By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja
Before I begin, a note of warning: Not every lawyer at the National Assembly is culpable.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Assembly, fought for the enactment of the National Assembly Library Trust Fund Act, 2023. The said National Assembly Library building, which he championed, is today a national treasure trove of resource materials for both legislators and researchers in the field of legislative research.
Dr. Yahaya Dan-Zaria, Esq., the Clerk to the House of Representatives, National Assembly, is a skilled and experienced technocrat with a conscience.
Since the year of year of my baptism, I have been a regular reader of the Bible on a daily basis.
Yet it was only on 20th April 2025, that Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins pointed out something in the Bible that I never realised.
So as not to misquote him, below are his exact words:
“Were lawyers not involved in the prosecution of Jesus Christ in the Sanhedrin for blasphemy? Who sentenced him to death, knowing that he is innocent: LAWYERS!”
Those words hit me like a thunderbolt.
The words were 100% correct. The Sanhedrin was the Supreme Court of the Jews, it was presided over by the very best lawyers and experts in Jewish law.
Yet, it was this same institution of lawyers that laid the false charge of blasphemy upon Jesus Christ, then went the extra mile of fabricating evidence and eyewitnesses to testify against Jesus Christ.
Even when the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate made a half-hearted attempt to set Jesus Christ free, and save him from execution, by saying:”I have found nothing of guilt in him Jesus Christ”, this institution of lawyers (Sanhedrin) and the mob responded: “am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.” 25 All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27: 24 and 25).
It appears that the majority of the lawyers who are either legislators or legal advisers at the National Assembly are direct descendants of the lawyers of the Sanhedrin that convicted Jesus Christ!!!
The current President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a lawyer.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions is a lawyer.
The legal adviser to the President of the Senate, Dr. Monday Ubani SAN is a lawyer.
There are two serving Senators who are Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs).
Senators Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, Senator Ned Nwoko, Senator Seriake Dickson, Senator Simon Lalong are all lawyers (just to mention a few)!!!
Yet, on 6th March 2025, this same Senate violated the judicial Rule of Law by imposing a suspension of six months upon Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan!!!
Again on 20th March 2025 this same Senate was accused by Senator Aminu Tambuwal of non-compliance with the two-thirds majority votes required to give effect to Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which is a condition precedent to Proclamation of State of Emergency in Rivers State!!!
The list of infractions of both judicial precepts and actual laws (including their own Senate Standing Orders) by the law-makers of the National Assembly appears to be endless!!!
It appears that they are competing with themselves about how low they can sink in violation of any know laws and get away with their infractions!!!
In the process it is not only the institution of the National Assembly that is being tarnished and destroyed, other public institutions in Nigeria are not spared!!!
For example, an online newspaper has recently reported how the President of the Senate UNJUSTLY interfered with the process of selection of the Vice-Chancellor of one of the federal universities.
The full report can be accessed online at: https://saharareporters.com/2025/03/19/exclusive-outrage-mounts-over-akpabios-alleged-role-appointment-ally-prof-omoregies
The summary is as follows: “One academic staff member, who spoke to SaharaReporters on the condition of anonymity, said, “There is nothing more painful than seeing mediocrity imposed on an academic institution. The appointment process was a sham—the worst in the university’s history. How can someone with no significant administrative experience, who was ranked at the bottom, suddenly become Vice-Chancellor?”
Further investigation by SaharaReporters revealed that Omoregie has been largely absent from the university system for over four years, reportedly working as Akpabio’s personal lawyer in Abuja. Additionally, he is said to be a legal representative of the Oba of Benin in court cases.”
In my response to Mr. Aikpokpo-Martins, I wrote the following:
“Learned Senior,
You are very 100% correct!!!
If lawyers could be culpable of concocting false evidence to justify the execution of the son of God, then there is nothing they can not do!!!
Imagine if the majority of the 200,000 lawyers in Nigeria had unanimously spoken out against the words and actions of Wike, from the get-go, there will have been no State of Emergency in the first place!!!
Here in Lesotho, the entire lawyers as represented by the Law Society of Lesotho spoke up against the Prime Minister’s appointment of a non-qualified lawyer as the Director-General of the Lesotho Economic Offences Commission (their own version of EFCC).
The Prime Minister had to withdraw the appointment!!!”
To conclude, the brief profile of Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins is reproduced:
“Mr Aikpokpo-Martins, who has made graduated from the Bendel State University, Ekpoma (now the Ambrose Alli University) in 1989, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1990. He did his National Youth Service in Rivers State and has been in private legal practice since 1992.
Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins has served the Nigerian Bar Association in many capacities. He was the Chairman, NBA-Warri Branch, 2014 – 2016; Vice Chairman, Warri Branch, 2010 – 2012. He was elected the 1st Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association and served from 2020-2022. He was also elected and is the present Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL). He served also as a member of the Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations against SARS and other units of the Nigerian Police from 2020 to 2022″.
The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.
