Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar' Adua has stressed his administration's commitment to ridding Nigeria of corruption in public office.
At the yearly five-day conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Ilorin, Kwara State, Yar'Adua said Monday there would be no sacred cow in the fight against corruption and injustice in Nigeria.
He also pledged to be guided by respect for the rule of law and declared a total war on persons and institutions that may attempt to perpetrate injustice in the polity.
The president said, "This is the road we will travel in our journey to an assured new Nigeria which we will be proud to bequeath to our collective posterity; a nation where peace and justice timely reign."
He said, "It is a self-evident fact that the more a society has respect for the rule of law, the more civilized that society is. The more justice, rule of law and fairness thrive in a society, the more stable, developed and prosperous that society is."
Yar'Adua commended the judiciary for standing up to its duties in ensuring justice, equity and fairplay. He, however, noted that the administration of justice in the country is still being marked by endemic delays and seeming ineffectiveness.
According to him, urgent steps need to be taken to give effect to reforms in the administration of justice in Nigeria.
The president called on the NBA to brace up to this challenge, adding that the onus of rebuilding confidence and faith in the rule of law and the judicial process is the association's task.
To him, the time has come for all government decisions to be guided by law. He said that since the government had made the commitment, the judiciary should act responsibly since any order made outside jurisdiction would not be enforced. He said that if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission carried out their duties outside the law, it would turn their activities into persecutions and no longer prosecution and this posture would demean the image of the country.
At the conference, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola noted that the basis for law and order should be paramount in the life of any political administration.
Fashola, who spoke on behalf of two other governors, praised Yar'Adua for his judicial war against corruption, adding that all his colleagues would lend their support against the vice.
Other governors at the event were Gabriel Suswan of Benue State and Celestine Omehia of Rivers State.
The host governor Bukola Saraki referred to the renewed commitment to the rule of law as "the beginning of a new Nigeria."
National President of the NBA Olisa Agbakoba said the government would achieve monumental success if it jealously considers the six cardinal points of the association, which he listed as prompt need to create frameworks for electoral and constitutional reforms.
They include establishment of a law and economic committee to examine how institutions can promote economic reforms and development and authorizing the Attorney-General of the Federation to draw up a strategy for judicial reforms.
The others are the revitalization of the moribund administration of justice commission, kick-starting the prison decongestion scheme and the creation of an anti-corruption strategic document.
Source: Xinhua
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