The National Judicial Council (NJC), which ended its Emergency Meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, has given Justice Walter Onnoghen and the Acting Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Tanko Muhammad seven days to respond to petitions preferred against them.
The petition against the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Danladi Umar, was referred to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).
Following the absence of Justices Onnoghen and Muhammad, the Council elected former President of the court of Appeal, Justice Umar Abdullahi, as interim Chairman to preside over the meeting.
A statement from the Council which was signed by its Director of Information, Soji Oye (Esq), revealed that four petitions filed at its secretariat were considered.
The Petition against Justice Onnoghen was written by Zikrillahi Ibrahim of Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civil Education, while the petition against Justice Mohammad came from Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), and that against Danladi came from the Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative.
The statement also stated that the petitions against the two justices of the Supreme Court were forwarded copies of the petitions for their responses, however in view of the gravity of the matters, council abridged the period of response from the usual 14 days to seven days.
Meanwhile, the council is billed to reconvene on February 11.
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