NBA faults DSS’ Invitation of SAN Awardees for screening

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has faulted the invitation sent by the Department of State Services to awardees of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who are due to be conferred this month.

NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, stated this on Monday while presenting the communique from the NBA’s Annual General Conference (AGC), which held in Enugu last week.

According to the body, sending a confidential report in respect of each of the awardees would have been enough instead of the grilling of the nominees.

“It does not require DSS inviting them”, he said, “unfortunately our members went there without informing us”.

Recall that a Life Bencher and former General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN, had condemned the clearance of awardees by the DSS, noting that it undermines the independence of the legal profession.

However, the Supreme Court in its response had pointed out that the screening was in line with Paragraph 23 (2) of the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee Guidelines, the body which is conferring the SAN rank on the lawyers.

But, the NBA is of the position that the job of the DSS should not go beyond sending confidential report on a nominee, because most of the information has already been volunteered by the lawyers themselves including report from judges before whom the lawyers appear.

“Court records are there, Heads of Courts also write confidential report”, he added.

Meanwhile, the NBA dismissed cries in some quarters over the role played by some new wigs during the conference. Recall that some lawyers had raised eyebrows over the roles played by former Kogi Senator, Dino Melaye, former Aviation Minister and former Chairman of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka and rights Activists, Mr Deji Adeyanju.

Osigwe who was flanked by the NBA General Secretary, Dr Mobolaji Ojibara, NBA’s spokesperson, Bridget Edokwe and other executive noted that the decision was part of the body’s campaign to ensure an all inclusive bar and would not shy away from allowing young lawyers to speak at its conferences.

Besides, he pointed out that while Melaye spoke from the standpoint of his legislative oversight functions at the National Assembly, Chidoka as a former Minister and boss of the FRSC, was well qualified to speak at the conference.

Reacting to the issue of seniority at the bar, Osigwe who said, “I’m not the most senior SAN”, noted that wisdom does not lie with age and people who have anything to offer would always be given opportunity to do so, adding that young lawyers constituted majority of attendees at the conference.

Speaking on the outcome of the recent AGC, Osigwe noted that the conference amongst others observed that, “There is a growing divide between the affluent and the underprivileged in Nigerian society.

“Many Nigerian laws are outdated and do not reflect contemporary societal realities.

“The poor are often denied legal recourse due to financial constraints and other systemic barriers.

“There is a need for the legal professions to guide society in the direction of legal reform, social justice and the rule of law”.

As part of resolutions / recommendations made at the conference was the call on the NBA to lead the charge in modernizing the legal system to enhance the delivery of justice and align with international best
practices.

The body charged both the federal government and state governments to ensure the implementation of the minimum wage , just as it assured that it would lead by example by ensuring that law firms pay their staff above the minimum wage.