Judgment can’t stand –SANs – TheNigerialawyer

Meanwhile, lawyers, especially senior advocates of Nigeria, have
reacted to the judgment with some saying the judgment could not
stand.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ahmed Raji, said the judgment
sacking the legislator for holding dual citizenship of Nigeria and
the UK would not stand.

He said, “I don’t know the facts of the case. But if I
understand and still recollect the provisions of the constitution
and some decided authorities of the higher courts, it would seem
that that judgment cannot hold water.

“I believe that an appeal to the Court of Appeal will put things
in the proper shape. So, all I will say is that anyone who is
aggrieved is encouraged to go on appeal.”

Also reacting, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Wahab Shittu, said, “The
first thing to say is that our courts are not Father Christmas;
they don’t make an order unless someone asks for it. If there are
members of the National Assembly who hold dual citizenship, we
cannot condemn them because their cases have not been tested in
court. No one has invoked the jurisdiction of the court to
challenge them.

“As for the Ondo lawmaker, who was sacked on the basis of dual
citizenship, the question is: Is the decision of the tribunal
consistent with constitutional provisions? My answer is yes. The
lawmaker cannot hold such office while he has allegiance to another
country.

“But we cannot on that basis generally condemn members of the
National Assembly until the jurisdiction of the court is
invoked.”

But a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, said
the tribunal’s decision was wrong.

He said, “The tribunal is clearly wrong; the tribunal got it all
mixed up. You cannot say because a man naturalises, he ceases to be
a Nigerian. That decision may be correct if the man in question
renounces his Nigerian citizenship upon naturalising. I don’t want
to go into details because the case is already on appeal.”