Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark has alleged that former President Muhammadu Buhari removed former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, from his position prior to the 2019 election so that he(Buhari) could secure a re-election .
According to Clark, Buhari, in connivance with his then Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, wanted to perpetrate electoral fraud abd felt that with Onnoghen remaining as CJN, they would not be able to achieve their aim.
Clark , in a letter addressed to the current CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Sunday, while commending the CJN and the Court of Appeal for acquitting Onnoghen of false asset declaration charges, said Onnoghen was removed unjustly by Buhari, noting that his removal violated constitutional provisions.
“As for the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, in his own case, ‘a Daniel has come to judgment’. I knew he was not fairly treated; he was oppressed and humiliated by President Muhammadu Buhari and his Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN),” Clark wrote.
He added: “He (Buhari) allowed him to rise to the post of CJN but he saw that, that was not good enough for him because if Justice Onnoghen was to remain the CJN, the mess and mischievous things they wanted to carry out during the presidential election in 2019, Justice Onnoghen would not accept it and the best thing was to remove him, and this was the secret plan between President Buhari and his Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
“The show of shame that took place at the time was so disgraceful, callous, unjust and so barbaric that instead the President of Nigeria, who swore to an oath of office that he would maintain security and welfare of Nigerians, chose to stoop so low in order to humiliate a fellow Nigerian because he wanted to be President of Nigeria at all costs for a second term. It is a shame which Nigeria has just recovered from,” he stated.
He further urged Justice Kekere-Ekun to probe past presidents and ensure no one, no matter his position is brought to book.
Clark noted that ‘there is no one who is above the law in his own country,’ and there should not be ‘sacred cows’ when probing corruption.
“A president of a country is just one of the ordinary members in the country, but once elected, enjoys immunity. There is nowhere therefore in the constitution or any legal document where it is stated that immunity is for life,” he said.
