The National Judicial Council (NJC) ended its emergency meeting on Tuesday directing the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and the acting CJN, Justice Tanko Mohammed to within seven working days respond to petitions against them.
According to Dailytrust, the NJC made its decision known in a statement by the Director of Information, Soji Oye. According to the statement, the council also referred the petition against the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Chairman, Justice Danladi Yakubu Umar to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) for action.
It listed the petition forwarded to the NJC to include
“Petition against Hon. Mr. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON by Zikhrillahi Ibrahim of Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civil Education;
“Petition against Hon. Mr. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, CFR by Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative;
“Petition against Hon. Mr. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, CFR by Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, OON; and
“Petition against Hon. Danladi Yakubu Umar, Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal by Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative.”
Oye stated that because the chairman of the NJC (Justice Onnoghen) and his deputy (Justice Mohammed) recused themselves from the meeting, the council elected Hon. Mr. Justice Umaru Abdullahi, former President of the Court of Appeal as Interim Chairman to preside over the meeting.
The meeting has been adjourned to February 11 for further deliberation.
