Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has constituted a five-man probe panel under the chairmanship of Justice S. A. Akintan, a retired justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, to investigate petitions written against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen as well as the acting CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko.
The NJC took the decision at its emergency meeting where it accepted the result of the preliminary assessment of the petitions against Justice Onnoghen and Justice Tanko.
The meeting held that the petitions against the two judicial officers were worthy of further investigation and should not be terminated under Rule 17 of the Judicial Discipline Regulations of the Council.
The decision of the council was in line with Rule 20 (1) of its regulations.
Meanwhile, the council has forwarded a new petition written against Justice Tanko by Action People’s Party (APP) for his response within seven working days.
According to the Director of Information of the NJC, Soji Oye, the council directed the Investigation Committee to work expeditiously, determine all the petitions and responses and report to the council for a final decision.