NBA Petitions IGP, ICPC,  Calls For Prosecution Of Senator Bulkachuwa

By Adesina Soyooye

The Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, has called for the investigation and prosecution of Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa.

In letters to the Inspector General of Police, IGP, and the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the NBA President,  Mr Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, asked both Institutions to investigate the Senator and prosecute him.

Senator Bulkachuwa had shocked the Nation when during the Valedictory Session of the 9th Senate, on Saturday, June 9, he confessed to influencing the judgements of the Court of Appeal, to help his colleagues, through his wife, the Honourable Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, the immediate past President of the Court. He thanked her for allowing him to infringe on her independence in order to influence judgements in favour of his colleagues.

Since his confession, the Senator has come under fire by scandalised groups and individuals, including an embarrassed Nigeria Judicial Council, NJC, Senior Lawyers, Columnists, who not only asked for the interrogation and prosecution of the Senator, but for a probe into all the judgements delivered under the watch of his wife as the President of the Court of Appeal.

When the story broke with a viral video of the Senator where he made the confession, Maikyau had promised to petition against Bulkachuwa to the Police and the ICPC. He has, finally, done that, and asked for a probe and prosecution.

In a post, he said he had “written letters to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), requesting for the immediate investigation and prosecution of Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa for the admissions/confessions he made in his valedictory remarks.”

He promised to keep the NBA “posted on further developments in the matter.”

He added: “I thank you all for the support as we continue with our fight for the enthronement of the rule of law and the defence of the integrity and independence of the Judiciary in Nigeria. We must always remember that:

“We lawyers are a dangerous breed; we challenge, we refuse to let anarchy and unfairness and inequity reign. We stand in the gap. We refuse to be silent. We fight, not with arms, but with words. We use the law as our weapon, and we wield it with skill and determination. We must teach the next generation to do the same… you play a central role in setting the parameters for the next generation of lawyers who will have the formidable task of safeguarding the rule of law in the new and challenging context in which we now live.” (Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland KC).”