GROUP FLAYS NBA STANCE ON RIVERS JUDICIARY CRISIS Rights group, the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights has faulted the position of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the crisis rocking the judiciary in Rivers State. The NBA, Port Harcourt Branch, had expressed the need for the Rivers State Governor to make concessions in order to resolve the judiciary crisis in the state. It will be recalled that the appointment of a chief judge for the state had sparked a disagreement between the state government and the National Judicial Council, a development that led to the closure of the courts in the state. While Amaechi appointed the most senior judge in the state Customary Appeal Court, Justice Peter Agumagu, as the state chief judge, the NJC rejected the appointment, prefering the most senior judge of the High Court, Justice Daisy Okocha. But speaking in an interview with our correspondent in Port Harcourt yesterday, the ISSJHR Chancellor, Dr. Jackson Omenazu, said it was wrong for the NBA to ask the governor to shift ground on the matter. Omenazu added that rather than blame the state government, the NBA should ask the NJC to shift ground or make concessions in order to ensure that the striking judiciary workers went back to work. According to him, “The needful thing to do is that the NBA, having been able to give a tacit approval to Amaechi’s position in the appointment of a state chief judge, should form a committee that should meet NJC and the chief justice of Nigeria and prevail on them to allow the law on the appointment of a CJ for the state to stand. “Shifting ground or making concessions brought the idea of plea bargaining. The pertinent question we should ask is that is there morality in the action of the governor...? 1. Is there authority supporting the governor’s action...? 2. Is it morally right for the governor to shift ground on this issue..? 3. It is the NJC that should shift ground by allowing Justice Peter Agumagu to be the state chief judge,” Omenazu said. He pointed out that apart from shifting ground, the NJC should apologise to the people of the state for infringing on the rights of the masses by disagreeing with the choice of the state governor. Omenazu urged the NJC to act within the law, adding that the council was acting outside the law as far as the appointment of a state chief judge was concerned.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 22:12:23 +0000
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