Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari was unaware that Justice Walter Onnoghen, would be arraigned on Monday until Saturday evening.
The vice president said he was sad about Onnoghen’s arraignment, adding that the President had always made it clear that institutions should not be interfered with.
Osinbajo said this, yesterday at the opening of the Online Publishers Conference in Abuja.
He said he was sad about the turn of events and regretted the current situation where a senior member of his profession is subjected to such judicial process.
“I feel very sad that is going on at all. For President Buhari, his whole approach is that institutions should just do their work. I can tell by fact that he did not know about this until Saturday evening.
“He did not know that there would be any kind of arraignment until Saturday evening. He has said categorically, ‘don’t interfere with what the institutions are doing.’ Sometimes, it has consequences; like we have today.
“My take is that I rather not have a situation where members of a profession are being tried for an offence. I don’t feel particularly good about it, as a matter of fact, I feel very sad about it, that it is going on at all,” Osinbajo said.
But the immediate past governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, pushed back at Osinbajo, saying that it is ridiculous to say that Buhari was not aware of the planned trial of the CJN.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, he said: “The President should stop disgracing the legal profession with such ridiculous comments as no nation can make progress with a president that is always unaware of even the simplest aspect of his government.
“It should now be clear to Nigerians that President Buhari is not in charge of anything.
“Is the vice president saying that the AGF can unilaterally file charges against a high profile government official like the CJN?
“What the vice president just told Nigerians is that the government is truly under the firm control of the cabal that the first lady, Aisha Buhari, should rescue her husband from.”
