Is Onnoghen just a pawn? By Tijjani Isa
Just as some opposition politicians and their members in the region of birth of the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Samuel Onnoghen are yet to rescind their commitment to his defence against the call of justice, yet another dimension having to do with why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is so committed to the anti-Onnoghen trial struggle has been exposed. A Kaduna based senior Journalist, Tijjani Isa, laid this bare open on his Facebook wall on Wednesday and The DEFENDER, which has been on the trail of every educative fact about the matter, sought the permission of the author to pick it, unedited, for the consumption of its widely reached readers locally and intentionally looking up to it for updates. Excerpts:
I asked him what of the 50+ lawyers, where do they fit in all these? “Nigerian lawyers are predators” he said. “They are not looking up to protect Onnonghen who’s due for retirement in 2020 anyway but to preserve the NJC to continue to cover their iniquities. They are not admitting it but they know CJN is beyond redeeming. The best they can do for him I reckon is to make so much noise, raise some legal dust believing it will soon die down” he intoned!!
At every step the Dubai Strategy collapses like pack of cards. An impeccable source told me the #OnnonghenGate is one that has potential to not only consume the principal pawn but many members of Bar and Bench.
I didn’t believe it at first until he explained that Onnoghen’s dossier had been with the PDP for a while now. Until few weeks ago however, the opposition PDP didn’t know what to do with it, he said.
The question to ask here is, who leaked the dossier to the opposition, and for what purpose knowing fully well that an Onnoghen without blemish is a better asset than one with lots of smelly skeletons?
My source says the PDP strategists did in fact raise this conundrum and suggested that it was better to hold on to it until such an opportune time.
In the meantime he said, it was agreed that the CJN be approached, but with caution, to know what judicial cover he is willing to offer the PDP should it challenge the outcome of February polls which it is destined to lose.
Perhaps this is at the juncture the strategy leaked or someone snitched on this highwire balancing act? I asked my source.
This is what he said: “the world is a global village that makes things hard to conceal. Your closest confident can easily sell you out if given a good cash offer. And I believe that’s what happened”.
“I don’t believe the government”, he opined, “wanted the exposé to go public. Perhaps it even wanted to keep it under wraps until after the elections. But something went wrong”.
“That Agahanya fellow, of that anti corruption NGO, might have seized the opportunity or he was recruited for the dirty job, mostly likely by you know who…..”, he said, with a knowing smile.
I asked him what of the 50+ lawyers, where do they fit in all these?
“Nigerian lawyers are predators” he said. “They are not looking up to protect Onnonghen who’s due for retirement in 2020 anyway but to preserve the NJC to continue to cover their iniquities. They are not admitting it but they know CJN is beyond redeeming. The best they can do for him I reckon is to make so much noise, raise some legal dust believing it will soon die down” he intoned!!
He said, do not say “I told you” he warned with yet another knowing smile.
Reflecting on all these, I believe Mr Justice Walter Nkanu Onnogen has been played the pawn in a complex political chess game.
He is the loser in this, even if he wins his battle with CCT. He will leave his exalted position bruised integrity wise.
Sad way to end a glorious career at the Temple of Justice.
