Buhari cannot unilaterally suspend Onnoghen ― Ubani

The former second Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association,
Barrister Monday Ubani has said that the President cannot
unilaterally suspend the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter
Onnoghen.

Ubani who spoke on the issue maintained that Onnoghen’s
suspension is strange, while calling on President Buhari to give
more clarity.

“It sounds a bit strange to me because I know that presently,
the matter is before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and even the
court of Appeal has asked for a stay of proceedings.

“I also know that there is pending motion for the CJN to recuse
himself to be suspended but that motion has not been heard and
granted.”

“But what I heard from the news now is that the President said
he is acting on the orders of the CCT that the CJN should be
suspended. I don’t know when that order was given.”

“All I want to say is that I don’t know if the CJN can be
suspended or removed without a process. its either that process
comes from the NJC, the Courts or the Senate. These are the three
regulatory bodies that can suspend or remove a CJN. The President
cannot unilaterally do this.

“This particular suspension and removal to me sounds strange.
The President may have to give us more details. There is a problem
somewhere. The president should give us proper meaning to what has
taken place.”

Budget: FG Denies Alleged Discrepancies in Budget
Proposal
Our attention has been drawn to the allegation by a member of the
House of Representatives during its debate on the 2019 Budget
Proposals yesterday concerning errors and/or discrepancies in the
2019 Appropriations Bill.

Earlier today, officials of the Budget Office of the Federation
met with the Secretariat of the House Appropriations Committee to
review the honourable member’s observations. The outcome of the
review is that there are no errors/discrepancies as alleged by the
honourable member. It is instructive to note that the presentation
format of both the Appropriations Bill and Budget Details for 2019
are consistent with prior years.

Although we are yet to receive any formal communication from the
National Assembly on these observations, we have written a letter
to the House Appropriations Committee Chairman, and are issuing
this statement in view of the wide coverage the observations have
received in the media.

BEN AKABUEZE
DIRECTOR GENERAL
BUDGET OFFICE OF THE FEDERATION