Confusion At Supreme Court Over Onnoghen’s Reported Resignation

The reported resignation of the suspended chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen has thrown the Supreme Court into confusion. the Premier Newspaper reports that the Chief Registrar, Uwani Mustapha and the Director of Information in the apex court, Dr Festus Akande, described the resignation as mere rumour A source close to the CJN however said the resignation was anticipated. He said: “He was expected to send in the letter on Thursday, so we are not surprised if he has.” Dr Akande said “a resignation letter would not be forwarded without knowledge of the Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council (NJC) Premier news had reported that a day after the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended that he be compulsorily retired for misconduct, Walter Onnoghen has reportedly resigned as the chief justice of Nigeria with immediate effect. According to The Cable, the embattled CJN tendered his resignation letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday evening, A senior lawyer in suspended CJN’s defence team in his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) also confirmed to The Nation that Onnoghen put in a resignation letter on Thursday, which he sent to the office of President Muhammadu Buhari. Our correspondent notes that by virtue of section 306 of the 1999 constitution, Onnoghen’s resignation takes immediate effect. It was reported that the National Judicial Commission (NJC) recommended the retirement of the suspended chief justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, to President Muhammadu Buhari. The commission after a deliberation on Wednesday, April 3, unanimously reached an agreement that Onnoghen be retired over petitions filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Members of the NJC led by an interim leadership under Umaru Abdullahi, a former president of the Court of Appeal, agreed that the suspended CJN had lost the morality of authority to continue as Nigerian chief justice with the litany of allegations bordering on misconduct.