Saraki Reacts To CJN Onnoghen Suspension, Reveals Next Line Of Action

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has described the
suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter
Onoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari, as a coup against
democracy and a deliberate attempt to endanger our hard-won
democracy.
PoliticsNGR gathered that Saraki, in a statement personally signed
by him stated that the suspension was another act of desperation
by President Buhari. He noted that by the suspension of the CJN,
Buhari has acted outside the provision of the constitution, has
exercised the powers which he does not have and that this action
amounted to gross misconduct.
“This is an action aimed at undermtining the nation’s judiciary,
subverting the constitution, intimidating judges of all the courts of
record, and creating uncertainty in the electoral process, thereby
laying the foundation for influencing the outcome of litigations that
might arise from next month’s elections.
“There are already the general belief that this hasty action was
taken to pre-empt the already scheduled inauguration of election
petition tribunals by Hon. Justice Onoghen and to destroy national
institutions that are perceived to be unco-operative in his bid to
manipulate the electoral process leading to next month’s general
elections.
“By unilaterally suspending the CJN without following the provision
of the constitution, President Buhari has taken an action which
amounted to gross misconduct. He has simply sent a dangerous
signal to the entire world that Nigeria is no longer a democratic
nation and that we have returned to the old, jaded era of military
dictatorship .
“Our constitution makes no provision for suspension of the nation’s
highest judicial officer. The constitution provides a clear process for
removal of the CJN and specify the roles of the three arms of
government, beginning from the National Judicial Council (NJC), the
National Assembly and lastly, the Presidency, have different roles to
play in that process. There is no condition under which the
President can usurp the powers of other arms of government. I do
not know where the President and his advisers got this idea of
suspending the CJN on the so-called order of the Code of Conduct
Tribunal but this is novel, disingenuous and alien to our laws.
“The President and his team must have seen this so-called
suspension as a short-cut to getting Hon. Justice Onnoghen out of
the way since the appellate court has eventually stopped the CCT
from continuing with the trial of the CJN. It is strange that President
Buhari is claiming to be taking orders from a Tribunal which has
been ordered by a superior court to halt all actions on the trial.
“With this action, President Buhari has initiated a process the
consequence of which nobody can predict. They have precipitated a
constitutional crisis.
“At this point, all democratic institutions in the country, the
international community and democrats across the world should
rise against this blatant act of impunity. We should jointly condemn
this retrogressive, uncivilized and despotic measure”, Saraki stated.
He however called on President Buhari to immediately reverse this
decision and allow the due process of law to take its natural course
in determining the guilt or otherwise as well as the suitability of Hon.
Justice Onnoghen to continue as the head of the nation’s judiciary.