By Charles Adingupu
About 48 hours after Senator Ahmad Muhammad Bulkachuwa confessed prevailing on his wife, the then President of the Appeal Court, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to swing the court’s judgement in favour of his senate colleagues, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has called on the relevant agencies to investigate the claim.
The senator had admitted that his wife, Justice Bulkachuwa “extended help” to some politicians during her time as President of the Court of Appeal.
In a swift reaction, the NBA has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to immediately invite Senator Ahmad Muhammad Bulkachuwa for interrogation and proceed to prosecute him accordingly.
This comes after Bulkachuwa’s disclosure that his wife, through his interference, was able to help some politicians win their cases during her time as President of the Court of Appeal between April 2014 and March 2020.
The NBA, in a statement by its President, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, on Wednesday, noted that the viral video clip of the comments made by the senator were clearly admissions that he did “attempt to and/or actually perverted the course of justice/interfered with due administration of justice, which makes him liable to be investigated and prosecuted even on his admission.”
The association also said “that this came with a huge negative impact on the integrity and the independence of the Judiciary can only be an understatement”.
While reiterating the Bar’s commitment to the defence of the integrity of the judiciary, Maikayau insisted that the Bar would not hesitate to take on anyone, either within or outside the legal profession, who takes steps or makes statements that are capable of undermining the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality judicial processes.
The NBA president also said that at the 102nd meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) held earlier on Wednesday, he took the liberty of his membership of the council to complain about the “rather disgusting and despicable conduct of Senator Bulkachuwa, which was a direct attack on the integrity of the Judiciary.”
He also said that the NJC condemned the actions of the Senator in the strongest terms as an affront on the integrity and independence of the Judiciary.
