Onnoghen: Lagos lawyers, judges shun NBA’s court boycott order

Contrary to the directive by the Nigerian Bar Association that
lawyers should boycott court for two days in protest against the
suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter
Onnoghen, by President Muhammadu Buhari, judges in Lagos State are
sitting, with lawyers conducting cases before them.

Our correspondent, on a visit to the Lagos State High Court in
Igbosere, observed that despite the NBA’s directive, normal court
activities were in full swing.

For example, the courtroom of Justice Adedayo Akintoye was
brimming with accused persons who appeared for their trial.

It was a similar situation in the court rooms of Justices
Lateefa Okunnu, Grace Onyeabo, where lawyers were conducting their
cases without let.

In Justice Taofeekat Abdullahi-Oyekan’s court, a large number of
lawyers were seated, awaiting the arrival of the senior judge at
about 10.30 a.m.

At the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, normal legal activities
were also going on unhindered.

A lawyer, Mr Olufemi Olabisi, when approached, described the
directive by the NBA as useless, noting that the judges were not
carried along.

He explained that if he stayed away from the court, the judge
could strike out his client’s case, wondering who would account for
the cost.

“I have a privity of contract with my client; the NBA has no
input into how I got my employment and how I got my clients. So,
the NBA cannot ask me to stay away from the court.

“The NBA directive is useless without carrying the judges
along,” he said.

Olabisi, who works in the law firm of Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN),
said he was in court to defy the directive by the NBA, stressing
that he was even willing to take a case on pro bono just to defy
the NBA.

When contacted on phone as to why his members shunned the
directive of the national NBA, the Chairman, NBA Ikeja, Mr Dele
Oloke, said he was still in Abuja, as the national NBA meeting
finished late on Monday.

He added, “What we are doing is to save the integrity of the
judiciary, which has been tormented in recent times. So, if on
their own they believe that what we are doing is of no use to them,
time will tell.

“As far as we are concerned, it will not be in a long while
before a governor will go to a customary court to obtain an ex
parte order to remove a judge. Then, they will have themselves to
blame. But for us as Bar leaders, we will not shirk in our
responsibilties to offer purposeful leadership.

“But if people are not seeing beyond their immediate nose and
they can’t see into the larger picture, there is nothing we can do
about it.

“History will be very kind to us that when we saw what was
wrong, when we saw constitutional infractions, not only did we
rebuke it, we walked the talk and for those who frustrate our
effort history also will have a place for them.”