 |
Source: dailypost |
He turned in his resignation letter to President Muhammadu
Buhari on Thursday evening, a day after the National Judicial Council (NJC)
recommended that he be compulsorily retired for misconduct.
By virtue of section 306 of the 1999 constitution, his resignation
takes immediate effect.
Section 306 says “(1) Save as otherwise provided in this
section, any person who is appointed, elected or otherwise selected to any
office established by this Constitution may resign from that office by writing
under his hand addressed to the authority or person by whom he was appointed,
elected or selected. (2) The resignation of any person from any office
established by this Constitution shall take effect when the writing signifying
the resignation is received by the authority or person to whom it is addressed
or by any person authorised by that authority or person to receive it.”
Reportedly, resignation was the “best possible option” for
Onnoghen under the current circumstance.
TheCable previously reported that Onnoghen’s retirement
benefits in cash and kind will cost tax payers about N2.5 billion.
As part of the package for a retired chief justice, a house
will be built for him in Abuja with a nine-digit sum for furnishing — in
addition to a severance gratuity that is 300% of his annual basic salary of
N3,363,972.50, as well as pension for life.
Just like state governors, a retired chief justice is
entitled to a number of domestic staff and sundry allowances for personal upkeep.
This package for judicial officers was put together by the
NJC long before Onnoghen became the CJN in 2017. However, if he is dismissed, he will not be entitled to any
benefits.
Onnoghen chose the option of resignation as a measure of
damage control, his associates told TheCable. However, on Wednesday It was reported by TheCable that the
NJC had recommended the embattled CJN for compulsory retirement after
deliberating on a petition by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) which alleges “financial impropriety, infidelity to the constitution and
other economic and financial crimes related laws”.
Onnoghen, who denied all allegations, is also undergoing
trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over charges of false asset
declaration.
Onnoghen has closed his defence at the CCT and the tribunal
is expected to give its judgment at the next sitting on April 15.
But for the crisis, Onnoghen, who is 68, was due for
retirement in 2020.
If the “soft landing” option is favoured by Buhari, the EFCC
may not proceed with filing criminal charges while the case at the CCT could
become academic because the major punishment for Onnoghen would have been his
removal from office.
He could be banned from holding public office for 10 years,
while his assets believed to have been acquired illegitimately will be
confiscated.
No comments:
Post a Comment