Malik Yahya/
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal today ruled that an ex parte order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal issued on January 23, 2019, for the suspension of the ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, from office pending his trial before the CCT breached his right to fairing hearing.
In a unanimous judgment of its three-man bench led by Justice Stephen Adah, the Court of Appeal however struck out an appeal by the ex-CJN challenging the ex parte order.
Justice Adah, who read the lead judgment, noted that the court proceedings ought not to be conducted “in a shady or clandestine maneuver” as manner in which the ex parte order was obtained by the prosecution.
He, however, struck out the matter on the grounds that the substantive matter had been concluded by the CCT, which ended in the ex-CJN’s conviction on charges of false and non-declaration of assets.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, on the strength of the ex parte order, suspended Onnoghen from office on January 25.