BY TAIWO FAROTIMI
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA may have discovered that it is not so united after all.
This is because the directive given for members to boycott the courts across the country for two days-Tuesday and Wednesday- did not achieve 100% success. While some of the lawyers stayed away from the courts, some others decided to go on their normal businesses. The argument of the dissenters is that their private contract with clients far outweighs the decision of association of lawyers. There are those who complain that the information was not properly directed for NBA members, insisting that they got to know through the social media. Though the NBA executive announced the decision after a meeting in Abuja on Monday, some lawyers still believe that the branches across the country should have got in touch directly with all members. Some even said they did not agree with the idea of boycotting the courts because of a judge who is said to have flouted the law.
The NBA called out its members in protest to the suspension of Justice Walter Onnoghen, as the chief justice of Nigeria, CJN. The CJN had been dragged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal , CCT for failure to disclose all his assets, including some bank accounts, which incidentally are domiciliary accounts with , according to the authorities, some millions of dollars.
The grouse of the NBA is that due process was not followed in the removal of the CJN. They therefore believed that such should not be allowed to pass. Mr. Paul Usoro, president of the NBA had said on Monday that the two-day boycott was a ‘warning’ to the federal government to review its removal of Onnoghen, an act he said was unconstitutional.
But even most senior lawyers who agree that the federal government did not follow due process are not in agreement on how to demonstrate their disagreement to the authorities.
The National Assembly that was to have reconvene on Tuesday over the matter changed gear, and decided to approach the Supreme Court for clarification on the issue.