CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATION: Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Condemns Criticisms of Supreme Court Over Rulings on Elections

FROM the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) came the defence of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, yesterday against criticisms over the judgments of the apex court affirming the elections of the governors of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia and Ebonyi states.
According to the lawyers, the allegation of bias against the Justices of the Supreme Court in returning the states complained about to the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is 'misguided' as the apex court is still held in high esteem.
The President of NBA, Augustine Alegeh (SAN), condemned the allegations of corruption against the judiciary. He said: "The NBA condemns in its entirety the generalisation and categorisation of the judiciary as being corrupt and an impediment to the zero corruption policy of the present administration."
He noted that even though there were bad eggs in the judicial system, the categorisation of the entire judiciary as corrupt was a strong misconception, and an attempt to smear the judiciary, which would not be tolerated.
He expressed concern over the issue of conflicting decisions of some lower courts, stressing that the failure of any court to adhere to laid down rules should be taken as a serious misconduct for which there should be sanction.
Alegeh therefore, called on the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to make effective the provision of Section 230 (2) (b) of the Constitution, by increasing the number of judges of the Supreme Court, from 15 to complete its constitutional quota of 21.
In his own support for the CJN, the former NBA president, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said: "The judiciary did not create corruption, the judiciary did not transfer corruption to Nigeria. The judiciary did not beautify corruption in Nigeria. The judiciary did not anchor corruption, it is not the promoter of corruption. So, if the judiciary did not give birth to corruption, it cannot be an headache in the fight against corruption."
Reacting in the same vein former president of the NBA and human rights lawyer, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, declared, "the CJN comment is indeed a most welcome one as bashing the judiciary is unhelpful in anyway."
Three prominent Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Femi Falana, Victor Ndoma-Egba, and Emeka Etiaba, have also defended the judiciary.
Falana said those who had allegations to make concerning the Supreme Court justices over their recent decisions on election matters should channel them through the National Judicial Council ( NJC) rather than resort to unfounded allegations.
Etiaba said he believed that the judiciary was not the obstacle to the president in his fight against corruption. "What I think is going on is that the president has his own idea of the role the judiciary should play in his fight against corruption and the role he wants the judiciary to play most probably, is to act as a military tribunal and not to act within the confines of the constitution and the laws of the land."
Ndoma-Egba, a former Senate Leader, said the judiciary should never be embroiled in politics, adding that no matter how strongly anyone felt especially about Supreme Court judgments as the final court in the land, public comments should be circumspect.
Noting that supreme courts the world over face criticisms, Falana was not sympathetic to President Muhammadu Buhari's comments that his headache was the judiciary in his fight against corruption.
Etiaba, in his comments, said he suspected that politicians were out to rubbish the judiciary as they had done their political parties.
In his own reactions, an Ondo State-based lawyer, Remigius Akinbinu stated: "I will rather agree with the CJN on this. Most of those criticising the apex court judgments are only being swayed by their political inclinations."
Former chairman NBA Ikeja branch, Monday Ubani, and a Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa also defended the judiciary.