JUSTICE Walter Onnoghen has rejected the judgement of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) which convicted him on the six-count charge of false declaration of assets preferred against him by the Federal Government.
Shortly after the judgement delivered on Thursday, Onnoghen, through his counsel, filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, challenging the judgment of the three-member panel of the Tribunal.
In the notice of appeal which has the Federal Government of Nigeria as the only respondent, Onnoghen said the CCT erred in law when it dismissed his application challenging its jurisdiction and thus, occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice.
He added also that the Tribunal erred in law when it dismissed his application seeking the chairman to recuse himself from further proceedings on the ground of bias.
He argued in the particulars or error that he was not, at the time the charges were filed against him on January 11, a judicial officer and were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and that, it is only the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has the power to discipline him for misconduct.
“That the CCT chair erred in law when it refused to recuse himself from the proceedings in view of the declarations by the chairman that he is only accountable to the president, who appointed him a nobody because he is not a judicial officer and thus, occasioned a miscarriage of justice.”
