IGBEKE: FALANA COMMENDS AGF

Former president of the West Africa Bar Association (WABA), Femi Falana, has commended the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke (SAN), for giving correct legal advice to the National Assembly over the Anambra North Senatorial District electoral dispute.

Reacting to the eventual swearing-in of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate, Chief Alphonsus Igbeke as the senator representing Anambra North following his confirmation by the Court of Appeal which nullified the election of Joy Emordi, Falana said the prompt sound legal advice to the government deserved commendation.

'Going by our immediate past experience with the office of the AGF, the attitude of the Minister of Justice to the strict observance of the rule of law through compliance with court order by the government is commendable.

'I want to say that this positive attitude has gone along in restoring the confidence of the people in the rule of law under this administration.

We all know that under the immediate past occupier of that office, the government would have been misled into taking a wrong interpretation of the judgment of the court and the matter would have continued to drag on in endless litigation thereby putting the rule of law in serious jeopardy,' he said.

He noted that the respected office of the AGF, which, according to him, was polluted in recent times, is now receiving the right fumigation under Adoke.

'Honestly, the rule of law has one face all over the world and that is the face of justice. So, when the former AGF was busy deceiving the nation under the guise of rule of law while gratuitous illegalities were being perpetrated through his misguided fraudulent legal opinion to the government which often embarrassed the administration he served, of course, nobody was deceived. The nation had never had it so bad not even under the military and that is why we hold it a duty to commend and encourage the AGF to continue in the path of genuine pursuit of rule of law.'

'We shall criticize them constructively anytime occasion demands so that they will continue to toe the path of rule of law and justice for all. What has happened in the case of Chief Igbeke should be a lesson for all. It is a victory not only for democracy and rule of law but also affirms our confidence in the judiciary as the pillar of the current democratic experience,' he said.