. Says Politicians Will Not Pocket The Judiciary Under His Watch
The controversy over the confirmation of Justice Walter Onnoghen has been laid to rest as Nigeria’s Senate on Wednesday confirmed Justice Walter Onnoghen as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN.
He was confirmed by a voice vote after fielding questions from the lawmakers who drilled him on his plans for the judiciary.
For about 45 minutes, Onnoghen was before the Senate committee of the whole which was presided over by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
The Supreme Court justice assured the senators that the judiciary would be independent under his stewardship.
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River state, and the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Senate, Ita Enang, were present during the confirmation hearing.
Also the newly confirmed Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen has said that he would ensure the independence of the judiciary declaring that judges will not be pocketed by politicians.
He gave the assurance while responding to questions from Senators while being screened for confirmation on Wednesday in Abuja.
“I assure you that I will not compromise my integrity, and the independence of the judiciary will be re-enforced under my watch,” he said.
“I believe that you don’t need to see a judge before you have justice.”
On cases of conflicting judgements, Onnoghen said that such was bound to happen because different processes were followed by judges.
“The system has its own regulatory mechanism through the means of appeal; that is how we resolve conflicting judgements.
“But, to think that we can do away with conflicting judgements is not possible,” he said.
Onnoghen said that it would be impossible for politicians “to pocket” the judiciary under his leadership, explaining that “the moment the judiciary is politicised, justice will be denied the common man’’.
He said that the judiciary was in the process of modernising its processes to meet with international best practices.
On the appointment of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) as Supreme court justices, he said that it was not the duty of Justices of the Supreme Court but the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee.