The office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (A-GF) has stated it is not in possession of the case file in the trial of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen, five years after the conclusion of the trial.
Onnoghen was prosecuted in 2019 by the federal government on false declaration of assets at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The former CJN was found guilty by the court and subsequently removed from office.
However, five years after his sack, the former CJN is challenging his removal from office.
At the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, the representative of the federal government, Tijani Gazali, told the court that not a single paper of the processes filed in the matter of the trial and conviction of the ex-CJN was with the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Gazali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the three-man panel of Justices billed to hear the appeal of Onnoghen that the trial of the former CJN was contracted to a Kano-based private lawyer, Aliyu Umar, SAN.
He explained that the said senior lawyer who prosecuted the case from the beginning to the end had died four years ago.
Gazali urged the court to grant an adjournment to enable the government to approach the chambers of the late lawyer to retrieve necessary documents to respond to the appeal.
According to him, virtually all the processes served on the AGF in 2019 were taken to a private lawyer.
Besides, Gazali said the matter was being looked into from another perspective with a view to working out an amicable resolution of issues in dispute by the new Attorney-General of the Federation.
However, counsel to the former CJN, Chris Uche, SAN, pointed out to the court that some documents were actually served on the AGF office and acknowledged.
Uche appealed to the court to allow him to move an application for an accelerated hearing, which was granted, upon no objections from the federal government.
Justice C. I. Jombo Ofo, who presided over the matter, granted an accelerated hearing and subsequently fixed September 19 for the hearing of the appeal.
Onnoghen, who was in court to witness the proceedings, is praying the Court of Appeal to set aside the judgement of the CCT that removed him from office and ordered the forfeiture of his five bank accounts.
