Barely 48 hours to the expiration of the tenure of the acting Chief
Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, acting President Yemi
Osinbajo on Tuesday finally sent his name to the Senate for
confirmation.
A source close to the Office of the Senate
President, confirmed that Senate President Bukola Saraki received the
letter yesterday, demanding the senate to screen and confirm Justice
Onnoghen as the substantive CJN.
Justice Walter Onnoghen hails from Cross River State.
Speaking
on condition of anonymity, a senator who also confirmed the receipt of
the letter by Saraki on Tuesday disclosed that the Senate was currently
on recess, saying that Saraki may likely reconvene the Senate to
commence the screening process before the expiration of Justice
Onnoghen’s tenure as acting CJN on Friday.
“The Senate President
is in receipt of the letter from the acting president, but it will be
left to Senator Saraki to reconvene plenary to start the screening
process.
“But even if he does so, the presidency should not expect
us to rubber stamp Justice Onnoghen’s nomination, as we would have to
carry out our own background checks, investigation and screening before
deciding whether to confirm him or not,” the senator noted.
The
transmission of Justice Onnoghen’s name to the Senate allegedly follows
the clean bill he was given by the Department of State Service (DSS)
that has been involved in the probe of some judges of the Supreme Court
and other lower courts.
Similarly, a presidency source revealed
that Osinbajo could renew the appointment of the acting CJN as an
interim measure following the lack of sufficient time to conclude
Justice Onnoghen’s screening processes in two days before the expiration
of his tenure as the acting CJN which would be based on the
recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) later today.
It
was learnt that the National Judicial Council (CNJ) will hold an
emergency meeting today to recommend the renewal of Justice Onnoghen’s
tenure as the acting CJN.
Ironically, Justice Onnoghen, who doubles as the chairman of the NJC, will preside over the meeting.
It
would be recalled that northerners had held the post of CJN for 30
years and that seemingly informed the pressure mounted on PMB recently
to confirm Onnoghen as the substantive CJN
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