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Ahead of his appearance at the tribunal, The Guardian reliably gathered that Onnoghen was on Friday, at his official residence served with charges of refusal to declare his assets in breach of the provision of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act, and that of operating foreign currency accounts.
Apart from getting Onnoghen in the dock tomorrow, it is understood that the motion on notice has been filed against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), praying the CCT to order him to vacate office and recuse himself so as to prevent alleged interference in his arraignment and trial.
The Petition
A civil society group- Anti-corruption and Research Based Data Initiative (ARDI) petitioned the CCB over some alleged illegal transactions discovered in the CJN’s bank accounts.
The letter dated January 7, 2019 bore a CCB “received” stamp, allegedly from the office of the Chairman of the bureau on January 9, 2019.
Contained in the petition include allegations that the CJN “is the owner of sundry accounts primarily funded through cash deposits made by himself up to August 10, 2016, which was allegedly operated in a manner inconsistent with financial transparency and the Code of conduct for public officials.”
The group also alleged that Justice Onnoghen made five different cash deposits of $10, 000 each on March 8, 2011 into Standard Chartered Bank Account No. 1062650; two separate cash deposits of $5000 each followed by four cash deposits of $10, 000 each on June 7, 2011; another set of five separate cash deposits of $10,000 each on June 27, 2011, and four more cash deposits of $10,000 each the following day.
The petition further stated that Justice Onnoghen did not declare his assets immediately after taking office. This, it held, was contrary to section 15 (1) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
Read Full Story [The Guardian]
