*Nyesom Wike, Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, faults the Nigerian Bar Association鈥檚 stand on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State

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Barr. Nyesom Wike, Honourable Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has faulted the Nigerian Bar Association鈥檚 (NBA) stand, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State was unconstitutional and illegal.

Wike alleged the NBA particularly discredited President Tinubu鈥檚 decision to restore peace, good governance, dividends of democracy to the people because the Rivers State Government already had promised to host the Association’s annual general conference in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The FCT Minister said this when officials of the Body of Benchers, led by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), its Chairman, visited the Minister Friday, March 28, 2025, in Abuja, FCT.

He also emphasised that the NBA did not support the declaration of the emergency rule because there would be no money to give the Association for the scheduled conference in Rivers.

Wike: Why NBA’s hypocrisy and criticisms of the Judiciary?

Barr. Wike quipped: 鈥淲hat kind of hypocrisy is this?鈥�

The Minister, therefore, urgrd the Body of Benchers to call the NBA to order over the Association鈥檚 unnecessary criticism of the West African country’s Judiciary, agency report said.

The Body should not sit and watch, while the NBA and its members destroy the legal profession, the Minister stated.

He equally alleged that some NBA members usually, without reading a court judgement, ignorantly will go on national television to condemn the judgement and criticise the Judges.

Lamenting members’ such actions have continued with no sanction over time, Wike averred: 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 discipline somebody, nobody will learn any lesson.

鈥淲e shall no longer allow our profession to be pulled down.”

He further noted: “I cannot believe, as a lawyer, that you make a contribution to help the legal profession, and you will be criticised by your fellow lawyers.

鈥淪ir, time has come that we need to say look, enough is enough.”

The Minister asserted: “We cannot continue to discourage our Judges and Justices. It is not done anywhere.

鈥淚 have never seen where members of a profession are the ones that are bent on bringing the profession down.”

Does support from Executive amount to bribing the Judiciary?

In regard to insinuations about what really constitutes a bribe between the Executive and Judiciary, Wike also accused the NBA of describing any support rendered by the Executive arm of the Nigerian Government to the Judicial arm as a bribe.

Going down the money lane, he recalled that, when NBA was building its National Secretariat, the leadership of the Association wrote to the Executive for support, adding that nobody saw that as a bribe at the time.

The Minister stated: 鈥淚 was the only one who contributed to the NBA to build the National Secretariat. The NBA didn鈥檛 see it as a bribe.

鈥淲hen you contribute to the Body of Benchers, it is a bribe, but when you contribute to NBA it is not a bribe, they will take it.”

He equally noted: 鈥淭he same NBA will rely on state governments to sponsor their activities, but when the state government supports the Judiciary, it is bribery.”

Why taunting of Judges and Justices must stop, by Minister

Against the backdrop of some NBA members’ purported double standards, Wike said that the constant taunting of Judges and Justices has made them to avoid attending social gatherings, or going to church or mosque for fear of molestation.

The Minister noted that Judges could no longer shake people鈥檚 hands freely, because lawyers would accuse them of collecting bribes.

鈥淚t has got to the stage that our Judges are so scared of going to a mosque or church or even greeting somebody they know because of fear of bribery.

鈥淭hey run away from shaking people鈥檚 hands because they will start accusing them of collecting bride. This must stop.”

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