The trial of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on charges of non-declaration and false declaration of charges, started on Monday, with the tribunal admitting first set of exhibits.
The exhibits tendered by the prosecution led by Aliyu Umar (SAN), were the petition written by a civil society group and which informed the six counts preferred against the suspended CJN and two assets declaration forms submitted by the defendant in 2014 and 2015.
The petition dated January 7, 2019, was sent to the Code of Bureau by Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative and was admitted by the three-man bench of the CCT as Exhibit 1 without any objection from the defence.
Although the defence led by Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), did not object to the assets declaration forms, he noted that the forms were in loose form and appeared to be tampered with, adding that he would address the issues at the final address stage.
Ruling, the tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar, admitted the forms as exhibits with a caveat that the defence would have the right to address the issue in their final address.
