| − | <br><br>[http://Www.Nba.Org.ng/web/branches/lagos-state.html nba.org.ng]NBA Division To Offer Free Legal Service To Public<br><br>The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Barnawa branch in Kaduna State on Friday said it'd designate a legal aid desk to offer free legal service to the public who couldn't afford legal representation.<br><br>The recently elected Chairman of the division, Mr Napoleon Idenana, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna shortly after his election to pilot the affairs of the Organization for another two years.<br><br>He said we think to open a legal aid desk for members of the people, especially people who want legal representation but cannot manage it.<br><br>We shall make attorneys available to provide legal services for them at no price.<br><br>Idenana included a team of legal practitioners was encouraged to speed up the process of creating a high court in Barnawa or any part of Kaduna South found acceptable.<br><br>We'll equally ensure the Barnawa NBA branch, which can be hardly a year old, gets a befitting secretariat within the following two years.<br><br>We'll also be socializing with the state government, the judiciary and the state house of assembly to contribute our quota where necessary and when called upon to do so.<br><br>We are going to equally improve the welfare of our members, particularly young lawyers, by exposing them to educative, informative and aspiring enterprises through [https://www.seminarinformation.com/state/california seminars] and trainings.<br><br>I guarantee you that before the end of our tenure, Barnawa NBA branch will be known nationally as a model division and will be the envy of all.<br><br>Before, the new chairman had guaranteed to carry on the confidence bestowed on him and his team and pledged to take the branch to greater heights.<br><br>He appealed to members for support and guidance where needed for the increase of the branch, adding that his doors would be eternally open for advice, suggestions and guidance.<br><br>The division also elected Mrs Chi Obi-Igwe as Vice Chairman; Mr Kayode Faturiyele, Secretary; Miss Halima Bello, Assistant Secretary and Mrs Ene Oga as Social Secretary;<br><br>Others are Mrs Lilian Ilechuku, Financial Secretary; and Ben-Churchill Aniekwena, Welfare Secretary; Malam Shehu Sanusi, Treasurer; Mr Lamidi Obaro, Provost Marshall and Mrs Toyin Ogbujie as legal Advisor.<br><br>Meanwhile, Mr Cyril Ogbekene was elected the National Executive Committee (NEC) representative.<br><br>NAN reports that all the positions were unopposed except for the office of the publicity secretary which was challenged by Mr Emmanuel Nwokenekwu and Mr Imodojemu Ehizogie.<br><br>Yet, Nwokenekwu removed his nomination just when the election was about to commence and Ehizogie was return elected.<br><br>Established in June 2015, the Barnawa NBA branch was the 111th [http://Www.Mathsisfun.com/numbers/division.html division] to be created in the state.<br><br>It was established during the Associations NEC assembly in Sokoto, with Malam Muritala Abdul-rasheed as Chairman and Philemon Panan as Secretary.<br><br>Abdul rasheed said the new executive would be sworn in during the branchs Annual General Meeting scheduled for July 1, 2016.<br><br>Asset Declaration Trial: SERAP Desires Nigerian Bar Association To Probe Sarakis Attorneys For Walking Out On Tribunal Judge<br><br>Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to urgently investigate the conduct of lawyers to the Senate President Bukola Saraki, for walking out on the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Thursday after the tribunal refused their application for stay of proceedings in the asset falsification trial against the Senate President.<br><br>The organization said that, It Really Is the job of Mr. Sakaris attorneys to serve their clients best interests but in doing so they should not behave in a fashion that would place the administration of justice, the societys assurance in the judicial system, and the fight against corruption at risk.<br><br>In a statement today signed by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organization said the following:<br><br>Walking out on the Code of Conduct Tribunal for just and correctly implementing section 305(e) of the recently enacted Administration of Criminal Justice Act is disrespectful. It transgresses the fundamental rule that attorneys should behave with integrity and professionalism, maintaining their overarching obligation to ensure civil actions.<br><br>SERAP considers that a lawyer's duty to the court is a fundamental obligation that identifies a attorney's role within the adversarial system. Attorneys should at all times act to boost the rule of law and the public's confidence in the administration of justice and never to be seen to sabotage it or facilitate an infringement of what the law states.<br><br>As we now have seen many times, minus the rule of law, the rule of the jungle takes hold and the economically and socially exposed fall victim to the strong and nobody is safe. The rule of law also creates a disincentive for would-be tainted officials.<br><br>Senior attorneys especially have a duty to act as the protectors of the rule of law by leading to some strong judicial and legal system which can be critical to a well-functioning democracy and which in turn is necessary to satisfactorily prevent and combat years of official corruption in the state.<br><br>If Mr. Sarakis lawyers were dissatisfied with the opinion of the Tribunal there are laid down procedures that they should have followed to demo their [http://www.Nba.org.ng/web/nba-agc-2011-fees-schedule-2.html function] as officers in the temple of justice rather than giving media interviews and literally abusing the Tribunal. We advocate the NBA to urgently investigate what exactly happened and to penalize any professional misconduct that may have occurred.<br><br>Nigerian Bar Association uncovers over 1,000 fake attorneys<br><br>The [http://www.nigerianbar.org.ng/ Nigerian Bar Association] says it's detected no fewer than 1,000 imposter attorneys in the nation in recent times.<br><br>The Vice President of the association, Mr Akintokunbo Oluwole, said this on Monday in Akure, the Ondo state capital, during a Special Sitting of the NBA to mark the launch of the 2015/2016 legal year.