*As NBA urges FG to ensure safe return of abducted
Dapchi school girls
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Samuel Walter
Onnoghen; Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar
Malami; President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN),
and other legal luminary on Tuesday paid glowing tribute to the third female
Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Clara Bata Ogunbiyi, who bowed out of
service yesterday after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 for
judges.
Meanwhile, the President of the NBA, Mahmoud, has
charged the federal government to facilitate the safe return of 110 schoolgirls
kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary and Technical School in Dapchi,
Yobe State.
Onnoghen and others spoke at a special valedictory court
session in honour of Justice Ogunbiyi held at the Headquarters of the Supreme
Court in Abuja.
The CJN commended Ogunbiyi for her forthrightness,
honesty and dedication to the business of the court, adding that Ogunbiyi never
shirked her task nor wavered from the course of justice.
“I find that her Lordship’s use of clear legal
reasoning is complimented by the impeccable courtroom courtesy and decorum,
with which she addressed both the Bar and her colleagues.
“Her temperament endeared her to the court and her
selflessness often speaks volumes. I dare say that these twin virtues represent
the best of the legal profession and are indeed worthy of acceptance and
emulation by all members of the Bar and the Bench,” Onnoghen said.
The CJN, however, noted that the judiciary would
miss her with her measured and erudite contributions and her active advocacy of
women’s right, adding that her legacy will endure in the annals of the
jurisprudence of Nigeria.
“Justice Ogunbiyi is a champion of gender rights
and an advocate of the greater inclusion of women in the affairs of our country.
“She has been an inspiration to female legal
practitioners, being active in the NBA Women’s Forum as well as other gender-related
organisations,” he added.
Similarly, Minister of Justice, Malami, while
eulogizing Ogunbiyi for her track records in the judiciary, stated that the
retired jurist would be remembered for her immense contributions in the
implementation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
“I must however place on record her contributions
to the evolution of our vision of a fast and efficient criminal justice system
which abhors undue delays, through her lead ruling in the Olisa Metuh matter
where the applicant had sought to enforce a stay of proceedings in his trial
before the Federal High Court.
“Her Lordship, in her ruling, which was unanimously
adopted by her brother Justices on the panel, clearly clarified that section
36(4) of the 1999 Constitution, section 306 of the Administration of Criminal
Justice Act and other relevant authorities all ‘mandate and enjoin the trial
court not to delay criminal cases’. In this way, she firmly set the imprimatur
of the Supreme Court on our collective effort to develop a criminal justice
system which we can be proud of,” he said.
In the meantime, the NBA, speaking through its
president at the occasion, condemned the abduction of the Dapchi schoolgirls by
yet-to-be identified group.
Mahmoud advised both the state and federal
governments to suspend boarding school system for girls in the North-east region
until the safety of all schools can be fully guaranteed.
He lamented that the region presently is one of the
most unsafe part of the world for the education of female children.
Mahmoud also eulogised Ogunbiyi for her brilliant
judicial pronouncements, which according to him, had loosened womanhood from
cultural bandage, particular her decision in Ukeje vs Ukeje which gave female
children right of inheritance to their deceased father or husband property in
Igbo land.
In her valedictory speech, Justice Ogunbiyi revealed
that there are numerous appeals that should never come to the Supreme Court.
She noted that for the apex court to achieve
expected results, it should not be over burdened with interlocutory appeals.
"Interlocutory appeals should all terminate at
the Court of Appeal domain. Supreme Court as the final court in the land, and
should perform at its best. If the Justices are over-burdened, they cannot
achieve their optimum,” she said.
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