The Nigerian Bar Association has barred its members from attending the swearing-in of new Senior Advocates of Nigeria scheduled for Friday (today).
The NBA President, Joseph Daudu (SAN) gave the warning on Thursday during the presentation of reports at the ongoing 2011 Annual General Conference of the association in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Daudu said any members who accepted an invite to the investiture would be penalised.
He maintained that the association would not hesitate to strip any member who flouted the order and honour the invitation by the National Judicial Council of all the honours and privileges hitherto accorded to them.
He denied claims by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, that there was no unity among members of the association.
He urged members to maintain and adhere to professional standards, warning them not to yield to pressure from those trying to cause disunity in the association.
Daudu said, “Our position is that we will sanction our members who disobey our directive and attend the swearing-in of new SANs on Friday. We have also resolved not to recognise those who go ahead to accept the honour.
“Some senior members of the Bar and other stakeholders have been coming to meet with members of the NBA executive asking us to exempt the lawyers who will be sworn in as SANs, but we cannot be blowing hot and cold at the same time.
“The sanctions are clear. Lawyers who go ahead on Friday to take the rank will not be recognised as SANs. If they are in any of our committees, we will strip them of their membership and a roll of dishonor will be opened for them.
“At the opening ceremony of the NBA conference on Monday, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, was talking about disunity in the Bar. They want to divide us.
“We should not succumb to creating disunity by ourselves. We must be disciplined. We should maintain one standard and always speak with one voice.”
Daudu said it was the intention of the Bar to collaborate with the judiciary in introducing modern justice techniques, including having specialised courts to deal with various courses of actions and issues.
He said such was also meant to reform registries so that there could be unhindered flow of information between the courts and the public, thereby helping to stop corruption in the judiciary and the legal profession in general.
He insisted that the criminal justice system in the country had failed. He stressed that the process from apprehension of suspected criminals to their trial in court as well as the procedure for the conduct of the trial and quality of the adjudicator had been affected.
He said soon, the NBA would organise a national conference on reform of criminal justice system in the country, to save it from collapse.
By Simon Utebor Courtesy Of: Punch
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