The Minister of the Federal Cpital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike has lashed out at the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, over the Association’s stand on the Emergency Rule declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Rivers state.
Wike is a lawyer and his wife Suzzette , a respected Judge of the Court of Appeal.
The minster, a former governor of the oil bearing state accused the NBA of being driven by monetary gains, warning that the profession is being destroyed by some lawyers because of what they will benefit.
He also accused some of those criticsing the recent Supreme Court ruling on the crisis in the restive oil bearing state, saying they may not have thoroughly red the apex court judgment on the issue.
Wike spoke when the Body of Benchers, BoB, led by its chairman Adegboyega Awomolo paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
On March 19, President Tinubu declared a State of Emergency in the state, suspended Governor Siminalaye Fubara and his Deputy, members of the state House of Assembly, and appointed a Sole Administration, in a very controversial manner that has elicited the criticisms of not a few Nigerians and the NBA, which described the action as unconstitutional.
Speaking Wike disclosed that the NBA criticised the president’s action because they have lost sponsorship for this year’s conference from the state government due to Governor Fubara’s suspension from office.
The minister argued that the judges of the country are being vilified by those that are supposed to defend the nation’s Temple of Justice, wondering why judges are accused of bribery whenever they received support from the government, noting that NBA also receive financial support regularly, citing the construction of NBA National Secretariat for which the minister claimed to be the ‘sole contributor’.
The minister urged the BoB to rise up to the occasion by ensuring discipline in the profession.
“The NBA is against the state of emergency because there would be no money to give them for their conference. What kind of hypocrisy is this?” the FCT minister said.
“Some NBA members go on national television to condemn judgments without even reading them! If you don’t discipline somebody, nobody will learn any lesson.
“We shall no longer allow our profession to be pulled down. I cannot believe, as a lawyer, that you make a contribution to help the legal profession and you will be criticised by your fellow lawyers.
“Sir, the time has come that we need to say look, enough is enough. We cannot continue to discourage our judges and justices. It is not done anywhere.
“I have never seen where members of a profession are the ones bent on bringing the profession down.
“I was the only one who contributed to the NBA to build the national secretariat. The NBA didn’t see it as a bribe.
“When you contribute to the Body of Benchers, it is a bribe, but when you contribute to the NBA, it is not a bribe—they will take it!
“The same NBA will rely on state governments to sponsor their activities, but when the state government supports the judiciary, it is bribery,” Wike declared.
The magazine reports that the minister’s critics have called on the BoB to discipline for his alleged role in the protracted political crisis in the state.
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