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From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has flayed the judges of the Federal High Courts, who had been giving conflicting judgments on a particular issue, describing their action as an embarrassment to the judiciary and the nation.
NBA President, Austin Aleghe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) declared this yesterday, during the opening of the ongoing 56th Annual General Conference of the NBA, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
This is even as the Governor Nyesom Wike slammed NBA for remaining indifference in the face of judicial rascality being perpetrated against Rivers State, lamenting the danger such action posed to democratic development.
Aleghe noted that the theme of the conference, “Democracy and economic development,” was chosen to examine the state of the nation.
He called on the Chief Judge of Nigeria (CJN) to quickly step into the ugly trend and restore the dignity of the judiciary.
The NBA commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government for the war against corruption, stressing that the fight “should and must” be fought within the ambit of the law.
The Association promised to partner with the Federal Government to sustain the fight, emphasising that it would not be part of the crusade, if it was carried out to fight political enemies.
He noted that out of the 36 states of the federation, 28 found it difficult to pay workers’ salaries and pensioners.
NBA also accused the Human Rights Commission of deviating from its constitutional duties, calling on government to streamline the activities or functions of government agencies.
Wike described the theme of the conference as thought-provoking, noting that the choice of Rivers State as host clealy rubbished the ‘fifth columnist report’ that the state was not safe.
He flayed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigeria Police for contributing to the political crisis in the state.
He specifically mentioned the recent announcement of the results of March 19, 2016, rerun elections in Tai Local Government Area of the State, by INEC, which was ancelled by commission, describing it as “political robbery.”
Governor Wike also lambasted the Police for the “unfortunate role” they played in the abortion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Convention, which was supposed to take place at the Sharks Stadium, Port Harcourt, last week.
He vowed that Rivers people would resist every attempt to rig further elections in the state.
