Witness Tenders Receipt for Onnoghen’s 2010 Asset Declaration

Witness Tenders Receipt for Onnoghen’s 2010 Asset Declaration
…… As tribunal subpoenaed CCB Staff

The Suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen has Monday called his first witness, Lawal Busari, who tendered receipt of Onnoghen’s 2010 Asset Declaration Form, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Onnoghen is standing trial on an alleged six count charge of failure to disclose his assets as required by the law for public office holders.

The charge was preffered against him by the Federal government following a petition to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) by Dennis Aghanyan of the Anticorruption and Research Database Initiative early January, this year.

At the resumed trial the defense counsel, led by Adegboyega Awomolo SAN informed the court that they would calling three witness in the interim.

However, before the witness, Lawal Busari, was called into the witness box, Awomolo informed the tribunal of an application seeking for the tribunal’s order to compel one Mrs Theresa Nwafor, a staff of the CCB who is said to be based in Benin, Edo State to come and testify for Onnoghen.

Counsel to the prosecution, Aliyu Umar SAN, however did not object to the application to issue the subpoena compelling Mrs Nwafor to appear at the tribunal for the purpose of giving evidence in the trial.

Consequently, the 3 member tribunal led by Danladi Umar granted the application and ordered that Mrs Nwafor appear before the tribunal on Wednesday April 3, 2019 by 10am to testify.

Busari, the Chief Driver Mechanic, been led in evidence by Awomolo, gave a detail information on how he and Onnoghen went to Asokoro in Abuja, sometimes in 2010 to obtain his assets declaration form.

He recalled that onnoghen had on that occasion asked him if he had obtained his own asset declaration form and encouraged him to do, adding that onnoghen later gave him N200 to pay for both forms and receipts issued to them as evidence of payment for the forms.

When Awomolo sought to tender the receipt as evidence, prosecution counsel, objected on grounds that he was not the maker. However, following argument that the document was relevant and it’s original, the tribunal accordingly admitted the document as exhibit.

The witness further confirmed that both Onnoghen and himself filled their respective forms and returned to the CCB, while he went on a later date to get the acknowledgement receipts for the forms.

Under cross examination by the prosecution counsel, Busari, who claimed that he has been with Onnoghen since 1999, said he did not accompany Onnoghen to the CCB in 2005.

The witness was thereafter discharged from the witness box and the tribunal then adjourned till Wednesday April 3 for continuation of trial.

By PRNigeria