Foreign countries ‘must respect’ the constitutional order in Nigeria

Following the reactions of certain foreign nation and bodies over the suspension of Walter Onnoghen, the Centre for Democracy and Good Governance (CDGG) has called for the acknowledgement of Nigeria’s sovereignty.

President Muhammadu Buhari had suspended Onnoghen who is facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over non-declaration of assets.

In a statement released by Bridget Akpan, CDGG’s executive director, the group said some countries have no business interfering with an affair that bothers around the country’s rule of law.

“The Centre for Democracy and Good Governance (CDGG) has noted with concerns the statements emanating from several countries and regional bodies as regards the suspension of ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen and the subsequent swearing in of Justice Tanko Mohammed as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, “ the statement read.

“The statements issued by these countries and foreign organizations made no effort to disguise that they are siding with the opposition in Nigeria, which lends credence to those that earlier accused them of trying to force a regime change in Nigeria irrespective of how Nigerians vote.

“They also decided to base their positions on street folklore that completely ignore that President Muhammadu Buhari acted on the order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, which is a creation of the Constitution of Nigeria (as amended). The stand they have taken therefore suggest that they view their own wishes as superior to the sovereignty of the country.

“The EU and US presented these views and totally ignored the larger population of Nigerians that sided with President Buhari on the suspension of Justice Onnoghen. Had these countries bothered to look beyond the faulty intelligence they based their intervention on, they would have seen that the suspended Chief Justice insulted Nigerians by refusing to declare his assets, which included domiciliary bank accounts that hold money deposits beyond his means as a judicial officer. It will greatly enrich the debate if the EU or the US can cite instances or examples of judges that remained in office after breaching extant legislation in their jurisdictions like Justice Onnoghen did.

“It is in the interest of peace, stability and successful elections in Nigerian that the EU and the US desist from echoing the propaganda of the opposition. Any nation, regional body or supranational body that wants to intervene in Nigeria must respect the fact that Nigeria has its own Constitution and cannot be dictated to as it works towards freeing itself from the shackles of corruption.”