The Nigeria Bar
Association, NBA, on Thursday in Abuja, continued its criticisms on the
proposed N5, 000 and called on President
Goodluck Jonathan to sack Sanusi, the
Central Bank of Nigeria Sanusi and other top management of the apex bank for
their insistence on going ahead to ahead with the controversial currency
reforms.
The NBA also backed the Federal Government over its stand on the
Onshore/Offshore dichotomy noting that the matter has been settled by the
Supreme Court.
Mr. Okey Wali, a senior advocate of Nigeria and President of the
NBA made the call for Sanusi’s sack at the association’s Bar Leaders summit and
noted that all indices show that Nigerians do not want the N5, 000 single note.
Wali observed that even if the leadership of the CBN are right
in their postulation on the benefits of the proposed currency reforms, they are
still bound by the wishes of the people or they should take the Honourable part
of resignation rather than exhibiting such unbridled high level of arrogance
and rudeness.
“For all the faults that may be identifiable in President
Goodluck Jonathan, arrogance cannot be said to be one of his attributes.
The
NBA is therefore amazed that this high level of megalomania is going on under
his watch. We therefore call on the President to please do the needful,
initiate the process of the removal from office of the leadership of the CBN.
On our part we will keep our promise to go to court to challenge the
implementation of the policy should the President fail to reign in the CBN
leadership” he declared.
On the orchestrated campaign by some northern governors to
resurrect the issue of the onshore / offshore dichotomy to with a view to
seeking for an amendment of the law on 13% derivation, the
NBA President emphasized
that the matter has been settled by the highest court in the land, the Supreme
Court in an action instituted by the Attorney General of Adamawa state and two
others against the Attorney General of the Federation and eight others in 2005,
18 NWKR part 958 at page 58.
“We condemn the attempt by some politicians and their
sympathizers to deliberately overheat the polity by resurrecting the matter. We
recognize that this is nothing but an attempt at distracting Nigerians from
insisting that they deliver on their campaign promises.
They have been elected
to deliver on the promises they made to the electorates and we think they
should concentrate on that and desist from any calculated attempt to distract
and deceive the people” he stated.
He reiterated the call on government to intensify efforts
towards enhancing the safety of lives and properties in the nation, which he
noted, is the foremost responsibility of government to Nigerians.
Chief Afe Babalola, a senior advocate of Nigeria, whose paper
was read at the event by Prof. Akinsheye George, SAN, called for the
appointment of Judges from the rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria to ensure
that only the most qualified, experienced and knowledgable practitioners of law
are appointed to the bench to make our jurisprudence better.
Babalola noted that in the past that judges were highly
respected and were regarded with great awe but not any more. “It is now a
common sight to find judges at social occasions. Due to the economic realities
of the time which has affected even judicial officers, it is not uncommon to
find Magistrates riding in taxis and other forms of public transportation.
The
point being made here is not that judges and other judicial officers must live
in a state of utopia irrespective of the realities of the day, the point is
that these developments increasingly expose judicial officers to risks from
litigants and even accused persons standing trial before their courts.
Little
wonder then that claims of corruption, bias and judicial high-handedness which
hitherto were virtually unknown or unheard of in the country’s judicial system
are now a common phenomena”.
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