27th February, 2013
Nnamdi Felix / Abuja
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, on Wednesday confirmed that it had set up machinery for the probe of a senior advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Kalejaiye, who was referred to the association by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Maryam Aloma Mukhtar, over his conduct at the Osun state Election Tribunal proceedings in 2007 which led to the compulsory retirement of Justice Thomas Naron recently.
The President of NBA, Mr. Okey Wali, a senior advocate of Nigeria, stated that Mr. Kalejaiye would be referred to the association’s disciplinary committee for appropriate actions and noted that there would be no sacred cows even as he encouraged Nigerians to report professional misconduct to the association.
The association however cleared Justice Abubakar Talba of an Abuja High Court of any wrong doing when he sentenced a Deputy Director in Pension Office, John Yahaya Yusufu, to two years imprisonment or to pay N250,000 fine for stealing billions in pension fund.
Wali pointed out that Yusufu was charged under a law that was a century old and which did not envisage the present realities.
“The decision brings to the fore the compelling need to reform our criminal justice legislation and speedy passage of criminal justice sector bills before the National Assembly.” He added.
The National Executive Committee, NEC, of NBA endorsed and commended the actions and steps taken by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, in respect of sanitizing the Judiciary and offers its unqualified support CJN’s drive to restore the glory of the Nigerian Judiciary.
He further stated that the association’s human rights committee would investigate the alleged killing of students of Nassarawa State University by soldiers.
The Nigerian Bar Association on Wednesday also called on President Gooduck Jonathan to stop crude oil theft in the country which it said had cost Nigeria about N14 trillion between 2003 and 2008.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on the outcome of the association’s National Executive Committee meeting held in Makurdi, Benue State, the NBA President, Chief Okey Wali, a senior advocate of Nigeria, said that crude oil theft remained a serious drain in the nation’s economy.
He stated that the country lost $7 billion and $9billion respectively to oil theft in 2011 and 2012 respectively and called on the President to put measures in place to reverse the trend.
On the recent discovery of floating bodies in Ezu River at Amansea, Awka in Anambra state, the NBA demanded that the President set up a high-powered Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the causes of death, source and identity of the floating corpses with a view to bringing any culprits to book.
“NEC resolved that in view of the seriousness of the allegations of the possibility of the corpses being victims of extra-judicial killings, a judicial commission of inquiry should be set up to look into the matter.” Wali stated.
On the Local Government reforms, NBA condemned the practice in some states where Caretaker Committees were set up to pilot the affairs of Local Governments in flagrant breach of the relevant provisions of the Constitution demanded that all the Chairmen in the 774 Local Government Areas in the country should be democratically elected and given financial autonomy as envisaged by the 1999 Constitution.
NBA also faulted a recent directive by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for legal practitioners to register with the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering, SCUML, and maintained that the directive is a violation of the regulation of the legal profession and the law on confidentiality.