Tony Momoh Knocks Lawyers Speaking Out Against Onnognen’s Conviction

By Sola Adeyemi, Asst. News Editor

Veteran journalist and Nigeria’s former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh, has given hard knocks on the lawyers who have been speaking out against the recent conviction of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

In a statement he released on Friday, Momoh said that the argument of some lawyers that Onnoghen shouldn’t have been taken to CCT was not tenable, arguing that such lawyers didn’t were ignorant of the law.

Said he, “I don’t believe that it is a case of witch-hunt. I advised him (Onnoghen) to resign when the case started. That would have saved him from the embarrassment,”

He said that the CCT and the Code of Conduct Tribunal, established by Part One of the fifth schedule of the constitution, had the powers to deal with sitting presidents and governors.

“Part two deals with those who are subjected to its jurisdiction, which is the President, Vice-President, CJN, down to councillors. The CCT is a disciplinary body.

“Onnoghen is a public servant before he became the CJN. His case was directed to the Code of Conduct Bureau, which transferred it to CCT,” he said.