El-Rufai Describes Onnoghen In One Word: Shameless!

Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, says Walter Onnoghen, the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), is a “shameless judge”.

Onnoghen was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari on a directive by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), before which Onnoghen is standing trial over allegations of fraudulent declaration of assets.

He stated this on Friday, when he led a solidarity march with supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to campaign for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The supporters also expressed their solidarity with the President over his decision to suspend Onnoghen.

Mounting an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) in front of the Kaduna Government House, he thanked the people for “coming together to convey this very clear statement from the people of Kaduna state that in Kaduna we do not support corruption”.

He continued: “In Kaduna State, we do not support injustice. In Kaduna State, we are 100 per cent behind the integrity of our President.

“I can assure you that the message you have given to me will be delivered to the President today. The worst form of corruption you can find in any public servant is judicial corruption, because when the president is corrupt or the governor is corrupt, it is to the judge that ordinary people can take their case to.

“When the judge himself is corrupt, it is the highest form of corruption and must never be condoned.

“Mr President did not remove Onnoghen from office. He said in honour of the judiciary, he should step aside so that the charges against him can be investigated and prosecuted. The President did the right thing by asking him to step aside pending investigation. It is what is done in every organised and civilised society.

“Unfortunately, some people in Nigeria are trying to make white black and black. They are using technicalities to delay bringing this man to justice. The man (Onnoghen) is shameless; he does not want to go, but it is time for Nigerians to come all out and tell him he must go. Our judiciary must be clean. Our judiciary must consist of judges who cannot be bought.

“The case of Justice Onnoghen is the case in which somebody who has worked in government for the past 20 years, [and] suddenly, he has millions of dollars in his account. He has admitted, but said he has forgotten about them, which means he has more money than Aliko Dangote because I do not think Dangote will forget $1million in his account.”