The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has slammed the reported appointment of Abdulrasheed Maina, the disgraced former Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) chairman, as patron of its Garki, Abuja branch.
The uproar followed reports that branch chairman Anthony Bamidele Ojo announced Maina as grand patron shortly after the ex-official was released from Kuje Correctional Centre, where he served an eight-year sentence for diverting N2 billion in pension funds.
In a fiery statement on Friday, NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, ordered Ojo to immediately withdraw the appointment and stop issuing statements, comments, or representations on Maina’s behalf.
Osigwe said the move not only tarnished the image of the legal profession but also mocked the government’s fight against corruption and went against the NBA’s mission to uphold the rule of law.
“Equally reprehensible was the decision of the chairman to make comments about Abdulrasheed Maina’s appeal, currently believed to be pending at the Supreme Court.
“While the NBA respects Mr Maina’s right to exhaust his right to appeal against the conviction, the Bar will not, under any guise, comment on such an appeal or be seen to try to sway public opinion in his favour,” Osigwe added.
