From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari had private meeting with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen Tuesday at the Presidential Villa.

However, after the meeting, the CJN told State House correspondents that it is wrong to assume that the judiciary is frustrating the anti corruption project of the president.

Onnoghen said there is always the option of an appeal rather than be judgmental of the judiciary. The federal government lost four court cases recently, causing a setback in the war against corruption.

An Abuja High Court had on Wednesday last week dismissed all the 18 corruption ‎charges filed against Justice Ademola, his wife Olubowale and Joe Agi, holding that the prosecution failed to prove any of the allegations despite the provisions of sections 53 and 60 of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act (ICPC Act).

In the ‎same week the forfeiture on Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was reversed, while the case of misappropriation against a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe was squashed.

The last of the cases is that of Patience Jonathan, former First Lady which a federal high court sitting in Lagos unfroze her $5 million account in Skye Bank.

The federal government had last week said it will appeal the court ‎rulings, especially that of Justice Ademola, his wife Olubowale and Joe Agi.

Onnoghen told newsmen that, “I am not going to speculate. I am a lawyer and a judicial officer. I operate on facts and the law. So, I can’t answer that question because I am not in everybody’s mind. You are free to think whatever you want to think but I think you should be guided by facts and the law when it comes to judicial performance or discharge of judicial responsibilities.” Asked if he was satisfied with the way anti graft war is plays out in the country he replied, “I have told you that if you are not satisfied, the system is fashioned and designed in such a way that if you lose at the magistrate’s court and you are not satisfied; because someone must win and another must lose; so the loser has the chance of testing the decision on appeal. When it comes to the judiciary, don’t be judgmental. When you are judgmental, you become prejudiced.” He reiterated that though the FG had lost some cases in court, the anti graft war has not lost steam. “You take that as losing steam? If there was steam, then it wouldn’t have been without the participation of the Judiciary. Good. So, if there is loss of steam, you should not equally relate it only to the judiciary. The fight against corruption has lost no steam.

Now, you should know one thing: two people will always have a ‎quarrel. They may be three or four or one hundred. All the parties to that quarrel will always have different stories to tell. By the way our system is fashioned and designed and operated, when you go to a court of law, you cannot have a drawn game. There must be a winner and there must be a loser. In our system, a loser has the chance of appealing to the highest court eventually.