CJN urges Nigerians to cooperate with judiciary

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, has called on Nigerians to respect and give absolute cooperation to the judiciary. He said they should do this by living within the confines of the country’s laws and constitution. That way, he said, peace and justice would prevail in the country. Onnoghen, an indigene […]

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, has called on Nigerians to respect and give absolute cooperation to the judiciary.

He said they should do this by living within the confines of the country’s laws and constitution.

That way, he said, peace and justice would prevail in the country.

Onnoghen, an indigene of Okurike in Biase LGA of Cross River State, spoke at a grand reception and state banquet organised in his honour by the state government on July 1, 2017 at the Calabar International Conference Centre to celebrate him being the first citizen of the state to become Chief Justice of Nigeria.

He cautioned that law offenders who think they could break the state laws or violate Nigeria’s constitution and go scot free were not truthful to themselves as they would never live in peace.

“We should endeavour to live within the confines of Nigerian laws and constitution. No law offenders should think they can ever go scot-free especially now. Living within the laws will afford us peace and justice,” he said.

Urging Nigerians to keep praying for him to succeed in office, Onnoghen remarked that the country would look back at his tenure with pride.  He expressed profound thanks to the state government for according him such honour, especially as his wife, Nkoyo, clocked 60.

Speaking, the former Senate leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, described Onnoghen as a great law officer and urged the judiciary to be exemplary for the sake of Nigeria’s democracy.

“No democracy survives with a discredited judiciary. The judiciary must be given free hand in order for democracy to thrive,” Ndoma-Egba advised.

In his remarks when he proposed the toast during the state banquet, former minister of justice and attorney general of the federation, Kanu Agabi, who harped on Nigeria’s unity, described her as a resilient country full of resourceful people.

 ”Nigeria has no alternative than to be united,” he said.

The state governor, Prof Ben Ayade, said they were very proud of their son, Justice Onnoghen, describing his appointment and confirmation as sheer predestination.

The event witnessed the presence of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State, past governors of the state and their deputies, wives, the traditional institution leadership and who is who in the state.