Why haven’t you sent acting CJN’s name for confirmation? Cross River lawmakers ask Buhari

The Cross River caucus in the national assembly has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to submit the name of Walter Onnoghen to the senate for confirmation without “further delay”.

On November 10, 2016, Buhari appointed Onnoghen – the most senior justice of supreme court – as acting as chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) after Mahmoud Mohammed retired.

Onnoghen three-months’ term will elapse on February 10. The delay in forwarding his name has generated different reactions.

Speaking on behalf of the caucus on Tuesday, John Enoh, representative of Cross River central senatorial district, told journalists that the president’s inaction “in this instance has acted as a cannon fodder for those alluding a vast conspiracy to deny justice Onnoghen his earned position”.

“Pursuant to its mandate, what is required from the presidency in this case is a decisive action of simply transmitting the name of justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen to the senate for confirmation which unfortunately has not stopped,” Enoh said.

“This unfortunate development has enveloped the supreme court and judiciary with an intriguing cobweb of uncertainty and given conspiracy theories a field day to decode why this obvious travesty has endured up till now.

“Under these circumstances, the continuous delay of the president to forward the name of Hon. Justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen to the senate for confirmation without any lawful and constitutional cause has brought the issue of the independence of the judiciary and security of tenure of judges to doubt and public discourse.

“It has opened the floodgate of political and social insinuations and entrenched the perception of ethno-regional prejudice and politicisation of the judiciary. This is most unfortunate.”