TheNewsGuru

Tag: False Asset Declaration

  • FG drags serving senator to CCT over alleged false asset declaration

    The lawmaker representing Delta-North Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, has been dragged to the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the Federal Government on a three count count charge of false declaration of assets.

    The charges were filed by the Office of the Department of Public Prosecutions, Federal Ministry of Justice.

    The senator was recently referred to the DPPF’s office for prosecution by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property led by Okoi Obono-Obla.

    A copy of the charges shows that Nwaoboshi is to be tried for allegedly making false assets declaration in his Form CCB1 submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau by failing to declare three bank accounts in Sterling Bank (Nigeria) Ltd .

    This is just as a Federal High Court, Abuja in a suit FHC/ABJ/CR/88/2018 between the Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Senator Albert Bassey Akpan presided over by Justice J.T Tsoho, ruled that the Special Presidential Investigation Panel For Recovery of Public Property is competent to initiate criminal prosecution against Senator Albert Akpan Bassey or anybody it has investigated.

    The Court also held that the Prosecutor of the Panel, Dr Celsus Ukpong is competent to sign or initiate criminal prosecution and doesn’t require the consent of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to do so.

    The Principal State Counsel at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Labaran Magaji, who signed the charges, alleged Nwaoboshi’s action was contrary to section 15(1) and (2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act and punishable under section 23(2) of the same Act.

    The charges read in part: “That you, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, adult, male, Nigerian citizen and a serving Senator representing Delta North constituency within the jurisdiction of this Tribunal did make a false declaration in your asset declaration Form CCB 1 No: SEN001098 in that you refused to declare Account No: 0008600331 maintained by you with Sterling Bank (Nigeria) Ltd which is in operation since about 2015 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15 (1) and (2) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap 015 LFN 2004 and punishable under Section 23 (2) of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap 015 LFN 2004.

    Accompanying the charges filed against the Delta-North senator was a document titled, ‘an application to commence trial.’’

    The summary of the prosecution’s case also attached to the charges, read, “It is the prosecution’s case that the defendant, a serving senator was investigated and found to have falsely declared his assets in his assets declaration Form CCB1 No. SEN001098.

    “The prosecution, in this case, shall rely on the exhibits and testimonies of witnesses to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.”

    Ruling on the case that involved Senator Bassey, the Court also said that the Panel doesn’t require having the consent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before it can initiate criminal prosecution against anybody.

    Senator Albert Bassey Akpan was arraigned before the Federal High Court by the Panel for refusal to declare his assets contrary to Section 3 (a) of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provisions) Act, 2004. However, he objected to the competence of the Panel to file charges against him.

    With the ruling, the coast has been cleared for the Senator Akpan to face the charges against him.

    However, Senator Akpan’s counsel, Solomon Unoh (SAN) has filed a Notice of Appeal against the ruling.

    Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the Panel, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, said that the ruling is great and that it has an impetus to the fight against corruption and strengthening the hand of the panel.

  • Alleged false asset arraignment: Onnoghen appeals CCT ruling dismissing no-case submission

    Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has indicated his resolve to challenge a ruling by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, against his no-case-submission.

    In the motion on notice, regarding the proposed application, Onnoghen said the tribunal erred in law when it dismissed the submissions, despite the evidence brought by the defence team, suggesting the invalidity of the case.

    Onnoghen is facing trial for alleged failure to declare his assets between 2005 and 2015.

    Onnoghen spoke through his lawyers led by Adegboyega Awomolo during the hearing of his no-case submission on Friday.

    He had accused the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) of failing to comply with its guiding laws in preparing and treating the charge against him.

    Onnoghen also described the bank documents mentioned in the charge sheet as a “strange document,” which is not part of the case before the tribunal.

    In his argument, Awomolo described the bank statement as a strange document due to the fact that it is addressed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

    He also argued that the fact that the CCB admitted that it did not verify Onnoghen’s assets as required by the CCB’s rules invalidates the whole case.

    In a ruling, however, the tribunal agreed with submissions made by the prosecution that the faults pointed out in the charge by the defence amounted to internal communication.

    According to the tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, the alleged faults cited by the defence were part of the bureau’s Standard Operational Procedure (SOP), which was internal.

    “The present board chaired by Isa Mohammed has not adopted the standard provisional provisions. In essence, the standard procedure of the Bureau is not used currently at the Bureau because it was authored by the former administration at their own interest.

    “The constitutional provisions are superior to the SOP which is internal. The tribunal is not bound by it, rather it is bound by the cause of justice,” Umar said.

    Umar described the statement made by Onnoghen as a confessional statement made to suggest an admission of guilt. According to Umar, Onnoghen’s lawyers ought to allow him to face the consequence of his admitted guilt, rather than struggle to defend their client.

    “This is a court that does not rely on technicalities but on the substance of the charge. The defendant made a written admission without duress that he forgot to declare his asset.

    “This confessional statement is more than enough for the defendant to enter his defence if he has any. The defendant’s admission statement is enough to call the defence to give his evidence. The defence counsel ought to perform its constitutional duties first,” Umar said.

    “The tribunal shall never be swayed from exercising justice for whosoever appears before it. We are all equal, before the law,” Umar added.

    The CCT chairman added that only God almighty was worthy of being rated above all.

    “The tribunal hereby orders the defendant to enter his defence. The no-case submission is discountenanced and subsequently refused,” Umar ruled.

    After dismissing the application, Umar adjourned till Monday, April 1, despite repeated pleas by the defence to be allowed a minimum of seven days to study the ruling and advise its client.

    When it became obvious that Umar would not adjust the next hearing date, an obviously pissed Awomolo responded saying; “God bless Nigeria.”

    At that moment, Umar left the trial room without properly dismissing the hearing.

