Niger Delta Militants Applaud Buhari For Suspending Onnoghen

saharareporters

The Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to suspend Walter Onnoghen as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

According to the group, Onnoghen "failed the integrity test". The President suspended Onnoghen on Friday and appointed Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed to take his position, although in acting capacity.

According to Buhari, Onnoghen's suspension is the result of an order by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), before whom the suspended CJN is standing trial for fraudulent declaration of assets. A statement by Johnmark Ezonebi, leader of the group, issued on Saturday, applauded Buhari for the move.

The statement read: “We, as a group agitating for the overall development of the region, do applaud President Muhammadu Buhari for the suspension of the CJN of the federation, Mr Ononghen, because the CJN has failed the integrity test and he did not have the boldness and the courage to fight the anti-corruption war which Mr President has been fighting against since he came on board in 2015.

"The six-year administration of former President Goodluck 'Badluck' Jonathan was characterised by massive corruption, looting and gross non-supervision of his appointees with no completed project in the long-neglected region set the people and region back to the stone age of underdevelopment.

“Without much ado, we want to say that President Buhari’s fight against corruption, which was the signpost of the previous PDP administrations, had clearly defined his stand on the development of the region."

The group also commended the present administration “for the smooth take-off of academic activities at the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko”, as well as the president’s directive for the “approval of the dredging of the Escravos Warri River at the cost of N13billion to enable cargo vessels access Warri sea port, which will in turn boost economic activities in the Niger Delta”, among other listed achievements.

The group, however, urged the president “to try as much as possible to direct the immediate release of the Gas Flare Penalty Fund for affected oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta”.

“We, as a group agitating for the overall development of the region, do applaud President Muhammadu Buhari for the suspension of the CJN of the federation, Mr Ononghen, because the CJN has failed the integrity test and he did not have the boldness and the courage to fight the anti-corruption war which Mr President has been fighting against since he came on board in 2015," the statement read.