The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), on Monday, said failure of the judiciary to uphold the rule of law will make it an accomplice to the nation’s malaise.
Maikyau made the assertion yesterday at the official opening of the New Legal Year 2023/2024 of the FCT High Court in Abuja.
Represented by the second vice president of the association, Clement Chukwuemeka Ugo, the NBA President, maintained that the judiciary must exhibit why it is the third arm of government and not the appendage of the executive.
He added that the enormous power given to the judiciary was akin to those God gave to man after creation.
He said, “May I remind some judges and some legal practitioners at this point that we are the reason for the economic hardship in Nigeria.
“We are responsible for the disappearance of investors, we are responsible for the bad roads and high rate of kidnapping on our major roads and towns, and above all, we are accomplices to the non-adherence to the rule of law by the other arms of government in total disobedience as instructed by God in 2nd Chronicle 19 vs 4-7.”
Maikyau while bemoaning the welfare and working conditions of judicial officers in Nigeria, said it is among the poorest in the world.
