Wike slammed the NBA over the opposition to the emergency in the river

The Minister of Federal Capital Region (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has criticized the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) for opposing the emergency declaration proposed by the Tinubu Ball President regarding the Emergency in the State of Rivers.

Wike accused that the attitude of the NBA was influenced by financial considerations, showing that the offer of the Rivers state government to host the Annual General General Conference Association plays a role in the opposition.

The Minister made this statement on Friday in Abuja during the visit by officials of the bench agency, led by his chairman, Head of Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN).

Wike is not small in questioning the motive of the NBA, accusing the Association of Hypocrisy and Bias in his assessment of judicial and executive intervention.

“NBA does not support the emergency declaration because there will be no money to give them to their conference. What kind of hypocrisy is this?” He asked.

He asked Benchers’ bodies to intervene, urged them to ask for NBA accountability for what he described as unnecessary criticism of judicial decisions and legal professions in general. According to him, some NBA members openly condemn the court’s decision without studying the decision correctly, a practice that he believed to damage the integrity of the judiciary.

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“If you do not discipline someone, no one will learn lessons,” said Wike. “We will no longer let our profession be withdrawn down. It has never been heard that members of a profession will become prominent people to discredit them.”

The Minister subsequently accused the NBA selectively labeled financial support to the judiciary as bribery while receiving contributions to their own activities without similar supervision.

“When the NBA was building its national secretariat, they wrote to the executive for support, and no one saw it as a bribe. I was the only one who contributed, and they accepted it. But when the contribution went to court, suddenly it became a bribe,” Wike said.

He also showed that the state government often sponsored NBA activities, but when similar support was expanded into the judiciary, it was considered an effort to influence the results of the law.

Expressing concerns over the climate of distrust around the judiciary, Wike deplored that judges and judges are now avoiding public meetings and social interaction for fear of being accused of corruption.

“Our judges are very afraid to attend the mosque or church, even shaking hands with those they know, because lawyers will accuse them of collecting bribes,” he said. “This must stop.”

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