Lawan vs Machina: Lawyers that Criticize Supreme Court Judgments will be Punished – NBA President warn Lawyers

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, has said lawyers criticising the decision of the Supreme Court affirming the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as a senatorial candidate in the forthcoming general elections will face sanction.

Mr Maikyau, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), spoke on Thursday at a valedictory court session in honour 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 jurist’s many contributions to the development of Nigeria’s jurisprudence.

But Mr Maikyau then upbraided some lawyers for criticising the Supreme Court over its recent decision on Mr Lawan’s case.

In a split decision, the majority decision of a five-member panel of the Supreme Court controversially declared Mr Lawan as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Yobe North Senatorial District candidate.

“We are calling on the court to ensure that these lawyers face the consequences as the NBA will take steps in bringing the lawyers to book,” Mr Maikyau vowed.

Background

Mr Maikyau’s rebuke came amid growing criticisms of the Supreme Court over some of its recent judgements that were seen by many as “controversial.”

In one such verdicts, the Supreme Court on 20 January declared Godswill Akpabio as the validly nominated candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Akwa-Ibom North-West senatorial seat election holding on 25 February.

Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa-Ibom State and ex-minister of Niger Delta Affairs, was locked in a fierce 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 nullified Mr Ekpoudom’s candidacy, paving the way for Mr Akpabio, whom many say did not participate in the APC senatorial primary election for Akwa-Ibom North-West District.

Similarly, the court on Monday declared Mr Lawan candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District for the February general election.

The Senate President’s victory at the Supreme Court robbed Bashir Machina, whom the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal both affirmed as the authentic candidate for the parliamentary.

In another ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court temporarily halted the implementation of the new naira policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), an action some lawyers have criticised.

Maxwell Okpara, an Abuja-based lawyer told Newsmen that the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the naira redesign policy brought before it by three state governments.

In the same vein, a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, in a series of tweets said the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction to entertain the monetary policy suit.

Dele Farotimi, a radical human rights lawyer, told Arise News that the Supreme Court does have possess the jurisdiction to have ruled stopping the 10 February deadline for deposit of old 200,500 and 1000 naira banknotes.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Emeka Etiaba, while featuring in an interview on Channels Television, on Friday, argued that apex court’s decision is final.

But Mr Etiaba pointed out that if the court’s decision fails to address a widely acknowledged injustice as seen in Messrs Akpabio and Lawan’s cases, it could trigger unrest.

He cited the intractable violence in Imo State, presumed to have been caused by the Supreme Court decision which declared Hope Uzodinma governor of the state in 2019, despite coming a distant third in the election.

The senior lawyer noted that the violence had since spread to his home state of Anambra and the entire Southeastern region of Nigeria, preventing him from visiting home.

Another lawyer, Victor Giwa, described the court’s recent decisions “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 following Mr Uzodinma’s victory at the court with some persons describing him “Supreme Court governor.”

He said everyone knew that the former Akwa-Ibom State governor and the Senate President did not take part in the APC senatorial primary elections in their respective states due to their presidential bids.

The lawyer wondered how the Supreme Court arrived at its decisions on the matters.

But the NBA president said these criticisms amount to an affront on the authority of the judiciary.