Reactions to Court Ruling on IPOB,Pedro, Ubani speaks

Reaction has continue to follow last Wednesday’s judgement of federal high court Abuja on the Indigenous People of Biafra, a separatist organisation led by Nnamdi Kanu.

In his reaction, the immediate past Solicitor General of Lagos State & Perm Sec Min of Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN) said the decision and move by the AGF to employ the rule of law in dealing with the menance is proper and commendable, instead of a mere fiat or proclamation by officials of government that the IPOB's acts in the country amount to terrorism and proscribed the group

While commending the government for doing the right thing, Pedro added "However I observed that many things are wrong with the order and can easily be challenged so as to set aside.

"I must state that the order or judgement was granted by a court of competent jurisdiction, it is valid, subsisting and must continue to be obeyed by all persons and authorities in Nigeria until it is set aside. Any infraction of any part of the order by anybody should be visited with the full force of the law. "

Pedro then ask the question “In the first place is IPOB a juristic person to be sued and for the court to exercise jurisdiction upon? 

"Secondly this looks like a final order or judgement granted on a motion Ex-parte. This cannot be right in law. A different procedure should have been used to achieve the desired result

"Thirdly the order or judgement is in breach of the fundamental right of the named Respondent (assuming it is a juristic person) to fair hearing. It is therefore unconstitutional null and void 

"Lastly the main reliefs are for declaratory order or judgement which should not be granted vide a motion either on notice or ex-parte “  

Pedro then asked the government to look deeper "It is my advise that the AGF should review its strategy on the subject and may consider a proper and better legal team to advise and handle this important and sensitive case.

Also in his reaction Barrister Monday Ubani, the current NBA 2^nd vice President said that Wednesdays ruling had proved what some of them have been saying since the beginning of the crisis.  

"The ruling by the Federal High Court, Abuja on Wednesday shows that some of us were right when we said that the Nigerian Military was wrong to have pronounced IPOB a terrorist organization without following due process. It also showed that we were right when we told the South-east governors that they have no right under the law to proscribe IPOB. The proscription of any organization as stipulated by law is through a judicial process.

Ubani who made his reaction known in a press release further added that “ My opinion is that that judicial process has been complied with; though belatedly. The government have already dubbed it a terrorist organization; they have already proscribed it before now running to the court to give it a retroactive effect he added.

On the issue of IPOB’s identity, Ubani also raised similar question just as Lawal Pedro saying “The issue now is if you say you have proscribed an organization and that organization is not registered in law, there is a problem. Our laws stipulate that only a juristic person can be sued. I believe IPOB is not registered under our laws. So there is a problem because the court has just proscribed an organization that is not registered under our laws. If you take a look at the court order, it says IPOB, whereas there is no entity known as IPOB under our laws. This is clearly a complex situation.

Why the issue of proscribing any organization is made a judicial process is such that any organization that has been wrongly proscribed, can come back to the court, asking it to reverse the order because the information given to the court through an exparte motion is wrong. The court will then look at the argument and merit in deciding whether to reverse itself.  I think what IPOB has to do now is to proceed to the court to challenge the order.

Even if assuming without conceding that IPOB was properly registered under our law, does it qualify to be labeled as a terrorist organization based on our laws and argument advanced by the Attorney General. As it stand today, IPOB by way of the Federal High Court order remains a terrorist organization but that order can be challenged and set aside" He concluded.