SOME members of the Kano State branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have disowned a press statement issued by the Chairman of the association, Sagir Suleman Gezawa, concerning the current Kano emirship tussle.
In a statement issued on Monday, May 27, in reaction to Gezawa’s position on the matter, 28 lawyers, 28 cautioned the chairman to desist from dragging the body into politics.
In the statement, titled, ‘Rejoinder to NBA Kano Branch Chairman (Sagir Suleiman Gezawa) on the proper mode of enforcement of order of the court and a clarion call not to engage the NBA in partisan politics,’ the members said: “We finally state that the statement issued by the chairman is his personal opinion and not the opinion of members of the NBA and he should please desist from any act of dragging the NBA into the mud of politics.
“The chairman should be called to order.”
The lawyers said they were appalled by Gezawa’s emphasis that the controversial statement “was issued as a body,” adding: “We believe such a statement is the personal opinion of the chairman, because we were never consulted and it is never our opinion and never the opinion of members of the Kano Branch. The chairman is to express the view of the branch and not his personal opinion.
“The statement issued by the chairman has more of a political undertone than law, that the NBA, as a pressure group, should not engage in.”
Recall that Gezawa, in the statement, accused the military of “enforcing a court order,” saying “the Army should be mindful of the fact that their actions may breach the security and peace of Kano State and they shall be held accountable in this life or the next.”
But his members countered, saying: “We, however, see nothing wrong in the actions of the Army. They are here to maintain law and order and peaceful coexistence. It is the chairman that should rather be mindful of his actions of encouraging the Kano State Government to disobey court order, which may cause a breach of peace and security, and he shall be held accountable in this life or the next.”
