On Thursday, the Court of Appeal, Abuja division, granted the Federal Government’s and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen’s motion to resolve the appellant’s case contesting his dismissal as CJN.
At the resumed hearing in the appeal, Dr. Ogwu Onoja, lead counsel to the former CJN, informed the Appellate Court’s three-member panel of justices that the two parties in the litigation are already in conversations about a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Onoja informed the panel that the parties had been in discussion till Wednesday, September 18.
He expressed hope that the discussion would yield beneficial results and requested that the court grant them a one-month adjournment for the final resolution of the case.
Tijani Gazali, the Federal Government’s counsel, did not oppose to Onoja’s argument; rather, he supported it and requested that the Court move the matter forward in order to reach an amicable settlement.
He said, “My Lords, I wish to humbly confirm the information. It is our position to settle the matter out of court”.
“Justice J. O. Oyewole, who presided over today’s sitting, directed both parties to file terms of settlement for adoption when eventually agreed upon.
“He also ordered them to document the terms of the settlement and file before the adjourned date for the court to adopt as its judgment in the matter.
“He fixed November 4 as the return date for the two parties.”
Former President Muhammadu Buhari dismissed Justice Onnoghen as Nigeria’s Chief Justice in 2019 following a charge of false reporting of assets, which the Code of Conduct Tribunal found him guilty of and removed him from office.
Following his departure, Onnoghen was ordered to forfeit his undisclosed assets to the federal government, as well as his five bank accounts.
