Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has charged Nigerian
lawyers to do more in promoting judicial activism” as a way of addressing the
slow pace of justice dispensation in the country.
He also encouraged lawyers to stand against attempts to
stifle the rights of citizens.
The Governor gave the charge on Monday at the 61st Annual
General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference at the
Yakubu Gowon stadium in Port Harcourt.
He said the judicial system can never thrive if judges
lacked the courage to enforce the law because they were under constant pressure
to satisfy some people.
According to Governor Wike, the NBA has continued to focus
less on promoting and fighting for the values of good governance, democracy,
judicial independence, human rights and the rule of law when there is urgent
need for them to do so.
Wike said “Never in our political history has Nigeria been
so badly governed and denied of good governance with the federal government
woefully failing in its basic duties to provide for the wellbeing and security
of its own citizens as we have experienced in the last six years.
“On a daily basis, the economic, social and political
rights, including the rights to personal security, freedom of speech,
association, dissent and peaceful protests, as well as the right to personal
liberty are being violated with impunity by the present central administration
and its security apparatus.
“The invasion on personal liberty has been brazen and
indiscriminate, such that even judges of the superior courts, including Supreme
Court justices, have in the recent past been victims of midnight assaults on
their premises and subjection to unlawful arrests and imprisonments.
“Lately, the new devious trend is to tag security risks to
innocent Nigerians and opposition elements and use the Immigration Authority to
seize their international passports without a prior court order.”
Also speaking at the conference, the Chief Justice Of Nigeria,
Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad in his speech encouraged the NBA and its
members to lead the crusade to address the poor condition of service of
national judicial officers.
Justice Muhammad, who was represented by Justice Mary Odili,
also noted that administration of justice was being hindered by assault that
litigants, especially politicians and some lawyers, launch on the judiciary
when their ends were not met.
The NBA conference is expected to witness 25 technical
session where experts will lead conversations on topics in relation to the
legal profession.
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