<br><br>According to him, the imposter lawyers were discovered after the inauguration of the associations Stamp Policy, which was introduced to control the operation of quacks in the legal profession.<br><br>Oluwole explained the problem of quackery in the legal profession had been a pain in the neck of the organization.<br><br>He added, So far, the NBA Stamp Policy has been able to renovate the system and has increased the revenue flow of attorneys across the country.<br><br>It's improved the authenticity of files which are now being filed in court registries since all legal documents must now bear the stamps of lawyers to be considered valid. The persons (quacks) have also devised various means albeit unsuccessfully, to scuttle the smooth execution of this policy.<br><br>He called all stakeholders in the profession to help the association in actualising the vision of restoring the integrity of the legal profession.<br><br>In his comments, the state Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, said the state judiciary had been able to checkmate all forms of malpractices in the states third arm of government.<br><br>Justice Kumuyi stated that some dubious individuals had carved out personal stamps, which they used in issuing illegal affidavits to unsuspecting members of the general public.<br><br>One of many methods used to check the malpractices in the state judiciary, the CJ described, was the prohibition of affidavits by proxy, irrespective of the despondents status, describing that a specific Seal of Oaths and peculiar serial were affixed to all affidavits while hard and soft copies were archived.<br><br>Speaking on the occasion, the Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, expressed satisfaction over the functionality of the judiciary, guiding the arm of authorities to not [http://www.Dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Recreation_and_Sports/Sports/Country_Sports/Protection_of_Wild_Mammals_Bill-Scotland/News_and_Media/2001/September/ compromise] with some other arm in the interest of democracy.<br><br>Nigerian Bar Association queries Bayelsa governor, Dickson, around attack on Court<br><br>The Nigerian Bar Association has queried the Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson, for leading thugs to assault a Federal Court in Yenagoa, the state capital.<br><br>The governor was caught on video, walking into the court premises, followed by his police guards and hangers on, before hooligans, including rifle-wielding police officers, invaded and attacked the court.<br><br>The video, published by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, triggered indignation with several Nigerians needing an impartial investigation into the attack.<br><br>Mr. Dickson, a lawyer, is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, and a onetime attorney general of Bayelsa State. He is also a former member of the House of Representatives.<br><br>The NBA president, Augustine Alegeh, told PREMIUM TIMES the association of lawyers in Nigeria had sent a letter to the governor, asking him to clarify his actions in the court.<br><br>Mr. Alegeh described that the NBA needed to hear the governors side of the story before deciding whether or not, disciplinary measures would be meted against him.<br><br>He said the association will also hear from the attorneys who were in the court during the assault.<br><br>We've sent a letter, a notice of information and a link of the video to him, asking for his own side of the story, Mr. Alegeh said. Once we hear from every party involved, we would take actions and make accessible our next line of action.<br><br>The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a fully disorganised body with an unclear mission and insecure future; where predatory sexual misconducts are rife and the morale of its abused and exploited staff is next to zero, a report submitted by the associationscommittee on professionalization of the NBA secretariat has said.<br><br>In a damning analysis of the rot that's eaten the organizations secretariat, the committee said, If any other organization or entity can rise to offer to members of the NBA a unifying guarantee of professional growth or edge, the NBA as we understand it could become history.<br><br>The report fears the secretariat has gotten so dysfunctional that it could endanger the continued existence of the association as it could rubbish it with unfavorable pecuniary and reputational effects.<br><br><br><br>[http://www.nba.org.ng/web/address-by-joseph-bodunrin-daudu-san-president-of-the-nigerian-bar-association-to-the-meeting-of-nba-leaderselders-consultative-meeting-held-at-the-transcorp-hilton-abuja-on-wednesday-the-21st-day-of-march-2012.html nba.org.ng]Based on the report, the shoddiness of the secretariat has undermined the procedures of professional subject in the legal profession in Nigeria.<br><br>Members of the association complain they get nothing in return because of their devotion to the organization in sort of division membership and practicing fee, which are the organizations lifeblood,leading one senior advocate to competently describe the association as grossly incompetent, the report says.<br><br>There is no defining vision or programmatic agenda that offers growth, value added or a competitive existential or professional border to the members of the NBA or effective platforms for engagement outside the politics of bar activism.<br><br>Formed in 1933, the NBA is a non profit, umbrella professional association of attorneys admitted to the Bar in Nigeria.<br><br>It's participated in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. It has an observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, and a working partnership that has many national and international non-governmental organizations concerned with human rights, the rule of law and good government in Nigeria and in Africa, the NBA site states.<br><br>The association is currently constructed of 100 branches, three professional sections, two specialized institutes, and six practice-cadre newsgroups. It is one of the most vocal and respected professional associations in Nigeria and has had over 25 heads since inception.<br><br>The report, submitted in January, by the [http://Www.nigerianbar.org.ng/ NBA committee] headed by Chidi Odinkalu, a law professor and current chairman of Nigerias Human Rights Commission, however, reveals a decayed national secretariat without scruples.
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