The All Progressives Congress has insisted that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, must face his corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The ruling party said the noise being made by the Peoples Democratic Party and some elements in the bar was an indication of unholy alliance to frustrate the fight against corruption.
This was contained in an address by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Lanre Issa-Onilu, on Monday.
“Following the notice of the charges preferred against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, by the Code of Conduct Bureau at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the Peoples Democratic Party has been on overdrive vituperating over an issue that should at best be left to the judiciary to resolve,” Issa-Onilu said.
Continuing, he noted, “While we would not want to be lured into discussing issues that are presently before the courts and for which any respectable political party hoping to hold positions of responsibility should restrain itself, we regret to suggest that the PDP’s attempt to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that there is a political motive behind the allegation brought against the CJN might itself be indicative of some unholy alliances.
The likely affinity existing between the PDP and a section of the judiciary is further accentuated by the nonappearance of Justice Onnoghen before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday, in line with the suggestions made by the PDP governors from the South-South on Sunday.
“Are Nigerians expected to see this as a mere coincidence? Is the PDP and their governors acting a script? Haven’t we missed an opportunity to show confidence in an institution headed by the CJN?
“This becomes more worrisome, knowing that the PDP campaigns have been receiving cold shoulders everywhere they have gone to and it has become apparent the party and its presidential candidate are facing imminent defeat in the February 2019 elections and may be searching for some unorthodox means of forcing itself on the Nigerian people.
“If this were not so, the PDP should, before coming to these distracting conclusions, have taken cognisance of the facts of the allegations made against the CJN and his admission to the facts so stated.
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