FACT CHECK: Did Lawyers Clap For Buhari During 2018 NBA-AGC For Claiming To Have Power To Pick Judgements To Obey?

Anthony Atata, a Partner in Hall Black Law, and Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association, African Regional Forum, has in a piece titled, “Four Ways Odinkalu Goofed at The NBA Lagos Human Rights Summit”, alleged amongst other things that lawyers at the 2018 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, applauded the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, when he said that he has the power to pick and choose what rulings or judgments to obey.

TheNigerialawyer (TNL) travelled back in time to dig out relevant facts to be sure of what actually happened, and verify if the competing claims by Anthony Atata and Chidi Odinkalu are factually founded.

DID PRESIDENT BUHARI CLAIM HE HAS THE POWER TO PICK JUDGMENTS TO OBEY?

A thorough check on the facts available reveals that President Buhari did not use those words. Instead, he advocated for the subjection of the Rule of law, to what has been described as a vague concept of National Security.

His words:

“Rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the Nation’s Security and National interest. Our Apex Court has had course to adopt our position in this regard, and it is now a matter of judicial recognition. That is why national interest and public interest is now threatened or their likelihood of being threatened. The individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place in favour of the greater good of the society.”

There is evidence to indicate that this statement did not go down well with some lawyers. For instance, Professor Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and a host of others, criticized the president for downplaying the age-long the rule of Law, when National Security itself should be guided by the Rule of Law 

So, the President said the rule of Law must be subject to the supremacy of National Security, [which many people saw as a doctrine for disobedience of inconvenient court orders.]

DID LAWYERS CLAP FOR THE PRESIDENT AT THE EVENT?

The fact is that on hearing the above statement by the President, many participants at the Annual General Conference clearly clapped for Mr. President. [This is clear from available video clips of the conference]. 

By way of context, the Annual General Conference (AGC) of the NBA, being a conference of lawyers, is attended by lawyers from all over Nigeria and beyond. However, following the recent guidelines for admission into the AGC by the Technical Committee for Conference Planning, non-lawyers are also permitted to participate in the conference, in so far as they can meet the necessary requirements prescribed. This means that although the conference is a gathering of lawyers, some non-lawyers also attend, especially during the opening ceremony. However, lawyers remain by far the primary and overwhelming audience in all the sessions.

For an address by the President, it is safe to assume that his supporters may also have been present.

It is clear on the face of the evidence that when President Buhari arrived to officially open the Conference, many participants some of whom were clearly identifiable from their accreditation tags as lawyers were seen loudly hailing him with shouts of “Sai Baba!”. They also did this when he finished speaking and was leaving.

At several junctures, participants punctuated the President’s speech with clapping, which is not abnormal. For instance,  the participants clapped for Mr. President when he said:

“Let me thank your association for the invitation, to declare this conference open, and express my hope that the conference will consolidate the position of the NBA as a prime stakeholder in our national affairs. I am informed that with every attendance of over 10,000 participants, this conference represents as one of the largest single gathering of lawyers, anywhere in the world.”