CJN appointment: Onnoghen plea for caution

With barely a week to the expiration of his tenure as the Acting Chief
Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen on
Thursday appealed to Nigerians to allow President, Muhammadu Buhari a
free hand to perform his constitutional duties concerning the
appointment of a substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Justice Onnoghen, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja
yesterday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Awassam Bassey
said the president does not need any threat or ultimatum to perform
his constitutional duties and therefore dissociates himself from those
individuals and groups making such demands on the president.

The statement said, “The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria and the
Nigerian Judiciary sincerely appreciate the interest of Nigerians
towards the appointment of a substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria to
oversee the affairs of the Judiciary as the third arm of government,
but believes that issuing an ultimatum to Mr. President appears to be
going too far and smacks of disrespect for the exalted office of the
president”.

The Acting Chief Justice therefore appealed for caution on the issue
of the appointment of Chief Justice of Nigeria as the President goes
about his constitutional duties, especially considering the fact that
the given time for him to act as Chief Justice of Nigeria has not
expired.