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nba.org.ngNigerian Bar Association Branch To Offer Free Legal Service To People
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 people who couldn't afford legal representation.
The recently elected Chairman of the division, Mr Napoleon Idenana, made this known in a interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna shortly after his election to pilot the affairs of the Association for the following two years.
He said we mean to open a legal aid desk for members of the people, especially individuals who need legal representation but cannot manage it.
We shall make lawyers available to provide legal services for them at no cost.
Idenana added that the team of legal practitioners were urged to accelerate the process of establishing a high court in Barnawa or any part of Kaduna South found acceptable.
We'll equally ensure the Barnawa NBA division, which can be barely a year old, gets a befitting secretariat within the next two years.
We shall also be socializing with the state government, the judiciary and the state house of assembly to contribute our quota where required and when called upon to do so.
We'll equally enrich the welfare of our members, especially young attorneys, by exposing them to educative, informative and ambitious ventures through seminars and trainings.
I assure you that before the end of our tenure, Barnawa NBA division will be known nationwide as a model division and will be the envy of all.
Earlier, the new chairman had guaranteed to maintain the confidence bestowed on him and his team and vowed to take the branch to greater heights.
He appealed to members for support and guidance where required for the increase of the branch, adding that his doors would be eternally open for advice, suggestions and guidance.
The branch 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;
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.
Meanwhile, Mr Cyril Ogbekene was elected the National Executive Committee (NEC) representative.
NAN reports that all the places were unopposed except for the office of the publicity secretary which was contested by Mr Emmanuel Nwokenekwu and Mr Imodojemu Ehizogie.
Nevertheless, Nwokenekwu removed his nomination only when the election was about to commence and Ehizogie was return elected.
Established in June 2015, the Barnawa NBA division was the 111th division to be established in the country.
It was created during the Associations NEC assembly in Sokoto, with Malam Muritala Abdul-rasheed as Chairman and Philemon Panan as Secretary.
Abdul-rasheed said the new executive would be sworn in during the branchs Annual General Meeting scheduled for July 1, 2016.
Asset Declaration Trial: SERAP Desires Nigerian Bar Association To Probe Sarakis Lawyers For Walking Out On Tribunal Judge
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to urgently investigate the actions 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.
The organization said that, It's the job of Mr. Sakaris attorneys to serve their clients best interests but in doing so they shouldn't act in a way that would put the administration of justice, the societys self-confidence in the judicial system, and the fight against corruption at risk.
In a statement today signed by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organization stated the following:
Walking out on the Code of Conduct Tribunal for only and accurately applying section 305(e) of the newly enacted Administration of Criminal Justice Act is disrespectful. It transgresses the basic rule that attorneys should act with ethics and professionalism, keeping his or her overarching responsibility to ensure civil actions.
SERAP believes that a lawyer's duty to the court is a fundamental obligation that defines a attorney's function within the adversarial procedure. Attorneys should at all times act to encourage the rule of law and the people's confidence in the management of justice and never to be seen to undermine it or facilitate an infringement of the law.
As we now have seen many times, without the rule of law, the rule of the jungle takes hold and the economically and socially vulnerable fall victim to the strong and nobody is safe. The rule of law also creates a disincentive for would-be tainted officials.
Senior attorneys especially have a duty to act as the guardians of the rule of law by contributing to a strong judicial and legal system which can be vital to a well-functioning democracy and which in turn is essential to satisfactorily prevent and battle years of official corruption in the country.
nba.org.ngIf Mr. Sarakis lawyers were dissatisfied with the ruling of the Tribunal there are laid down processes that they should have followed to present their function as officers in the temple of justice rather than giving media interviews and literally insulting the Tribunal. We urge the NBA to urgently investigate what exactly happened and to penalize any professional misconduct that may have occurred.
Nigerian Bar Association uncovers over 1,000 imposter attorneys
The Nigerian Bar Association says it's found no fewer than 1,000 fake lawyers in the country in recent times.
The Vice President of the organization, Mr Akintokunbo Oluwole, said this on Monday in Akure, the Ondo state capital, during a Special Sitting of the NBA to mark the launching of the 2015/2016 legal year.
He added, up to now, the NBA Stamp Policy has been able to revive the system , and it has raised the earnings stream of lawyers across the country.
It's enhanced the authenticity of records which are now being filed in court registries since all legal documents must now bear the stamps of lawyers to be considered valid. The individuals (quacks) have also devised various means albeit unsuccessfully, to scuttle the smooth implementation of the policy.
He called all stakeholders in the profession to help the association in actualising the vision of restoring the integrity of the legal profession.
In his remarks, the state Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, said the state judiciary was able to checkmate all kinds of malpractices in the states third arm of government.
Justice Kumuyi said that some doubtful individuals had carved out private stamps, which they used in issuing illegal affidavits to unsuspecting members of the general public.
One of many methods used to control the malpractices in the state judiciary, the CJ described, was the prohibition of affidavits by proxy, irrespective of the despondents status, explaining that a particular Seal of Oaths and peculiar serial were affixed to all affidavits while hard and soft copies were archived.
According to him, the fake attorneys were discovered after the inauguration of the organizations Stamp Policy, that has been introduced to control the operation of quacks in the legal profession.
Oluwole explained that the problem of quackery in the legal profession had been a pain in the neck of the association.
Speaking on the occasion, the Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, expressed satisfaction over the operation of the judiciary, guiding the arm of government not to compromise with any arm in the interest of democracy.
Nigerian Bar Association queries Bayelsa governor, Dickson, over assault on Court
The Nigerian Bar Association has queried the Bayelsa State governor, Seriake Dickson, for leading thugs to attack a Federal Court in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a totally disorganised body with an unclear mission and risky future; where predatory sexual misconducts are rife and the morale of its abused and used staff is next to zero, a report submitted by the associationscommittee on professionalization of the NBA secretariat has said.
In a damning investigation 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.
The report fears the secretariat has become so dysfunctional that it could endanger the continued existence of the association as it could rubbish it with adverse pecuniary and reputational effects.
In accordance with the report, the shoddiness of the secretariat has sabotaged the processes of professional area in the legal profession in Nigeria.
Members of the association complain they get nothing in return due to their loyalty to the association in kind of branch membership and practicing fee, which are the associations lifeblood,leading one senior advocate to aptly describe the association as grossly incompetent, the report says.
The governor was captured on video, walking into the court premises, accompanied by his police guards and hangers on, before hooligans, including rifle-wielding police officers, invaded and attacked the court.
The video, published by PREMIUM TIMES Friday, ignited indignation with many Nigerians demanding an impartial investigation into the attack.
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.
The NBA president, Augustine Alegeh, told PREMIUM TIMES the organization of attorneys in Nigeria had sent a letter to the governor, requesting him to clarify his actions in the court.
Mr. Alegeh explained that the NBA needed to hear the governors side of the story before deciding whether or not, disciplinary measures would be meted against him.
He said the association will even hear from the attorneys who were in the court during the attack.
nigerianbar.org.ngWe'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'd take actions and make accessible our next line of action.
There is no defining eyesight 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 involvement outside the politics of bar activism.
Formed in 1933, the NBA is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the Bar in Nigeria.
It is participated in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. It's an observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, and a working partnership with many national and international non-governmental organizations concerned with human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria and in Africa, the NBA site states.
The report, submitted in January, by the 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.
The organization is now composed of 100 divisions, three professional sections, two specialized institutes, and six practice-cadre newsgroups. It is among the most vocal and respected professional associations in Nigeria and has had over 25 heads since inception.
