollars, Pound Sterling, Euro traced to Union, Standard Chartered Banks’ accounts; SANs to defend Chief Justice

Few weeks to the presidential election, Nigeria’s number one judicial officer, Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen, may be on his way out as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The CJN will be arraigned on Monday January 14 on charges bordering on failure to declare his assets as required by law and for operating Domiciliary Accounts.

In fact, preparatory to the arraignment before the Justice Danladi Yakubu-led Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja, the Federal Government has told Onmoghen to resign.
Freedom Online learned that the CJN was, during the week, served the charge sheet.
A source declared on Saturday that scores of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by a prominent activist, are already in Abuja to defend Onmoghen before the tribunal.

The source said: “This is a clear case of persecution. We don’t know why they are coming up with this but we strongly believe the government does not want Justice Onnoghen to be in office during and after the presidential election. The government will fail this time around”.
The petition was written by ARDI and partners on January 7 to the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, Federal Secretariat, Abuja and was received on January 9.
It is titled ‘PETITION AGAINST HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE W.S. NKANU ONNOGHEN, GCON, THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF NIGERIA, FOR SUNDRY BREACHES OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT BUREAU REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS INCLUDING NON- DECLARATION AND FALSE DECLARATION OF ASSETS.

Among others, Onnoghen was accused of *being the owner of sundry accounts funded through cash deposits; *discrepancy between his two CCB forms;
*various sums of money in Naira, Dollars, Pound Sterling and Euro traced to his Union Bank and Standard Chartered Bank accounts;
*cases of suspicious financial transactions
*collusion between him and various banks related to Suspicious Transactions Reporting (STR);
*financial transactions not justifiable by Onnoghen’s lawful remunerations.