Etaghene Edirin
9 June 2007
Lagos — As legal fireworks commence at the electoral tribunals, national president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has submitted that President Umar Musa Yar'Adua's occupation of Aso Rock is illegitimate.
In an interview with Sunday Champion, Mr Agbakoba said that Yar'Adua's occupation of the seat of power could only be legitimatized at the conclusion of the cases challenging his election at the tribunals.
He said, "The NBA notes that the president is president de-facto and that therefore he must be sworn in as he has, but that any administration that emerges at the conclusion of the tribunal, will be legitimate."
He stated that the country had to move forward for now and that it was up to the election tribunal to confirm whether Yar'Adua would leave office or not.
He revealed that the NBA has written a letter to the president encouraging him to build confidence and trust, adding, "we encouraged him in a letter we did to him to continue to build confidence and trust, because the process that threw him up was very flawed."
He further said that since Yar'Adua made his inaugural speech in which he promised to be a servant leader, he had brought a refreshing approach, and that if he continued to work in this mode of servant leader, "it might be possible that we will experience something dramatic."
The NBA president also stated that the agenda of President Yar'Adua which, he said, is transformation of Nigeria, was a welcome idea, because he's moving away from the reforms of the last administration.
"What Nigerians want, is a good, honest man who will treat them right, and one hopes that in the four years that he'll be there, he will use our resources properly to deal with the energy question, deal with unemployment, health, education, bad roads, deal also with the Niger Delta question, and generally use our resources to put us in good stead," he stated.
He also condemned the recent fuel price increases done by the last administration on the eve of its departure.
He expressed shock at the rate of increase of Value Added Tax (VAT) and wondered what the past government wanted to achieve by the actions.
His words, "it shocked me that President Obasanjo in the final two days of his administration, would want to foist on the new president this position.
I'm sure President Umaru Yar'Adua will not like it. Increase the cost of fuel and increase VAT, overheating the economy.
He said the NBA would not take a stand on the strike notice given to the government by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), because the association was not a trade union.
He however stated, that he would personally support any lawful action that would lead to a reversal of the new fuel pump prices.
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