FG says threat of mass action will not deter course of justice - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Federal Government (FG) has declared that the threat of mass action will not deter it or undermine the course of justice over the impromptu sack of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Nkanu Onnoghen at the weekend, reports ITREALMS.

FG made this position known through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed during a press conference in Abuja, Monday.

ITREALMS recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari last Friday purported complied with the order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, directing the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen, pending the determination of the cases against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and several fora relating to his alleged breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

Reacting to the outcry over the suspension, FG said the threat of mass action by some groups cannot undermine the course of justice, stressing that more Nigerians are with them than are with the opposition on this issue, going by the feelers that they are getting from across the country.

“Those who want to protest against the suspension of the CJN should feel free to exercise their rights, within the limits of the law,” he said.

According to him, contrary to the cacophony of voices that have been muddying the waters, the CCT was acting within its powers in ordering the suspension of Justice Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria, and President Muhammadu Buhari was right in carrying out the order.

“The suspension of Justice Onnoghen is a consequence of his breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and has nothing to do with the forthcoming elections, neither does it signify the onset of dictatorship or tyranny as some have insinuated. It amounts to irresponsible extrapolation to say that the suspension of Justice Onnoghen is the onset of dictatorship,” he said.

The minister blamed the media, alleging “a section of the media shirked their agenda-setting role by failing to objectively lead the discourse on the issue of the allegation facing Justice Onnoghen and his subsequent suspension.”

He pointed out that certain editorials crossed the acceptable limit of decent discourse, and did little or nothing to enlighten the public on the issue at stake.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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