SAN FRANCISCO, June 02, (THEWILL) – The Presidency has dismissed allegations by a former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Colonel Dangiwa Umar (rtd.), that President Muhammadu Buhari has favored a section of the country in his appointments as he failed to push for the confirmation of Justice Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on the ground of religious and sectional biases.
A top presidency official who spoke with THISDAY said Umar’s allegation was incorrect and explained that the president had reservations about Onnoghen’s suitability for the nation’s foremost judicial position based on ethical consideration.
THEWILL recalls that the allegations of clannishness and lopsidedness in Buhari’s political appointments to favour the north was levelled against the president in an open letter at the weekend by Umar.
The skewed appointments, according to Umar in his May 30, 2020 letter, “is more glaring in the leadership cadre of our security services” and also accused the president of pussyfooting on the confirmation of Justice Dongban-Mensem as President of the Court of Appeal.
However, the presidency official, who craved for anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, rejected accusations that the Buhari government’s appointments in the justice sector were sectional and anti-Christian.
He said the president had a foreboding that it would be improper to make Onnoghen a substantive CJN while there was suspicion of alleged financial impropriety against him, hence Buhari’s reluctance to make him the substantive CJN then.
He said: “The colonel made the point of the president’s initial reluctance to put forward the now retired Justice Walter Onnoghen as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria and chose to attach a religious and sectional motive rather than objective facts on the side of the president.
“He didn’t reason with a president, who saw reasonable grounds of suspicion of financial offences, which, if established by an investigation and due process, could embarrass not only the occupant of the office but the exalted office itself.
“Now, tell me. With the benefit of hindsight, and arising from facts and the conviction that followed, were those grounds not reasonable? Was the conviction not a confirmation of the commission of an offence?
“Two, he (Umar) also tried to whip up religious emotion against the president by the allegation that there is an attempt to bypass Justice Dongban-Mensem with a Muslim judge as the President of the Court of Appeal.
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“Her Lordship Justice Dongban-Mensem was first approved as president of the court following a recommendation by the National Judicial Council by President Buhari three months ago, who approved a further three months acting period starting from June 3rd.
“Legally speaking, the privilege to lead the Court of Appeal in an acting capacity is for six months. As it is today, the beneficiary is just three months in the office. It is, therefore, mischievous and unreasonable for anyone to start a campaign, premature as it is, over a right that has not arisen.
“He ignored the fact that the last two appointments of the heads of the superior courts of records, the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court went to Christians, who succeeded Muslims.
“So the basis of the alleged bias is lacking here. Unfortunately, this fact is completely ignored in his letter.
“What I can say, in a summary is that while Colonel Umar’s biased and tendentious comments against the Buhari administration are not new, on this occasion its misrepresentation has reached new levels.”
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