     

  • Alleged false asset declaration: CCT constitutes panel to try CJN Onnoghen

    The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has raised a panel to try Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Walter Onnoghen, who is accused of lying in his asset declaration.

    The tribunal on Saturday announced that corruption charges had been raised against Mr Onnoghen and the trial will commence on Monday.

    TNG gathered that the case is built on a petition filed by a civil society group, Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative.

    The petition dated January 7, 2019, accuses Mr Onnoghen of managing several accounts through which has been making transfers of local and foreign currencies in “a manner inconsistent with financial accuracy,” the petition signed by the group’s executive secretary, Denis Aghanya, said.

    In its statement, the CCT said the trial “was consequent to application filed by the Code of Conduct Bureau to the CCT Chairman yesterday for the trial to commence against the Chief Justice of Nigeria on six count charges”.

    “The application was filed yesterday by the operatives of CCB, dated 11st January, 2019 and signed by Musa Ibrahim Usman (Esq) and Fatima Danjuma Ali (Esq), containing 6 count charges all borders on non declaration of asset,” a statement signed by Ibraheem Al-Hassan, head of press and public relations of CCT, said.

    A three-member panel led by Justice Danladi Umar will commence the trial on Monday at its courtroom, situated at the headquarter, along Jabi Daki Biyu, Saloman Lar way, Abuja, at about 10:00 a.m.

  • [Exclusive] Alleged false asset declaration: Why attempts by FG to prosecute, remove CJN may fail

    [Exclusive] Alleged false asset declaration: Why attempts by FG to prosecute, remove CJN may fail

    Facts have emerged on Saturday on why the federal government instructed the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen to vacate office in preparation for the commencement of his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on Monday.

    Findings by TNG showed that the pending trial against the CJN before the Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar led CCT was instigated by a petition filed by a group, Anti-corruption and Research based Data Initiative (ARDI) and partners on January 7 to the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, Federal Secretariat, Abuja and was received on January 9.

    Further findings by TNG revealed that Danladi Agbanya who serves as the Executive Secretary of ARDI was a former media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari. He was also the National Publicity Secretary of the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC); a political party founded in 2009 to pursue Buhari’s presidential bid in 2011. The party later merged with the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and three others to form the All Progressives Change (APC) which brought in Buhari as president in 2015.

    Based on the petition, the federal government on January 10 filed charges against the CJN, accusing him of asset declaration offences.

    The government said it was only in 2016 after the controversial crackdown on judges that Onnoghen partially declared his asset, but still failed to declare a series of bank accounts, denominated in local and foreign currencies, linked to him at a Standard Chartered Bank branch in Abuja.

    The government consequently filed six charges of non and fraudulent declaration of assets by Onnoghen, with trial expected to commence on January 14 at the CCT.

    Meanwhile, the CCT said in a separate statement Saturday afternoon that trial would commence on Monday at the premises of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, commercial neighbourhood in Abuja.

    If the trial comes through, this could further strain relations between the judicial and the executive arms of the federal government, which had been largely tense since the raid on federal judges’s homes in October 2016.

    Recall that two judges of the Supreme Court were amongst those whose houses were raided. They were charged for corruption, but none of them has been found guilty of wrongdoing.

    A source declared on Saturday that scores of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by a prominent activist, are already in Abuja to defend Onmoghen before the tribunal.

    The source said: “This is a clear case of persecution. We don’t know why they are coming up with this but we strongly believe the government does not want Justice Onnoghen to be in office during and after the presidential election. The government will fail this time around”.
    However, TNG gathered that by virtue of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in respect of the case of Justice of Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and in fact, any serving judicial officer judge, cannot be tried by the Code of Conduct tribunal or even court, until the National Judicial Council, NJC would have dealth with the matter.
    Though, the matter is still on appeal at the Supreme court, the judgment still stands.

    As a matter of fact, based on that judgment, the Code of Conduct Tribunal had to discontinue the trial of Supreme court justice, Sylvester Ngwuta who was facing trial on alleged false declaration of assets.

    Similarly, the Federal High court had struck out money laundering charges against the Supreme court justice based on this judgment. Same thing in respect of Justice Ajumogobia.

  • Alleged false asset declaration: Atiku warns Buhari over planned removal, prosecution of CJN

    Alleged false asset declaration: Atiku warns Buhari over planned removal, prosecution of CJN

    The Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has warned President Muhammadu Buhari and the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) not to throw Nigeria into an avoidable crisis over their desperation to sack the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen.

    In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday by Atiku’s Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the PDP candidate said the principle of separation of powers remains sacrosanct in a democracy irrespective of what President Buhari is being told by his advisers or the buttons they are pressing to forcefully remove the CJN.

    Atiku said the plot to sack Justice Onnoghen was a preemptive move against the bench in the face of imminent defeat and knowing the role that the judiciary plays in the final outcome of elections.

    He said, “We have just been made aware of the plot by President Muhammadu Buhari the All Progressives Congress (APC) to sack Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen using flimsy assets declaration issues as a pretext.

    “We are aware that there are plans to arraign Justice Onnoghen before the Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar led-Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday, January 14, 2019.

    “The charge against Onnoghen, we understand has already been filed and served on him last Friday at his official residence in Abuja preparatory to his appearance at the Tribunal.

    ”But we warn that despite the clandestine meetings in the highest echelon of the APC and also involving some top officials of the federal government which include the Code of Conduct Tribunal, neither Buhari nor the APC can re-write the Nigerian Constitution just because of its impending defeat at the February 16, presidential election.

    “Heavens did not fall when PDP lost to the APC in 2015. And heavens will not fall now that the APC is sure to lose to the PDP, seeing that the APC’s plan to rig in the forthcoming elections will not pull through.”