1,562 new lawyers called to Bar as LPDC debars 7

A total of 1,550 candidates representing 68.9 percent success rate of number of those who sat the April 2018 Bar Final Examination were on Tuesday called to the Nigerian Bar as Barristers and Solicitors.

Also called to the Bar on Tuesday were 12 other candidates from the previous set who had resit, thus, bringing the number to 1562.

The new lawyers also include Ms.Firdaus Amasa, a female Muslim Law School graduate who was denied access to the venue of the call to Bar ceremony last November because she refused to take off her hijab. She wore a modified Hijab concealed by her wig on Tuesday.

In an address to the Body of Benchers, the Director General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof Isa Hayatu Chiroma, said the bar examination was conducted by the Law School under the supervision of the Council of Legal Education (CLE).

Out of the 1550 applicants, two candidates had second class lower while 1548 had “pass”.

Chiroma disclosed that the Council of Legal Education had in 2016 approved that all resit students for the Bar final examinations must undertake two months revision exercise for eligibility to write the examination.

He urged the new wigs to make the best of the legal profession, since it was their free will to become lawyers.

“You must also ensure strict adherence to its norms and ethics.”

Prof Chiroma said that the Nigerian Law School has embarked on reforms aimed at improving the welfare of students.

He said, “Given the poor state of physical infrastructure in the headquarters and campuses, we have embarked on massive renovations of all students hostels, lecture halls dinning hall etc.

He added that three new industrial boreholes have been installed at Bwari, while a block of 20 rooms hostel have been completed and delivered to the school.

In his speech, Chairman, Body of Benchers, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu admonished the new lawyers to always make the code of conduct for legal practitioners their watchword.

“Integrity and honesty” should be your guiding principle, Dalhatu advised, warning that any lawyer found wanting and whose conduct negates the sacrosanct tenets in the discharge of his legal practice would be dealt with accordingly.

According to him, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC), a committee of the Body of Benchers which is responsible for considering and determining allegations of misconduct against members, has debarred seven lawyers between January and July this years.

Twelve other lawyers have also been suspended by the LPDC while one other lawyer was demoted.

Dalhatu said, “Therefore, the LPDC will discipline erring lawyers whose conduct negate the sacrosanct standards of the profession or amount to infamous conduct in a professional respect”.

“It is important to note that failure to adhere to any provision of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners would amount to an infraction that can be tried by the Body, acting under its LPDC