Kaduna NBA backs Abba-Aji’s nomination to Supreme Court

The Chairman, Kaduna branch of the Nigerian Bar Association,
Suleiman Shuaibu, on Sunday said the call by the Civil Society
Network Against Corruption on President Muhammadu Buhari not to
approve the nomination of Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, to the
Surpreme Court’s bench, was unfounded.

The National Judicial Council had at its 87th meeting,
recommended Justice Abba-Aji of the Kaduna Division of the Court of
Appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment as the Justice
of the Surpreme Court of Nigeria.

But the CSNAC’s Chairman, Mr Lanre Suraju, kicked against the
nomination and urged the President not to forward her name to the
Senate for confirmation on the ground that Justice Abba-Aji was
under investigation for allegedly receiving bride from a lawyer who
is currently undergoing trial.

However, according to Shuaibu, Justice Abba-Aji was not under
any probe and she is well qualified for the job.

In an interview with journalists in Kaduna on Sunday, the NBA
chairman said, “We are baffled by allegation of this NGO. Without
holding briefs for her, this jurist of the Court of Appeal is well
known to us (lawyers). We feel the allegation was unfounded.”

Also speaking on the matter, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yunus
Usman, urged President Buhari to ignore the call and forward
Justice Abba-Aji’s name to the Senate for confirmation.

Usman argued that the civil society group ought to have verified
their claims before smearing the name of Justice Abba-Aji as “she
remained one of the best judges today in the country.”

He said, “The Presidency should just ignore the call and go
ahead with her name for confirmation as a Justice of the Surpreme
Court of Nigeria.”