Adegboruwa criticises call by NBA on alleged corrupt judges to resign

Lagos lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa has said the sudden turn around and suggestion by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), urging judges who are currently being investigated for alleged corruption to step aside does not represent the aggregate opinion of all reasonable lawyers who are lovers of equity, justice, rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.

He said the NBA has no constitutional power to discipline judges and therefore, there is no basis for the suggestion by the NBA President for judges who are being investigated to step aside.

“The NBA executives recently visited Aso Rock and were hosted by the Presidency, and so the latest turn around by the NBA President in capitulating to pressure from politicians and the ruling APC, to disown the judges, who by tradition, are unofficial members of the Bar, bears no justification whatsoever”.

According to him, this presumption of innocence offered to all citizens of Nigeria, is even in relation to when the citizen has been charged to court, and not speculations and half-truths, based on ‘sting’ operations.

In the case of the judges, not a single charge has been filed in court yet, with some proof of evidence, showing some prima facie evidence of the allegations.

Adegboruwa suggest that, rather than asked the judges to step aside, the NBA should proceed to constitute a legal team for judges who are presently under trial and then to demand for an independent commission of inquiry, into the weighty allegations of indictment and persecution, made by judges.