Six years after he was unceremoniously removed from office, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Monday discharged and acquitted a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, of the charge that led to his removal from office in 2019.

It will be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari had on January 25, 2019, about 29 days before the presidential election, suspended Justice Onnoghen from office as the CJN and swore in the next most senior jurist of the Supreme Court, Justice Tanko Muhammad, to take over the leadership of the judiciary.

Justice Onnoghen’s suspension came barely eight hours after he announced his decision to inaugurate judges who would preside over election petition tribunals.

Ex-President Buhari’s action elicited varied reactions from both within and outside the judicial circles, with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), describing it as a coup against the judiciary.

The former CJN was later convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) on a six-count corruption charge that was preferred against him by the Federal Government.

It was alleged that he made a false declaration to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

About six years after he was convicted, a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Mohammed Bello, acquitted the ex-CJN following a settlement agreement the federal government entered with him.

President Bola Tinubu had, through the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) persuaded the appellate court to halt further hearing of three separate appeals the former CJN filed to challenge his removal, conviction, and seizure of his assets.

In line with the terms of the settlement dated 24 October 2024, the appellate court ordered FG to, forthwith, unfreeze Onnoghen’s account with Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited.

In his seven-point reliefs, Justice Onnoghen applied for an order setting aside his conviction as well as quashing the order for the forfeiture of his assets and to discharge and acquit him of all the charges leveled against him.

Contrary to the CCT finding, Justice Onnoghen, said he did not admit the fact of non-declaration of Assets from 2005 as the Justice of the Supreme Court, adding that he only stated that he did not declare in 2009 as required because he forgot.

The former CJN challenged the order for the confiscation of his assets on the grounds that the assets were legitimately acquired, as against the provisions of paragraph three of section 23 of the CCB Act which only permits the seizure of such assets “if they were acquired by fraud.”

He faulted the failure of the prosecution to present the petitioner, Denis Aghanya, before the tribunal whose petition led to the charges against him.

Justice Onnoghen maintained that all the allegations brought against him “constitute no offence and should therefore not have formed the basis for his conviction”.

In a brief remark, Justice Onnoghen’s counsels Adegboyega Awomolo and Ogwu James Onoja both thanked President Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation AGF for ensuring the resolution of the issue.

“The decision of the Court of Appeal delivered this morning is historical and very significant. It is significant in that, it restored the dignity, honour, and integrity of Honourable Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, past Chief Justice of Nigeria.

“More than these personal gains to His Lordship is the fact that the damage done to the honour, integrity, dignity, and Independence of the judiciary, the 3% arm of government under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, has been rebuilt and restores.

“Two decisions and actions of the Executive Arm of Government between 2016 and 2019 did grave damage to the public perception, integrity and independence of the judiciary.

“The first was the invasion of the homes of judicial officers of the realm, including the justice of the Supreme Court in the early hours of the night, like a common criminal and bandits.

“It was claimed that there were allegations of corruption against the judicial officers. In the end, none of the judges, publicly humiliated, was found guilty of any corruption charges.

“The second was the unconstitutional removal of the Hon Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Head of the Judiciary, an arm of government, in breach of clear provision of the Constitution. The impurity of the Executive has no precedent or justification.

“These two events have resulted in the poor public perception of the Judiciary and low confidence in the integrity and independence of the Judiciary.

“We Thank the Honorable Attorney General of the Federation and the Minster of Justice, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi, SAN for his candor and forthrightness as demonstrated in this appeal.

“Through the Honourable Attorney General, we send our appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for upholding the spirit and letter of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by affirming the Independence of the Judiciary and respect for the Rule of Law.

“The Judiciary remains the foundational structure, the bulwark upon which Nigeria’s Constitutional democracy rest.

“Nigerians must be encouraged to have confidence and trust in the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the judiciary, in just resolution of disputes brought to the Courts.

“Justice is rooted in confidence and that confidence must not be dislodged by Executive interference with the independence and integrity of the Judiciary.

“It is hoped that never in this Country will the independence, integrity, honour, and dignity of the Judiciary be trampled upon as was done before”, they said.