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Bloomberg
Nigeria’s chief justice is due to go on trial for alleged improprieties in declaring assets in what the opposition said is an attempt to intimidate the judiciary and spark a constitutional crisis a month before presidential elections.
The Nigerian Bar Association described the decision by the West African nation’s Code of Conduct Tribunal to put Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen on trial as an “assault, intimidation and desecration of the judiciary†by government agencies. The tribunal said Onnoghen, who took up the post in March 2017, would be charged on six counts, which it didn’t detail in a statement.
The trial comes ahead of the February 16 election, which pits 76-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 72. Abubakar’s People’s Democratic Party has accused Buhari and his All Progressives Congress of clamping down on dissent and preparing to rig the vote, which they deny. The president has refused to sign an electoral bill that lawmakers say they passed to ensure the vote is free and fair. Since neither candidate is expected to concede in the election, the courts may have to play a important role in determining the eventual winner, said Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Lagos-based risk advisory SBM Intelligence.
“What this means is that it is highly likely that the judiciary will have the definitive say via election petition proceedings on who will be the next president,†he said.