A pro-democracy group has decried the latest volte-face by the President<\/p>\n
of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on the arrest of judges, describing
\nit as “unacceptable,” and “hasty.”<\/p>\n
It equally tasked Nigerians to defend the judiciary against “executive
\ncoup,” while asserting that “the last stronghold of the common man must
\nnever be compromised or destroyed.”<\/p>\n
Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution (CDNDC)
\naccused the President of NBA, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) of overreaching
\nhimself by preempting the outcome of a committee he constituted as the
\nPresident of the bar, to make recommendations.<\/p>\n
In a statement by its Co-Convener, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, the group posited
\nthat “it is counterproductive for Mahmoud to ask the Judiciary to do what
\nthe NBA will not tell the executive to do and will not do to it own
\nmembers accused of crimes.”<\/p>\n
After admitting to “accusations and counter-accusations between some of
\nthe judges and other personalities (members of the executives) or
\nagencies,” CDNDC said “it was tantamount to taking sides by asking only
\none party to step down. This is unacceptable.<\/p>\n
“We must never sacrifice the independence and integrity of the bench on
\nthe urgency of placating the current regime under the contrived guise of
\nanti-corruption crusade. We must be conscious of the bigger picture and
\nprotect our democracy.<\/p>\n
“We view the call by the NBA President as prejudicial to the innocence of
\nthe judges and contrary to the 2014 Revised Judicial Discipline
\nRegulations formulated by NJC pursuant to Section 160 of the 1999
\nConstitution as amended.<\/p>\n
“This unilateral action by Mahmoud, asking the judges to recuse themselves
\nwithout weighing some limitations and the possibility of an overbearing
\nexecutive using same loophole to get at other judges not wiling to play
\ngames, is unacceptable, hasty and counterproductive.<\/p>\n
“While we desire an holistic reform of the judiciary by the NJC to deal
\nruthlessly with cases of corruption, we sincerely urge Nigerians never to
\nallow any warped sting operation against some marked judges not doing the
\nbid of politicians, to sail through.<\/p>\n
“The invasion of the judiciary is a threat to justice and democracy, and
\nanything that violates section 158 of the 1999 Constitution of the FRN as
\namended, must be resisted and defeated,” CDNDC said.<\/p>\n
The pro-democracy group however commended the boldness of the NJC for
\ndefending the independence of the judiciary, the sanctity of democracy and
\nits insistence on the rule of law.<\/p>\n
“It may be necessary that some laws be rejigged and amended to cope with
\nsubsisting international best practices but no group or institution should
\nillegally assume control over the judiciary,” CDNDC warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A pro-democracy group has decried the latest volte-face by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on the arrest of judges, describing it as “unacceptable,” and “hasty.” It equally…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n