President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, said lawyers who criticized the Supreme Court’s decision confirming the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as a senatorial candidate in the upcoming general election will face sanctions.
Mr. Maikyau, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said on a valedictory court session in honor of Ibrahim Buba, a retired judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The NBA President praised Mr. Buba for his selfless service to the nation.
He recalled the many contributions of jurists to the development of Nigerian jurisprudence.
But Mr Maikyau later angered some lawyers for criticizing the Supreme Court over its recent decision on Mr Lawan’s case.
In a split decision, the majority decision of the five-member panel of the controversial Supreme Court announced Mr. Lawan as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Yobe North Senatorial District candidate.
“We are calling in court to ensure that this lawyer faces the consequences as the NBA will take steps to bring the lawyer to book,” Mr. Maikyau vowed.
The background
Mr. Maikyau’s rebuke comes amid widespread criticism of the Supreme Court over some recent rulings that many consider “controversial.”
In one of its rulings, the Supreme Court on January 20 declared Godswill Akpabio as the legally nominated candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Akwa-Ibom North-West senatorial seat on February 25.
Mr. Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa-Ibom State and former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, is locked in a bitter legal battle with Udom Ekpoudom, a retired deputy inspector-general of police, over the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial ticket for the poll.
But the Supreme Court struck down Mr. Ekpoudom’s candidacy, paving the way for Mr. Akpabio, who many said did not contest the APC senatorial election for Akwa-Ibom North-West District.
Also, the court on Monday announced Mr. Lawan’s candidate of the APC for the Yobe North Senatorial District for the February general election.
The Senate President’s victory in the Supreme Court robbed Bashir Machina, who was recognized by the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal as the original candidate for parliament.
In another ruling on Wednesday, the High Court temporarily halted the implementation of the new naira policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a move criticized by some lawyers.
Maxwell Okpara, an Abuja-based lawyer told PREMIUM TIMES that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to hear the naira redesign policy brought earlier by the three state governments.
In the same vein, human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a series of tweets said that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to entertain monetary policy settings.
Dele Farotimi, a radical human rights lawyer, told Arise News that the Supreme Court has the authority to decide to end the February 10 deposit of the old 200,500 and 1000 naira notes.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Emeka Etiaba, while appearing in an interview on Channels Television, on Friday, said the decision of the apex court is final.
But Mr. Etiaba pointed out that the failure of the court’s decision to address widely recognized injustices as seen in the cases of Messrs. Akpabio and Lawan, could lead to unrest.
He cited the uncontrollable violence in Imo State, which he believed was caused by the decision of the Supreme Court declaring Hope Uzodinma the governor of the state in 2019, despite coming third in the election.
The senior lawyer noted that the violence has since spread to his home state of Anambra and the entire South East region of Nigeria, preventing him from visiting his home.
Another lawyer, Victor Giwa, described the latest court decision as “unfortunate”.
Mr. Giwa while speaking on Channels Television in an interview, described Messrs. Akpabio and Lawan as “Supreme Court senatorial candidates”, a phrase that gained traction after Mr. Uzodinma’s victory in court with some describing him as “Supreme Court governor.”
He said everyone knows that the former governor of Akwa-Ibom State and the Senate President did not participate in the APC senatorial primaries in their respective states because of the presidential bid.
The lawyer wondered how the Supreme Court could rule on the matter.
But the NBA president said the criticism was an affront to the court’s authority.
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