Walter Onnoghen, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, on Friday opened up on why the Federal Government removed him from office in 2019 unceremoniously.
Onnoghen said he was removed from office due to rumours from the Executive that he had a meeting with former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, preparatory to the 2019 general elections.
The former CJN said the rumour was thick and spread fast but he decided not to react to it because he never travelled to Dubai or held any meeting with anybody, including Atiku.
Speaking at a book launch titled ‘Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, Practice, Procedure, Forms and Precedents’, authored by a renowned legal luminary, Chief Ogwu James Onoja, in Abuja.
Onnoghen expressed surprise that though the Federal Government had all the machinery to investigate the allegation, it never did, but opted to unlawfully come after him and his office.
Onnoghen said the situation got to the peak when all of a sudden, his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal was arranged, even when he had not been invited or accused of any wrongdoing.
He also lamented that democracy was dead in Nigeria without courageous judges.