Onnoghen Ought To Have Resigned Earlier, Says Prof. Tahir

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, he stated that one expected Justice Onnoghen to have resigned his position earlier following his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. “There is some element of inevitability in what has happened. The way the Onnoghen saga has been going on, one actually had expected him to have taken this decision much earlier,” he stated Tahir, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), regretted that the trial of Justice Onnoghen over alleged false declaration of assets at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), would not have been in the public domain should he had relinquished his position earlier. While noting that the reported resignation of the suspended CJN has not been officially confirmed, he however said if truly Justice Onnoghen has finally quit his position, the development is coming quite late. “If it is true (that Justice Onnoghen resigned) because it has not been officially confirmed yet, my fear is that it may be a bit late in the day for him because he should have come before or after the NJC met and took a decision on him. “Now coming after becomes a bit of a matter of discretion whether to accept or not to accept. We are not privy to the details of Mr President but obviously from reports, it’s like the President has been advised to get him removed from office. “But whether the decision to resign will be effective is a complication for him because normally in public service, if disciplinary process is on, and then an officer does not resign before a decision is taken, it becomes a matter of discretion whether to accept or reject that decision on his part,” he added.]]>