The Buhari Media Support Group (BMSG) has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association for threatening to boycott courts following arrest of some judges by the Department State Service (DSS).
A statement by the Coordinator and Secretary of the group on Monday, Malam Muhammad Labbo and Cassidy Madueke, said that the DSS followed due process and rule of law in carrying out the arrests.
Labo said the service had valid and legally-issued search warrants before embarking on the assignment.
According to him, the DSS followed the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 to the letter in every move it made.
He said that no judge in Nigeria was “granted immunity by the 1999 Constitution as amended, and like in other democratic climes, the security agencies can arrest and prosecute judges who have fallen outside the favour of legally-accepted conduct.”
Labo condemned the call by the NBA for a state of emergency and the ultimatum to the President Buhari to call his security agencies to order.
He said that such call “does not only tantamount to impeding the anti-graft war of the administration, but also amounts to shielding suspects from facing the law against the ethics and obligations of the legal profession.
“As a responsible organisation, it is expected that the Nigerian Bar Association will be in the forefront in educating Nigerians on the legality and propriety of the DSS action, and lend their total support to the reformation and cleansing of the Nigerian judiciary as it will ultimately serve the general good.”
According to him, this is a fight against corruption and not against the judiciary as an institution.
He said that Buhari was elected with the core mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption, adding “we must lend our unalloyed support to enable him succeed.”
Labo commended the DSS for diligently executing its constitutional responsibilities within the ambit of the law. (NAN)