Recently the embattled President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. A. B. Mahmoud SAN asked the federal government to terminate the investigation of all corrupt judges in the country.
With such support from the leadership of the NBA, the corrupt judges were immediately recalled by the National Judicial Council. The government has since reacted by filing charges against the recalled judges. We have now a shameful situation whereby sitting judges are facing trial before their colleagues.
There was a drama in Abuja last week when an accused judge ordered the remand of an accused person in prison custody. The accused person reacted by telling the judge that he would reserve a cell for him since he (the judge) is on his way to the jail house!
To prove that the NBA has lost its integrity completely, Chief Orji Kalu, a former Abia state Governor who is currently facing trial for stealing N5 billion belonging to the people of Abia State has been invited to deliver a public lecture on “The Role of the Bar in fighting corruption in Nigeria” on 28th day of, June 2017.
The lecture which is being organized by the Aba branch of the NBA will be graced by the body’s national officers including Mr. Mahmoud, the man whose election has been annulled by the federal high court. Why would a serious body of lawyers set out to promote a man charged with stealing public funds to the tune of N5 billion?
Have our lawyers lost their sense of shame.
Anyway, we expect Chief Orji Kalu to tell his audience how he has used lawyers to stall his trial. Even though he was charged to court in 2007 his trial has just begun following the dismissal of his interlocutory appeal by the Supreme Court. For 10 years, Chief Kalu had argued from the high court to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court that the EFCC could not prosecute him as the money allegedly stolen by him does not belong to the federal government but Abia state government.
Of course, all the courts dismissed the very frivolous objections to pave way for Chief Kalu’s trial.
But in a bid to ridicule the corruption case the NBA has decided to join corruption in fighting back. Hence the NBA is determined to honor the accused person by giving him the rare opportunity to deliver a lecture on corruption! What message is the NBA sending to the federal government?
Is the NBA not telling the judge that the NBA is in solidarity with accused person? Are the people of Abia state not being told by the NBA to forget the N5 billion allegedly stolen by ex-governor Kalu?
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