President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, has expressed concern over the conflicting interim injunctions issued in the Kano Emirate dispute.
In a statement released on Wednesday, May 29, Maikyau urged an urgent review of the professional conduct of the lawyers and judges involved.
Maikyau called on the heads of the respective courts to investigate the judges’ conduct and report their findings to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for necessary action.
He stated, “The conduct of the counsel and the courts in handling the proceedings, resulting in the orders from the Federal High Court, the Kano State High Court, and again the Federal High Court, has brought disgrace and shame to our profession and exposed the Nigerian legal community to public ridicule. The damage inflicted is significant and will take a long time to mend. It is unfortunate and completely unwarranted. For a nation whose legal expertise has positively impacted the African continent and the world, it is unacceptable for our court processes to be misused in such a manner over a clear chieftaincy dispute.”
“This issue has been sufficiently addressed by legislation and case law, leaving no ambiguity in its jurisprudence—both procedural and substantive.”
“Without prejudice to the ongoing cases in the Federal High Court and the Kano State High Court, I believe there is an urgent need to scrutinize the professional conduct of both the lawyers and the judges involved. This will enable the relevant bodies to determine their culpability or otherwise from an ethical and professional perspective.”
“I call on the heads of the courts involved to promptly investigate the judges’ conduct for any potential abuse of their judicial offices and report their findings to the NJC for necessary action. The NBA will also investigate the conduct of the counsel involved and will not hesitate to initiate disciplinary action against them before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee if any professional misconduct is found.
The Chairman of the NBA Ethics and Disciplinary Committee has been directed to invite these lawyers for preliminary investigations.”
