Justice Walter Onnoghen gets Acting President’s Nod for CJN

Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen is set to be confirmed as the substantive Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) having been cleared of allegations impeding his appointment as the head of the nation’s Judiciary.

The Nation reports that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo may send his name to the Senate for confirmation “any moment from now”.

After thorough checks by the security agencies, a report submitted to the presidency states that Justice Onnoghen is “reform-minded and suitable for the anti-corruption agenda of the Buhari administration”.

A top government source while confirming the development dismissed the suspicion that Onnoghen’s confirmation has been delayed because he’s a southerner.

“All hurdles against the nomination of Justice Walter Onnoghen as CJN have been resolved. He has been absolved of all allegations against him,” he said.

“There were issues against him and it became imperative to get to the roots of these allegations.

“More importantly, the outcome of the security checks rated Onnoghen as ‘reform-minded and suitable for anti-corruption agenda of Buhari administration.”

Onnoghen, whose tenure as Acting CJN ends February 10, was checked by the DSS for his antecedent as a lawyer, what the 1994 Justice Kayode Eso (JSC) panel said on him and the outcome of a recent investigation of bribery allegations against some Supreme Court Justices.