The National Judicial Council met on Tuesday 29, 2019 for the first time since the President announced the suspension of the Chief Justice and appointment of Muhammad Tanko as replacement, in acting capacity. The widely anticipated meeting rose after a few hours of deliberation announcing that it is giving both the Chief Justice Onnoghen and Justice Muhammad Tanko, a seven day period to respond to petitions written against them. The Chief Justice Onnoghen’s queries relate to his charges against him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for failing to declare assets while Justice Muhammad Tanko’s queries are in relation to his accepting to be acting Chief Justice of Nigeria in violation of the Constitution. However, the Council referred a petition written against Hon. Danladi Yakubu Umar, Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), which is the appropriate constitutional body, empowered to deal with it.
The seven days period given to given to Justices Walter Onnoghen and Muhammad Tanko will be up on Thursday, 7 February 2019.