The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen has alleged that his Assets Declaration Form CCB1 submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was tampered with by agents of the Federal Government. Onnoghen made the allegation at his resumed trial on alleged non-declaration of some of his assets before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). The documents he alleged were tampered with are the CCB assets declaration forms of 2014 and 2015.
The prosecution had sought to tender the said documents in support of evidence against Onnoghen after it called its first witness, James Akpalla, a Senior Investigative Officer with the CCB. However, when the documents were shown to the defendant, Onnoghen through his counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, told the tribunal that a careful look at the documents showed that they have been tampered with.
According to him, the 2014 form had become loose, with a part of it mutilated and had become blue in a way. Awomolo said a similar observation was made in the 2015 form with duplications and omission of some pages. “We have some reservation on the documents, we will not object in the interest of justice but we have reservations that would be addressed at the end of the day,” Awomolo stated.
Akpalla, in his evidence, had told the tribunal that the CCB on January 10 referred a petition written by the Anti-Corruption and Research Database Initiative to his team for investigation. The witness said that on the strength of the petition signed by one Dennis Aghanya, he visited Onnoghen in his office at the Supreme Court, during which a cautionary statement was obtained from him while letters were also written to the Standard Chartered Bank for account details of the defendant with the bank. He further stated that the following day, January 11, 2019, the bank responded prompting the investigating team to conclude their investigation and prepare their report.
Under cross-examination, the witness informed the tribunal that he did not know whether the CCB has a central registry and register where returned assets forms are deposited and registered. Responding to another question, the witness said the investigation into the petition against Onnoghen was concluded within 24 hours.
But drama started when Awomolo confronted the witness with the charge against Onnoghen, proof of evidence, list of exhibits and witnesses which were all dated January 10, when investigation into the petition had not been completed. Also, when the witness attempted to deny the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the CCB investigation, Awomolo confronted him with yet another set of documents from Standard Chartered Bank addressed to the EFCC but tendered by the witness. At this point, the witness said he was not aware that the charges against Onnoghen were filed before the completion of the investigation and consequently declined further comments on the bank’s document addressed to the EFCC.
In the course of the proceedings, the petition against Onnoghen, two documents from his bank, his cautionary statement and the two assets declaration forms he once submitted to the CCB were admitted as exhibits by the tribunal. Meanwhile, hearing on the matter has been adjourned till March 21. It is expected that on that adjourned date, the account officer to Onnoghen, already summoned by the tribunal, will appear in relation to the documents submitted to the CCB. Prosecution counsel, Aliyu Umar, had earlier asked the court to subpoena the bank official after Awomolo had opposed tendering the bank document on the ground that since the witness did not author or sign the document; he could not tender it as an exhibit before the tribunal.
The Nigerian government is suing the CJN over refusal to declare his assets in breach of the provision of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act. He is also being accused of maintaining domiciliary foreign currencies account which comprised Dollar Account, Pound Sterling Account and Euro Account which are alleged to be contrary to relevant laws, especially for public office holders.