With a pledge to sustain judicial independence, President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday opened this year’s Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at the Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The President said he was not dictating to the third arm of government.
He explained that the Federal Government under his watch had demonstrated this by accepting unfavourable court judgments.
President Buhari, who was represented by the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami (SAN), restated his administration’s commitment to strengthening institutions.
He said: “We have had to disrupt the age-long wrong assumptions and historical narratives of the presumed immunity of sacred cows in our society, simply to demonstrate that henceforth the law will be used as a potent instrument to regulate the activities of all persons and institutions in our country in a fair and transparent manner.”
“It is a sad testimony with potential for national economic disaster when legal issues are handled either in a compromised, ignorant or incompetent manner.
“Let me say that without prejudice to our right to challenge this award, Mr. President has already directed the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to take steps to ensure that all issues related to negotiation, signing, formation and obvious frustration of the purported contract are duly investigated and all persons and institutions, whether in the private or public sector, who acted in ways that have now made our dear nation face potential economic adversity and widespread opprobrium are made to face the law and prosecution in the law court.
“Never again shall we allow such short-sighted individuals to compromise our national interest and walk away without a sense of accountability… Never again,” Buhari said.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad, noted that the Judiciary was not truly independent financially.
He promised that it would not lose “its firm grip on the mantle of honesty, transparency and integrity”.