By NewsBits
A Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, J.B Daudu, SAN has backed the President of Nigeria, Mohammadu Buhari over his directive approving the use of old N200 naira notes as legal tender. Commenting on a statement by a human rights lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN that the President’s action amounts to contempt of the court, the former NBA President said:
“The President’s speech to the nation cannot in any guise be termed as contemptuous of Supreme court order said to be in existence on the CBN issue as Adegboruwa SAN has opined. Every arm of government must perform its constitutional function as allocated to it by the Constitution in sections 4, 5 and 6 of the hallowed documents.
“One arm of Government cannot therefore prevent another arm from performing it’s sacred constitutional functions. The President has done his best to douse the tension by exercising his undoubted executive Presidential powers to salvage a very bad situation which was capable of throwing the nation into complete anarchy.
“Should the President wait until February 22, 2023 when the almighty Supreme Court will take arguments from a battery of senior lawyers and then rule one way or the other on a matter in which they have hinted that they too are looking for a way to ameliorate the sufferings of the Nigerian masses, which with the greatest respect to the SC is not one of its functions or duties.
“The Judiciary is strictly mandated by section 6 of the 1999 CFRN as amended to determine disputes between contending parties. The President’s performance of his own Constitutional functions has not prevented the court from doing its own work assuming it has jurisdiction to determine such issue in the first place.
“Courts should be vigilant in performing their own duties and not stray or migrate into attempting to discharge legislative or executive functions. That would be anathema to the very essence of democracy itself.
“Finally, courts must be cautious when exercising jurisdiction and/or making court orders, it ought strictly to confine itself to orders against direct parties to the proceedings before it, secondly, it must be satisfied that it is in a position to enforce its orders and thirdly, it must not make orders that will be classified as vain. In this vein, the President enjoys immunity under section 308 of the Constitution thus it would be fruitless to invite the SC to begin contempt proceedings against the President of the FRN,” he stated.
