The Federal Government has barred the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, from travelling out of the country.
Igbere TV gathered that Onnoghen, his wife and daughter were attempting to travel to Accra, Ghana when they were accosted by immigration officers.
A statement sighted by Igbere TV on Saturday issued by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), confirmed the development.
“On November 11, 2019, retired Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, was attempting to travel to Accra, Ghana. He was in company with his wife, Nkoyo, and daughter.
“His passport, with number A50445233, was flagged because Justice Onnoghen’s name was on the watch list. The passport is currently in custody of the NIS”, the statement read.
According to the NIS, the passport seized from the former CJN was not a diplomatic passport but the ordinary green passport.
The immigration service said that the directive to seize Onnoghen’s passport came directly from the Presidency.
“Justice Onnoghen will have to meet with the Presidency to know why his passport was seized. We are only following instructions,” an official officer told newsmen.
Igbere TV gathered that the latest development may be part of fresh probe into Onnoghen’s affairs, for challenging his conviction by the federal government.
Onnoghen was convicted for not declaring his assets by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in April, 2019.
But the Appeal Court had condemned the federal government for the manner in which the trial of Onnoghen was conducted.
In a judgment by the three-man bench led by Justice Stephen Adah, it was unanimously ruled that the CCT’s ex parte order breached the ex-CJN’s right to a fair hearing.
However, the court said it could not upturn Onnoghen’s conviction since the trial had already taken place.
Even though the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended that Onnoghen should be paid his benefits in full, report says he has not been paid and all his allowances have stopped.
His accounts were said to have remained frozen till date since the judgement.
Onnoghen, who was CJN from March 1, 2017 to April 5, 2019, was suspended by Buhari in January, a few weeks to the presidential election, on allegations that he failed to declare five bank accounts in his asset declaration form at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
The NJC subsequently recommended his retirement with full benefits and Onnoghen immediately complied and tendered his resignation before Buhari on April 5.
The CCT ordered Onnoghen’s sacking and barred him from holding public office for 10 years.
It also ordered that the sums of money in different currencies found in his Standard Chartered Bank accounts, a total of N46m, be forfeited to the federal government.
