Before the commencement of political activities
heightened, the National Assembly was on the
verge of amending the 1999 Constitution .

In
fact, some people were of the view that such
amendments should accommodate some of the
vital issues in the report of the National Political
Reform Conference, chaired by Justice Idris
Kutigi . But that appeared to have been
abandoned in the interim. In this interview,
former chairman of the Lagos NBA, Abiodun
Dabiri told GODWIN DUNIA that the entire
process needs surgical operation, which the
President-elect must not shy away from
tackling. He also spoke on the appointment of
judges, delay in justice delivery, conflict in the
award of SAN, standard of legal practice among
others.

Do you think there is going to be change in our
constitution in this coming dispensation? The
process of changing constitution is very
cumbersome and the elected president has a lot
to do. He has not promised anything, but when
he get there he will see the rot that need to be
cleared first because the whole place need some
surgical operation.

He has won election, but to me, I don’t know
where he will start from. Obama made lots of
promises, but when he got there he was to
some extent overwhelmed by the rot left behind
by George Bush.

I wish Buhari case will not be like that anyway.
Are you okay with the mode of appointing
Judges? Honestly, you raised a very good
question. I think in appointing Judges,
preference should be given to integrity.

To appoint a judge, you need to ask questions
and verify facts about the individual. But in this
part of our society, for instance, if someone
asks me about you now there is possibility that I
would not disclose certain fact about you.

I will not want to block your chances. This is
our culture and attitude and it will definitely
come to play. Unlike in the Western world where
a child would tell you; oh my father is a thief
and even call in police to arrest him.

In this part of the world, nobody we wants to do
that. Where do you lay the blame for cases of
10 years and above in the High Courts? Even in
Supreme Court cases less than 7 years are not
attended to. Justice delayed is justice denied!
We, as counsel contribute a lot to this delays.

For instance, the case of Joshua Dariye, who
was charged with certain offences. The lawyer
started by challenging the charges. It took over
seven years and the Supreme court was
annoyed.

The lawyers contributed to all these kind of
developments and the point is that they don't...

CONTINUE HERE :

www.beriahng.com/2015/04/nigerian-constitution-needs-surgical.html

Yes. And the Surgeons, we have just been reminded by GEJ, YESTERDAY, WHEN HE REFUSED TO SIGN THE AMENDMENTS PASSED TO HIM BY NASS. HE ACTED WITH KNOWLEDGE AND DECORUM.