BREAKING: Onnoghen Closes Case At CCT

Hamilton Nwosa
Writer

Ad

Shettima Jets Out of the U.S for Germany

By Abiola Olawale Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed New York for Frankfurt, Germany, immediately after his representation at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 80). This was contained in a press statement issued on Sunday by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha Nkwocha disclosed that the Vice President is now headed to Germany where…

SERAP Writes Tinubu, Demands Transparency in INEC’s Boss nomination

By Abiola Olawale The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to unveil the details of the selection process for the next Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman. With Professor Mahmood Yakubu's decade-long tenure set to expire in November 2025, SERAP warned that opacity in the appointment of the next…

Dangote Refinery: Crisis Cripples oil, gas supplies as PENGASSAN Declares Nationwide Strike

By Abiola Olawale In an escalation of tensions in Nigeria's oil and gas sector, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has announced an indefinite nationwide strike starting Monday, September 29, 2025. The move comes in response to what the union described as the "unlawful dismissal" of over 800 Nigerian workers…

Ad

The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Wednesday, rested his case in his ongoing trial on charges of false and non-declaration of assets.

The development came as a surprise as the defendant, whose lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had indicated on Monday that the defence would be calling “two or three witnesses,” only one of whom had testified at the previous Monday’s proceedings.

In addition, the defence had, on Monday, applied for and caused the Danladi Umar-led CCT to issue a subpoena to be served on an officer of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Mrs. Theresa Nwafor, to appear on Wednesday to testify as the second defence witness.

It was not clear if Nwafor was present at the tribunal when Onnoghen’s lead defence counsel for the Wednesday’s proceedings, Chris Uche (SAN), rose to announce the closure of the defendant’s case.

Uche made no mention of Nwafor or any other proposed defence witness.

He said, “My lords, today is for continuation of trial. But my lords, after a deep review of the evidence led by the prosecution and the defence, the defence has come to conclusion and we have closed our case.

“Pursuant to paragraph 14 of the Practice Direction of this honourable tribunal, we apply to file our final written addresses.”

He asked for 14 days to file the final written address.

The prosecuting counsel, Aliyu Umar (SAN), said Uche had given him prior indication to close the defence’s case on Wednesday. He urged the tribunal to use its discretion to allot time for the filing of final addresses by the parties.

The next stage in the trial would be for parties to exchange their final addresses and return to the tribunal on a date to adopt the court papers.

The date for judgment would be fixed after the adoption of the final addresses.

The prosecution had earlier closed its case with three witnesses.

Ad

Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
X whatsapp