The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN has commended the success recorded by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) especially with its introduction of the electronic voting system.
This is just as he enjoined the Association to join hands with the Federal Government in its bid to reform the justice sector.
The Minister stated this in Abuja while delivering his goodwill message at the commissioning ceremony of the Nigeria Bar Association headquarters in Abuja last Friday.
Revealing this through a press statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice said Malami expressed delight in NBA’s adoption of the e-voting.
He pointed out emphatically that, “You have distinguished yourselves by the electronic voting process.”
Isah also informed that the Minister commended the level of commitment and prudence displayed by the NBA which is the manifestation of the new secretariat.
He quoted Malami as saying that, “The Federal Government and indeed the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation (HAGF) is proud of your achievement and we are committed to partnering with the association in the advancement of the country.”
The AGF further urged the NBA to support the present administration in its efforts in the ongoing Justice Sector Reforms, stressing that the building being commissioned is a manifestation of the promise kept by the former and present Presidents of the association.
He said, “Okey Wali laid the foundation, Augustine Alegeh completed it, Aminu Tambuwal raised the funds, we are proud of you people.”
The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who officially commissioned the ultra-modern NBA building, noted that the action that engendered what we are seeing here today is what he referred to as power of unity.
Osinbajo explained that similar power of unity as in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 11 that enabled the Jews go into the construction of the Biblical Tower of Babel inspired the NBA to construct this edifice.
The VP described the building as one of the most important building in the country because it demonstrated the relevance of NBA, adding that the future of the association must be a source of concern to all Nigerians.
He advised lawyers to at all times adopt integrity as their watchword and maintained that by so doing people will hold them at a very high pedestal as it ought to be.
He said, “If NBA continues this way, we are going to show to the world that collecting fees from clients is not all we know”, Osinbajo opined.
On his part, President of NBA, Mr. Augustine Alegeh SAN in his remark earlier affirmed that he is a fulfilled man having lived up to his pledge to complete the secretariat building from where his predecessor, Dr. Okey Wali SAN had stopped.
He explained that the fifth floor of the ten storey building estimated to have cost about N2.5b was named as Rivers State floor due to the immense contribution of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike towards making the completion of the edifice a reality.
Alegeh, also unveiled the association’s plan to rename the street hosting its national headquarters as NBA Boulevard while former NBA Presidents that had expressed interest in having their names written in gold at the Hall of Honour are expected to pay N10M each.
The NBA boss charged the newly elected NBA President on proper maintenance culture and internally generated revenue (IGR).
Others who spoke at the occasion are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara as well as the governors of Sokoto and Rivers State, Aminu Tambuwal and Nyeson Wike respectively who all took turn to pour encomiums on the leadership of the past and present NBA executives.
