As Nigeria will be clocking sixty years as an independent state this year, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has urged Political stakeholders and government officials to prioritize promoting rule of law.
The association demand that officials of state imbibe international best practices and join the NBA in protecting and promoting the rule of law through, amongst others, the preservation, fostering and protection of the independence of our judiciary, judicial officers and the independence of the legal profession.
NBA gave this charge in it’s new year message signed by the President, Paul Usoro while reviewing Judicial activities last year.
Paul Usoro called on Nigerians to always remind their leaders of the electoral pledges and demand their rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution and in the social contract.
“We must remind our leaders of the pledges that they made when they courted us in 2019 for our votes. We must demand those rights”
In it’s review of 2019, the President stated that paying lip service to the rule of law would not bring about peace and justice in the country.
“In 2019, the rule of law in Nigeria was persistently assaulted, thanks mostly to executive misbehaviour and high-handedness.
“2019 marked the year that the removal of public officers through nebulous and reprehensible ex parte orders of the Code of Conduct Tribunal gradually became the norm in our national life.
“2019 marked the year that the removal of public officers through nebulous and reprehensible ex parte orders of the Code of Conduct Tribunal gradually became the norm in our national life.
Paul Usoro condemned getting public officers suspended via an ex parte order by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
Usoro recalled it was first used against the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, in January 2019, and was again used in December of the same year against the acting Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, Azuka Azinge.
The NBA chief described the development as reprehensible and an assault on collective sensibilities.
The association also recalled the incident of the invasion of the Federal High Court in Abuja by the Department of State Services to arrest Omoyele Sowore.
“We will persist in holding governments to account, particularly as it relates to the promotion and protection of the rule of law and the delivery of democracy dividends to our people.”
Usoro however noted that it was “somewhat reassuring that, in the dying days of 2019 and at the instance of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, (SAN) both Omoyele Sowore and Sambo Dasuki were finally released from confinement by the DSS, after being detained for prolonged periods against the orders of courts.”
“It is our hope that, in 2020, we would build on this new resolve by government and ensure that court orders are obeyed across board by our State officials and agencies.”
