The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Thursday granted the request of the Federal Government and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, to settle out of court an appeal challenging his removal from office.
In 2019, the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) convicted Onnoghen in all the six-count charges of breach of Code of Conduct for Public Officers brought against him by the Federal Government while in office as CJN.
The tribunal also stripped him of all offices earlier occupied among which were the chairman of the National Judicial Council and also the chairmanship of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.
The tribunal ordered the forfeiture of his five bank accounts and the money in the accounts which Onnoghen did not declare in his asset declaration form submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), an agency of the Federal Government.
In his appeal, Onnoghen argued that all the allegations brought against him constituted no offence and should not have formed the basis for his conviction and removal from office.
However, at Thursday’s proceedings in the appeal, counsel to CJN, Ogwu Onoja, informed a three-member panel of the Appeal Court that the two parties were involved in discussions on a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
He subsequently appealed to the appellate court for a one-month adjournment for final settlement of the matter.
Counsel to the Federal Government Tijani Gazali confirmed this.
Justice J. O. Oyewole, who presided over the proceedings, directed them to file terms of settlement for adoption when eventually agreed upon.
He subsequently adjourned until November 4 as the return date for the two parties.
