Barely 24 hours after some Nigerians trooped out in the United Kingdom to express solidarity with President Muhammadu Buhari over the suspension of Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), their counterparts in the United States of America have followed suit.
The Nigerians, under the auspices of Restore Nigeria Coalition (RNC), were spotted on the streets of Washington, chanting ‘Sai Baba’, as they urged the Donald Trump-led government and the United Nations to support Buhari in the fight against corruption.
Cosmas Collins, President of RNS, who spoke on behalf of the group, said he believes Nigeria has made tremendous progress in the anti-corruption fight as witnessed in the case of Onnoghen.
He said: “The recent case of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, who violated the law in declaring his assets as stipulated by law has further emphasized the level of rot in the system.
“A particular segment of the Nigerian society has cried wolf where none exists and painted a picture of political persecution, forgetting that Nigeria was on the brink of imminent collapse due the activities of a few that have benefitted from the rot in the system.
“We are, through this medium, soliciting for assistance from the United States and United Nation in the war against corruption in Nigeria as initiated by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in recent times.
“A vivid example can be seen in the instance where the Chief Judicial Official in Nigeria, either by omission or commission failed to declare a part of his assets running into millions of dollars. The Chief Justice of Nigeria as the number one judicial officer in the country, for inexplicable reasons, did not declare a part of his assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau in Nigeria. The CJN cited ‘forgetfulness and mistake’ as the reasons for the non-declaration.
“The non-declared items are bank accounts with balances that run into millions of pounds sterling and dollars. This is too much to be right in our considered opinion. As the number one judicial officer in the country, it is wholly untenable for such an excuse, unless for deliberate reasons.”
