The President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, has reacted to the apology by the Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, the NBA President said his administration will continue to fulfill its mandate by rising to the defence of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and the sanctity of court orders.

“Now that the right thing has been done and the appeal process has been activated, we shall resume our backseat and allow the process to take its course. As far as the NBA is concerned, this brings an end to this unfortunate episode but we hope that important lessons have been learnt,” he said.

The NBA had slammed Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi for refusing to obey a court order which has asked him to vacate office as governor of the state.

The Governor recently announced that he is not leaving office, despite the court order which has sacked him from office.

NBA President, Olumide Akpata, in a statement on Wednesday, described Umahi’s response as “impunity of the highest order and executive rascality taken too far.”

He also demanded an apology and a retraction of the comments.

“Following that Statement, H.E. Engr. Umahi made extensive efforts to reach me and in the course of our conversation, I reiterated that the NBA has no interest in the case other than to ensure that the sanctity of the judicial system is protected & the rule of law is respected.

“In line with our demands, H.E. Engr. Umahi addressed a cross-section of Ebonyi State citizens, where he unreservedly apologised for his comments, clarified his intentions and very importantly too, called for calm from his supporters while urging them to refrain from denigrating the judiciary.

“I will immediately transmit this apology to His Lordship, Hon. Justice Inyang Ekwo and My Lord the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is the head of the Judiciary in Nigeria, urge them to also accept the same.

“I must restate for the sake of emphasis that there is a well-established procedure for challenging unfavourable decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction and the NBA under,” he added.

Courtesy (excluding headline) Channels TV

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