President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Abuja explained why the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, was suspended.
Speaking when leadership of Afenifere visited him at the Presidential Villa, the president said the former CJN was dealt with following discovery of huge amount of monies in foreign and local currencies belonging to him.
He said: “I will tell you as Afenifere, that was why I had to deal though reluctantly with the former Chief Justice, because there were millions of dollars, euros, not to talk of naira, which were not declared.
“I wonder what sort of conscience some of us have, how can you seat and preside and lock people up for years and even sentence some to death and yet you are not doing what the constitution says you should do by occupying that vital institution.
“On fighting corruption, you know it – again I don’t mind repeating myself even though I sound like a broken record, as a military head of state, I took everyone to prison and pronounced them guilty until they can prove themselves innocent.
“We put tribunals in all geo-political zones and they investigated those who were in charge of government money and took all of them in prison until they explained what happened to government’s money. Even I was detained, this is Nigeria.
“That was why I decided to point on agbada and see. I attempted three times up to Supreme Court and winning the fourth time thanking God and technology, I am now qualified to be a solider and a politician.
“What what I do is when a person cannot justify what he has or fails to declare as the constitution specifies, some of them dear to almighty God that their property doesn’t belong to them until we show them their bank accounts and their companies then we have some peace.’’
The president said the present administration was determined to recover all stolen funds and properties within and outside the country.
He said all the recovered properties would be sold and the money put in the nation’s treasury to make it impossible to return such properties to the looters in future.
“So, we are recovering as much as we can under the system and this time around I said the properties will be sold and the money put in the treasury.
“The last time they were given back their properties but this time around whoever comes after me no matter how generous he is, he cannot take money from the treasury give it to individuals, it will be impossible.
“But anybody who cannot account for what he has and for refusing to declare, we will have to do something about it,’’ he said.
