El-Rufai: Onnoghen has no shame but he must go

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, has described Walter Onnoghen, suspended chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), as a “shameless judge” who has demonstrated that he is no longer fit to continue in office.

He said this when hundreds of supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari marched to the government house, Kaduna, on Friday in solidarity with Buhari.

The governor, who mounted an armoured personnel carrier (APC), stationed in front of the government house, commended them for their solidarity with the president and “for coming together to convey this very clear statement from the people of Kaduna state that in Kaduna we do not support corruption.”

El-Rufai said the time had come for every well-meaning Nigerian to support Buhari in his fight against corruption.

Quoting Usman Dan Fodio, founder of Sokoto caliphate, the governor said corruption in the judiciary is the worst form and no society can survive it.

“In Kaduna state, we do not support injustice, in Kaduna state, we are 100 per cent, behind the integrity of our president,” he said.

“I can assure you that the message you have given to me will be delivered to the president today… The worst form of corruption you can find in any public servant is judicial corruption because when the president is corrupt or the governor is corrupt, it is to the judge that ordinary people can take their case to.

“When the judge himself is corrupt, it is the highest form of corruption and must never be condoned.

“Mr President did not remove Onnoghen from office. He said in honour of the judiciary, he should step aside so that the charges against him can be investigated and prosecuted. The president did the right thing by asking him to step aside pending investigation. It is what is done in every organised and civilised society.

“Unfortunately, some people in Nigeria are trying to make white black and black, white. They are using technicalities to delay bringing this man to justice. The man (Onnoghen) is shameless, he does not want to go, but it is time for Nigerians to come all out and tell him he must go. Our judiciary must be clean. Our judiciary must consist of judges who cannot be bought.”

Taunting Onnoghen, the governor said it is possible that the former CJN is richer that Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man.

“The case of Justice Onnoghen is the case in which somebody who has worked in government for the past 20 years. Suddenly, he has millions of dollars in his account,” he said.

“He has admitted but said he has forgotten about them, which means he has more money than Aliko Dangote because I do not think Dangote will forget $1 million in his account.”