NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION

COMMUNIQUE OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN GOMBE FROM THE 25th - 26th DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2010 

At its meeting held in Gombe, Gombe State from the 25^th - 26^th of November, 2010 the NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE of the NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION after exhaustive deliberations reached the following resolutions: 

• Noted the remarkable transformation of Gombe State under the leadership of His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr.) Muhammad Danjuma Goje (Sarkin Yakin Gombe), Governor of the State, and commended him for the proper and judicious application of public funds of the State. 
• Noted and reviewed the decision by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to embark on state creation but advised that its timing could heat up the polity and create unnecessary distractions, having regard to the impending 2011 General Elections in the Country and urged the Senate to shelve the idea for the time being.. 
• Reviewed the mode of appointment of legal practitioners as representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) into the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) without consulting the NBA as totally unacceptable and therefore rejected those appointees as representatives of the Association and further resolved representatives of the Association should apart from being made in consultation with the NBA must include the serving President of the Association. 
• Noted and deprecated the general state of insecurity, infrastructural decay and acts of executive lawlessness in the country and called on governments at all levels to live up to their responsibilities and ensure good governance. 
• Condemned the state of affairs in Ogun State where the Legislative Arm of Government which is an essential part of any democracy, has been in abeyance for an unduly prolonged length of time, noted the role played by the Executive arm of government in that State in precipitating the crisis, and called for the immediate resolution of crisis, failing which the Federal Government should set in motion the relevant process for the declaration of a state of emergency in Ogun State. 
• NEC noted the total decline in the criminal justice system in the Country as a result of the failure/neglect on the part of the Legislature to pass pending relevant Laws such as the Criminal Justice Reform Bill, the Evidence (Amendment) Act, EFCC (Amendment) Act, etc and the abuse of the plea bargaining system which is not backed by specific Federal legislation but frequently employed by Federal Agencies to provide soft landing for convicts of corruption-related offences and therefore called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage into law of the relevant pending Bills for efficient criminal justice administration in Nigeria.
• NEC expressed deep concern over the prolonged strike in the tertiary institutions in the South-Eastern States of Nigeria and its debilitating and negative impact on human resources development in those States and the Country in general and called on the relevant State Governments to as a matter of urgency engage the striking Unions in constructive dialogue with a view to resolving the conflict in the overall interest of all concerned. 
• NEC observed and condemned the overzealous actions of security operatives in Bornu State, who under the guise of tackling the Boko Haram scourge prevalent in that State flagrantly violate the fundamental rights of innocent residents of the State, and called on the security operatives in Bornu State to exercise restraint and respect the fundamental rights of innocent citizens while carrying out their assignments in the State. 

ISSUED THIS 26^TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2010 AT GOMBE, GOMBE STATE. 
NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION