Certificate saga: Presidency lambasts lawyer for bullying Buhari

The Presidency has expressed dismay at attempts by a lawyer, Mr. Nnamdi Nwokocha, to whip up sentiments against President Muhammadu Buhari over his alleged lack of certificate.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, yesterday wondered why Nwokocha, a litigant to a case in court, was attempting to hijack the power of a judge by declaring the President guilty.

“The interview splashed on pages 56 and 57 of ThisDay on Saturday, June 11th, breaches a lawyer’s ethical code. We hope that the court and the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) will take notice of this,” Shehu said.

The aide insisted any lawyer who sincerely believes in judicial process and the rights of other parties to a case will not engage in an inappropriate and unprofessional practice of media trial.

Shehu stated it was appalling that Nwokocha openly passed judgement on the President when the court had not made such declaration.

The presidential aide noted that gag orders emerged in the United States of America (U.S.A) because of lawyers’ inappropriate conduct of trying and convicting people on the pages of newspapers or the court of public opinion.

“The litigant’s unabashed claim that he was a card-carrying member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which lost power in the last election, clearly indicates a scheme that seeks power by circumventing the democratic process of elections.”

Shehu warned that if Nwokocha failed to stop his abuse of free speech, Buhari’s legal team would use the law in dealing with him appropriately.