By Adebayo ibn Orekoya, Esq
The public space has been awash with the statement by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association slaying the declaration of State of Emergency and suspension of the Governor of Rivers State as unconstitutional.
One wonders if this statement is not just self serving. The same Nigerian Bar Association refused to respect its own constitution after the Association’s national election last year. The 2024 NBA national elections result were contested by two of the presidential candidates- Messrs Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN and Tobenna Erojikwe and they and many members of the Association called for an independent audit in line with Section 8(c) of Part II of the second schedule of the NBA constitution. This constitutional provision was flagrantly violated by the Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) and the current administration upon inauguration failed to respect the constitutional provision.
Again Tobenna Erojikwe had filed an appeal against the result of the election. Curiously the Chairman of the appeals committee publicly congratulated the winner of the election and refused to recuse himself when asked to do so after openly showing his partisanship. The appeal has not been determined one way or the other till date.
It is therefore hypocritical for the same NBA to now attack the actions of the Federal Government as being unconstitutional. The NBA needs to show that as a association it is adhering to laws especially its own laws before calling on the government of the day to respect the laws of the land.
The NBA should not be seen to calling for respect for the law only when it seems convenient to do so.
