Group drags Justice Kekere-Ekun through Code of Conduct for false declaration of assets

The Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun of the Supreme Court of Nigeria has been dragged before the Code of Conduct Office and the Tribunal by the Oduduwa Descendants Coalition for Justice on charges bordering on failure to declare and making false declarations in forms she submitted to the anti-corruption body on several occasions.

In the petition dated August 10, 2024 and signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Kehinde Johnson Olawale, the group alleged that “as a judicial officer, the Honourable Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has failed to comply or refused to comply with the provisions of the Office and Court Code of Conduct, in force since 1991. For example, in May 1999, at the end of her term as President of the Robbery and Firearms Court, Ikeja Zone ll Lagos, she failed to submit her Asset Declaration.”

Olawale also stated that “in 2013, at the end of his term as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, he failed to submit his asset declaration form. The asset declaration form he subsequently completed and submitted upon assumption of office as a judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria contained false declarations and unverified allegations.”

In the closing part of the petition, the group informed the anti-corruption agency that “the report of your investigation will assist the National Judicial Council and the Senate of the National Assembly of Nigeria in arriving at a balanced decision on the suitability of the Honourable Justice Kekere-Ekun for appointment as Chief Justice of Nigeria.”

The petition, received by the President of the Code of Conduct Office on August 12, 2024, was viewed by this reporter.

Copies were also sent to the President of the National Judicial Commission, the President of the Senate and the Attorney General of the Federation.

Contacted, a member of the Anti-Corruption Agency’s Intelligence, Investigation and Monitoring Department, who requested anonymity, said that the usual practice was for the Office’s President to ask the public official against whom the petition was written to provide a written explanation in response to the allegations made in the petition.

If there is indeed no breach of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, the petition will be dismissed. But, if after investigation a prima facie case is established, the matter will be referred to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution of the accused.

He referred to the similar case of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Honourable Justice Walter Onnoghen, who was investigated and prosecuted by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Source: Nivonews/opr.news

The post Group drags Justice Kekere-Ekun through Code of Conduct for false declaration of assets appeared first on TheConclaveNg.