The leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on Nigerians, to exercise caution and apply decorum in their reactions to judgments of courts.
Mr Olumide Akpata,the President of the NBA on Tuesday in a statement decried the unpleasant statements and comments by Nigerians including politicians and legal practitioners on the recent judgment of a Federal High Court that nullified Section 84(12) of Electoral Act 2022.
He said that “unsavoury remarks made about the judgment and the person of Justice Evelyn Anyadike by some Nigerians, including members of the Bar”are unwarranted and counterproductive.
According to Akpata , the attention of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been drawn to the judgment of the Umuahia division of the Federal High Court, coram Hon. Justice Evelyn Nmasinulo Anyadike, delivered on 18th March 2022 (the Judgment), which nullified Section 84(12) of the recently passed Electoral Act 2022 .
The judge “ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation, the sole defendant in the case, to delete the said Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act with immediate effect – an order the Hon. Attorney-General has reportedly decided to comply with.”
NBA said it is also aware of certain unsavoury remarks made about the Judgment and the person of Hon. Justice Evelyn Anyadike, by some members of the Bar.
“The NBA wishes to call on Nigerians and especially legal practitioners, to refrain from employing intemperate language to characterise Judgments and/or Judges of our Courts.
“The Rules of Professional Conduct and the ethics that regulate our profession enjoin us to treat our Courts and Judges with the utmost respect, he stated ,adding that “there are legal and constitutional avenues to challenge unfavourable Judgments and lawyers and indeed the generality of Nigerians are therefore enjoined to explore these avenues rather than resorting to unwarranted and counterproductive attacks on Judges and the Judiciary.”
Akpata said he have already spoken to one such senior Lawyer who, in the wake of the Judgment, issued and published certain deprecatory statements that cast aspersions on the person of Honourable Justice Evelyn Anyadike and he has since retracted the said statements.
He said “nonetheless, the NBA must emphatically state that all Courts in Nigeria must act in accordance with the dictates of the law and having regard to justice in order to forestall a situation of break down of law and order which is certain to occur when the generality of Nigeria ultimately lose confidence in the court system.”
According to him, the NBA has noted some of the complaints about the Judgment and its consequences, and these include not just the substance, which critics accuse of conflating that cadre of government officials referred to as political appointees – and the subject of the vexed Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act – with public officers within the meaning of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“But also the somewhat usual circumstances surrounding the case especially the blistering speed with which the case, filed on 8th March 2022, was heard and determined on 18th March 2022.”