As written by Simon Kolawole.

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I think Buhari’s political strategists are working very hard to destroy him ahead of the general election. They are doing everything possible to set him against the whole world and set the whole world against him. I guess they are now getting the feedback. No matter how allegedly corrupt Onnoghen is, there is no way neutrals would not smell politics with the pace and haste being deployed to tackle him. We need to fight corruption in the judiciary, but everything must be done with decency and order. Only a shameless hypocrite would say that the Onnoghen case is less about politics and more about an attempt to fight corruption in the judiciary.

For if it were simply about cleansing the judiciary, the CCT chairman would not be sitting on that seat. There is a corruption case, filed by Buhari campaign spokesman, Mr. Festus Keyamo, dangling over Umar’s head. On the basis of morality, he should have been asked to step aside ages ago. Those asking Onnoghen to step aside on moral grounds are yet to extend this gesture to Umar. If it is sauce for Onnoghen, it should not be venom for Umar.

Unfortunately, we are in the political season: the first thing that dies is reason. As long as your side of the bread is buttered, fairness and common sense can go to blazes. Nobody should promote this lopsided approach to the anti-graft war.

Where do I stand? One, from the position of constitutional development, I think we should allow the system to take care of itself. Despite the preponderance of criticism against the president’s move, there are legal experts arguing that there is nothing wrong with it. Let all these arguments be tested in the courts. That will allow for an organic development of the system. Some issues need to be settled in law once and for all, and I believe the Onnoghen case offers a good opportunity to resolve the role of the president in disciplining a judge. My position, though, is that the president does NOT have the power to suspend the CJN. But I am not a court of law and my opinion is irrelevant.

Two, the CCT, in my opinion, does not have the power to order the president to swear in an acting CJN. As a layman who can read and write, I have studied the law setting up the CCT and I can say there is nothing empowering it to do what it has just done. The brief of the tribunal is to try public officers who are in breach of the Code of Conduct Act. Where it finds an officer guilty, it can pronounce these punishments: vacation of office; disqualification from holding any public office for a period not exceeding ten years; and seizure and forfeiture of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office. Even if the CJN is found guilty, he has a right of appeal. That is the law.

Three, the president has to be very sensitive about political realities in Nigeria, especially within the ethno-religious context. Even if his advisers are telling him not to give a damn, he has to realise that there is already a sticky allegation of “northernisation” against him. The word in town from day one is that he wanted to appoint a northerner as CJN and was never comfortable with Onnoghen, and the last thing someone in his position would want to do is keep feeding this perception. Critics say the CCT chairman, a northerner, is facing corruption charges and Buhari has never moved against him — but he has speedily suspended a southerner. Perception matters a great deal.

There is no doubt that errors have been committed by all sides. The CJN admitted that he did not declare all his assets. It is not as if he is being hounded because he did some good thing. We must never ignore this fact. Also, the federal government has gone in the wrong direction in trying to bring him to justice. As an optimist, though, I would argue that the Onnoghen saga has thrown up issues for us to tackle as a nation. We never imagined some of these issues before. Should all matters relating to judges be taken before the National Judicial Council (NJC)? What happens when the NJC chairman — th at is the CJN — is involved? We need to think deeply about this

The real damage being made against Mr.President is from the Buharists:Buharideens and Buharimaniacs.

They are doing a good job
They should damage him completely