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Yahaya Bello: Lawyers Protest against the Supreme Court.

BY: Adisa Deborah

Dozens of lawyers protested outside the Supreme Court, claiming that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was harassing and intimidating former Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
Furthermore, the EFCC’s appeal against the Kogi State High Court’s decision, which banned the commission from arresting the former governor, could not be heard since the Court of Appeal did not list it.

On March 11, 2024, the EFCC filed an appeal, Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CV/175/2024: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission v. Alhaji Yahaya Bello, seeking a stay of execution. The Court of Appeal denied the stay of execution, but scheduled a hearing for yesterday.

The appeal, however, did not take place since the registrar informed journalists that it was not included among the cases for the day.
While the parties were in court to set a date for the appeal, protesting attorneys from across the country reportedly rushed the Supreme Court to decry the EFCC’s “illegal” approach to Yahaya Bello.

Lawyers of Conscience, led by co-convener S.K. Alewu, criticized the EFCC’s attempt to arrest the former governor despite being served with a legitimate court order prohibiting it from doing so.
Alewu claimed that not only had Bello’s fundamental rights been violated, but that the judiciary had become willing puppets in the hands of those opposed to the rule of law.
The lawyers requested the Nigerian Judicial Council and President Bola Tinubu to summon the EFCC to prevent further abuse and contempt of court decisions.

“It has become pertinent again that we address well-meaning Nigerians on the current attacks on the Judiciary by the very institutions created by law to enforce and guarantee the sanctity of our judicial processes,” the statement said. “As young lawyers, we envisage a judiciary where justice is not only done but also seen to be manifestly done. It is in our patriotic quest to always pursue ventures that guarantee an independent judiciary that dispenses justice without fear nor favour that we formed this civil society of lawyers.

 

“We are thus concerned that desperate politicians and dishonest forces in our society are striving tirelessly to expose the judiciary, which sacrificed all to carefully defend it’s jurisdiction under the military government, to public odium and opprobrium.

 

“It is more worrisome that even the very institutions that are created by law to enforce our laws have become willing tools in the hands of enemies of our rule of law and the judiciary to harangue our judges and bring the justice system to public ridicule.”
It stated that the current case between the EFCC and Gov. Yahaya is the most heinous of such instances, and that it is sickening that the commission will move to lay siege to and even attempt to arrest the former governor of Kogi State despite having been served with a valid court order prohibiting them from doing so and without vacating the order.

It noted that the events of the past few days have the potential to erode the commission’s many gains and national acclaim, which it has received from the majority of Nigerians, who see the commission’s establishment as the most significant intervention in the endemic corruption that has rocked our public service and government institutions since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999.
The group stated that the current president of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a leader who has given his best to preserve our democracy, despite the fact that the president was once the target of a political witch-hunt.

It added that it has written petitions to the Nigerian Judicial Council and President Bola Tinubu, requesting that they use their good offices to call the EFCC to order and prohibit any sort of abuse and disobedience of court orders.