Appeal Court Orders Chief Justice Onnoghen To Go Face Trial At CCT

Nigeria's Appeal Court has directed that the embattled Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen should go ahead and face trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), the court declared in a ruling on Wednesday.

President Muhammadu Buhari has last week suspended Onnoghen from office following accusation and charges against the chief justice for his failure to declare his assets as required by the law.
The suspension of the chief justice has generated a lot of reactions both against and support of the president action.

The appeals court in Abuja ruled that Onnoghen can be tried by the CCT over allegations that he broke the law by failing to disclose the full extent of his financial assets.
Onnoghen has not responded publicly to the allegations. The appeals court had originally put the tribunal proceedings on hold indefinitely.
The CCT said on Jan. 12 that Onnoghen would face six counts of alleged non-declaration of assets. The allegations were initially made by an anti-corruption group led by Dennis Aghanya through a petition to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), a body charge to receive declaration form from public officials.

With the appeal court ruling, the case before the CCT will either proceed or be referred on appeal to the supreme court for a final adjudication on the preliminary objections by the counsel to the suspended chief justice.