NBA criticizes Umahi over reaction to court’s judgement

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has criticized Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State over his outburst on a judgement by Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja which removed him from office, describes his action as ‘Impunity of the highest order and executive rascality taken too far.’’

The NBA, revealed they are unhappy that Umahi, after being sacked, accused the Court of “murdering justice,” adding that the Governor also arrogated to himself the judicial powers and magisterial authority to declare the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction as null and void. This was seen in a statement signed by the President, Olumide Akpata,

“Following the judgement, Engr. Umahi, in the course of a press conference, video evidence of which is currently making the rounds in both new and mainstream media, threw caution to the wind and deployed very uncomplimentary adjectives and intemperate language in characterizing both the judgement and Hon. Justice Ekwo, including but not limited to describing the judgement as ‘jungle justice’ and his lordship as a ‘hatchet man’.

“To put it plainly, this is impunity of the highest order and executive rascality taken too far.

“While the NBA has absolutely no interest in the outcome of the case in question and will continue to stay away from partisan politics, it is inconceivable that this Association that is charged with upholding the rule of law and defending the Judiciary would sit idly by in the face of this unprovoked and totally unwarranted attack on the Judiciary. Indeed, the leadership of the NBA has been inundated with calls from a cross-section of well-meaning Nigerians who are understandably outraged by the utterances of Engr. Dave Umahi and who have rightly demanded that appropriate action be taken to protect the sanctity of the Judiciary.

“As if these were not enough, Engr. Umahi accused the court of ‘murdering justice’ and also arrogated to himself the judicial powers and magisterial authority to declare the judgement of a court of competent jurisdiction as null and void, while unashamedly declaring his intention to disregard the judgement in favour of another one. To put it plainly, this is impunity of the highest order and executive rascality taken too far.

“While the NBA has absolutely no interest in the outcome of the case in question and will continue to stay away from partisan politics, it is inconceivable that the Association that is charged with upholding the rule of law and defending the judiciary would sit idly by in the face of this unprovoked and totally unwarranted attack on the judiciary. It is for this reason that we condemn without equivocation Engr. Umahi’s unfortunate diatribe, which if it had emanated from an average litigant, would still have been regarded as shocking, but coming from one who occupies the exalted office of a state governor is nothing short of a national embarrassment.

“As Kayode Eso, JSC of blessed memory famously noted, “the essence of the rule of law is that it should never operate under the rule of force or fear.” We view Engr. Umahi’s reaction to this Judgment as being consistent with the current penchant, on the part of those in the executive arm of government, for intimidating the Judiciary whilst taking advantage of the historical reluctance of that arm of government to rise to its own defence.

“In the light of the foregoing, the NBA hereby demands an immediate apology from H. E. Engr. Dave Umahi and a retraction of the comments he made against the person and judgement of the Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court. It’s also our demand that this apology and retraction be given as much media coverage as the press conference where the unfortunate comments were made”.