The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the Federal Government to discontinue forthwith the prosecution of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

The association made the demand in a statement signed by the NBA President, Mr Paul Usoro, on Monday in Abuja.

“Being a country governed by laws, the FGN owes us a duty to comply strictly with these provisions of the Constitution for the removal of the CJN,” it said.

NBA made the call ahead of the resumption of proceedings at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

It faulted the trial of the CJN and alleged that the immediate goal of the Executive was to remove Justice Onnoghen from office.

The association, however, asked the government to follow due process in its bid to attain the purported goal.

It insisted that due process was not followed when the Executive filed an Interlocutory Motion before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for the removal of the CJN.

NBA stated that such an application disparaged and assaulted due process as enshrined in Section 292(1)(a) of the1999 Constitution.

It quoted the law as saying, “A judicial officer shall not be removed from his office or appointment before his age of retirement except in the following circumstances . . . in the case of . . . Chief Justice of Nigeria . . . by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate.”

The association, thereafter, stated that the Constitution leaves no room howsoever for the removal of the CJN from office, whether on a temporary or permanent basis other than through the process prescribed by the law.

•Sourced from a Channels TV report

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