Unveiled: The Man Behind CJN Petition

By Emma Peters

The identity of the man who wrote a damning petition against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, has been revealed.

According to online information about Mr. Dennis Aghanya, he was a media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari between 2009 and 2011; while he was also a pioneer National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change.

Aghanya is not new to controversy, as he once advised the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, to dissolve the party’s two factions in Enugu State when they couldn’t seem to agree on the way forward.

In a letter made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on the APC Enugu issue, Aghanya had said, “The situation is currently threatening the fortunes of the party to the detriment of efforts by serious candidates who are investing time and finance to ensure victory for themselves and President Muhammadu Buhari at the forthcoming 2019 general elections.

“I suggest that the National Working Committee of the APC should, as a matter of urgency, dissolve the two factions led by Okey Ogbodo and Ben Nwoye respectively.

According to him, ignoring the advice will amount to deliberately weakening the party to the advantage of the incumbent in Enugu State;and that it will deliberately “sabotage Buhari from making inroad into the South East.”

Aghanya, on November 5, 2018, as reported by NAN, as the Executive Secretary, Anti-Corruption and Research Based Data Initiative, led a coalition of 24 Civil Society Organisations (C24) to assert that some “desperate politicians” were planning to destabilise the country’s peace, before, during and after the 2019 general elections.

Aghanya raised the alarm on behalf of the coalition at a news conference in Abuja. The allegation has not been proved, however.

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Again, on April 29, 2018 Aghanya-led ARDI appealed to the National Assembly to show understanding over President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged purchase of $496m aircraft from the U.S. without due process.

He had told the legislators: “The President, as a human being, could make mistakes.”

He then advised the legislators to avoid actions that would heat up the system, NAN had reported then.

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Aghanya is reasonably active on Facebook, with mostly political posts, though his LinkedIn page is nuanced. He is new to Twitter and has only made three tweets within his nine months of joining, all on political matters.

His petition against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, is Aghanya’s latest foray into public space.

NAN