@ 9:11am: CCT shifted case from 9 am till noon
The judgment of the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Justice Walter Onnoghen, who is being prosecuted on charges of assets declaration breaches, was shifted from 9 am the originally scheduled time, till noon on Thursday.
Reports has it that Onnoghen had arrived the premises of the tribunal at 8.40am ahead of the judgment.
Only two of his lawyers and a handful of his aides were seated in the courtroom when a court official announced the postponement at 9 am.
No member of the prosecution team was in court when the postponement was announced
None of them arrived as of the time of filing this report at 9.11am.
Onnoghen had yet to step out of his vehicle as of the time the postponement was announced.
His convoy left the premises as soon as the information about the new development reached him.
The Chairman of the CCT, Danladi Umar, after the prosecution and the defence, made closing arguments on Monday, specifically fixed judgment for 9 am on Thursday, a departure from the usual 10 am sitting time of the tribunal.
@ 12;14 pm: CCT Members arrive for Onnoghen’s Judgement
After the case was shifted from 9am to 12pm, Onnoghen’s convoy departed the premises as soon as the news of the postponement reached him.
He later returned to the CCT about 25 minutes before the 12 pm re-scheduled for the judgment.
At 11.56pm he stepped out his vehicle and walked into the court, which was just some few metres away from where he parked.
Onnoghen, decked in a grey suit with a white inner shirt, tried to prove to be unruffled as he managed to put up a smiling face in the front of an array of cameras scrambling to get the best shots of him.
The CCT members led by their Chairman, Danladi Umar, arrived the courtroom at exactly 12.14pm.
The two other members are Williams Atedze and Julie Anabor.
@12;50pm: CCT dismisses Onnoghen’s prelim suit challenging its jurisdiction
The CCT dismissed the preliminary objection filed by Justice Onnoghen to challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal.
The CCT also dismissed the application by the former CJN accusing the tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, to withdraw from further presiding over the trial on the grounds of bias.
The tribunal is now delivering judgment on the merit of the five counts.
@ 1:33pm: Onnoghen: Tribunal identifies four exhibits tendered by prosecution
The chairman of Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar, who read the lead judgment, identified the following as the exhibits tendered by the prosecution against Justice Walter Onnoghen.
The petition written by the Executive Director, Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative, Mr. Dennis Aghanya
Forms CCB 1 submitted by Onmoghen to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Account opening package of Onnoghen’s five accounts with the Standard Chattered Bank.
Statements of the five bank accounts.
@1: 42 pm: CCT finds Justice Walter Onnoghen guilty of the contravention of the provision of code of conduct of public officers
He is threfore removed as the Chief justice of Nigeria and chairman of the NJC.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has convicted Walter Onnoghen, suspended chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), for false asset declaration.
Danladi Umar, CCT chairman, found him guilty of the six counts preferred against him by the federal government.
1: 44 pm: Breaking: Walter Onnoghen was also banned from office for 10 years and the money in his five accounts confiscated
The CCT chairman ordered that Onnoghen be removed from office of CJN and banned from holding public office for 10 years.
He also ordered that the money in the five bank accounts of Onnoghen that he did not declare be confiscated seized and forfeited to the FGN.
The tribunal held that it is crystal clear that the money was acquired illegally since he has failed to prove how he got them.
The tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, while giving judgement in the case on Thursday, held that the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.
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