Appeal Court Reserves Judgments On Onnoghen’s Four Appeals

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday reserved judgments in the four separate appeals filed by the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnghen, in connection with his trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

A three-man bench of the court led by Justice Steven Adah finally heard the appeals on Wednesday after they had previously suffered adjournments on three consecutive occasions.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) led the suspended CJN’s legal team while Mr. Aliyu Umar (SAN), the Federal Government’s.

Meanwhile, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), a member of the appellant’s team, adopted and argued the briefs, while Umar did same for the respondent.

Justice Adah, who led Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson and Justice Peter Ige, said the date for judgment would be communicated to the parties when the judgments are ready.

One of the CJN’s appeals is challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT to hear the charges against him.

Another of the appeals is challenging the ex-parte order on which President Muhammadu Buhari relied on to suspend the CJN and appointed Justice Tanko Muhammad as the acting CJN.

The third appeal challenges the CCT’s refusal to be bound by the orders made by the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court directing the tribunal to halt the CJN’s trial.

Justice Onnoghen had also appealed against the arrest warrant issued against him by the CCT on February 13.