Tag: The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned what it described as an unconstitutional and provocative attempt by the police to investigate the Attorney-General of Anambra State for exercising his lawful powers to discontinue a criminal matter through a nolle prosequi.

In a statement by NBA President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN), the association described the actions of the police, particularly the Inspector General of Police’s Monitoring Unit, as “an overreach” and a “brazen assault” on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The controversy stems from the invitation and detention of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and several law officers in the Anambra State Ministry of Justice by the IGP’s team in Abuja.

The officers were reportedly released on bail after questioning over their role in the Attorney-General’s decision to withdraw a criminal case from court.

The NBA argued that such action not only undermines the constitutional powers vested in the office of the Attorney-General under Section 211 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) but also poses a serious threat to the rule of law and democratic governance.

“It is shocking and indeed provocative that the IGP Monitoring Unit invited and released on bail law officers for exercising the power of the state attorney general to enter nolle prosequi,” the statement read.

The legal body further warned that the police do not possess the authority to question, investigate, or interfere with the Attorney-General’s prerogative to discontinue criminal proceedings.

“This power is not even subject to judicial review, let alone police scrutiny,” Osigwe emphasised.

In an unprecedented move, the police have also extended an invitation to the Attorney-General himself, a step the NBA says could set a dangerous precedent.

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“If this is allowed to happen, the Police may one day purport to have the power to investigate a judicial officer for delivering judgments,” Osigwe warned.

The NBA called on the Inspector General of Police to “cease and desist” from the investigation and to issue an unreserved public apology to the affected law officers and the Attorney-General.

The association also expressed concern about the recurring abuse of the IGP’s Monitoring Unit in matters that should ordinarily be handled by local police divisions, noting the logistical and financial burden placed on invitees who are compelled to travel from various parts of the country to Abuja.

“This mode of investigation, which is usually abused, must be reviewed. It imposes great cost on persons being investigated and disrupts their daily activities,” the statement added.

The NBA further issues a firm directive to its National Litigation Committee, chaired by Ama Etuwewe, SAN, to immediately provide legal representation to the affected officers and pursue all legal remedies to protect their fundamental rights.

The association also urged the legal community to see the development as a wake-up call to ensure lawyers are protected from undue harassment and to hold errant law enforcement officers accountable through prosecution, disciplinary action, and public disclosure.

The Legal Education Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for increased funding for legal education in Nigeria.

This is in order to enhance the development of practice-ready lawyers that can contribute meaningfully to the social and economic development of the nation. 

These recommendations were made at the inaugural Regional Townhall Workshop on Legal Education held at the Imo State University, Owerri (IMSU).

As part of the NBA’s efforts to enhance legal education and practice in Nigeria, the President, Mazi Afam Osigwe (SAN) inaugurated the Legal Education Committee (NBA-LEC) under the leadership of Prof. Damilola  Olawuyi, (SAN),  with the mandate to promote and advance functional legal education in Nigeria, especially through training sessions and conferences on modern teaching approaches.

In exercise of this mandate, the NBA-LEC introduced the Regional Town Hall Workshop on Legal Education Series with the maiden edition held in South East region at Imo State University, Owerri.

The workshop recorded a huge turn out of  more than 300 attendees.

Key stakeholders including the host of the event, the Vice Chancellor of IMSU, Prof. Uchefula Ugonna Chukwumaeze, (SAN), Chairman of the NBA-LEC Regional Townhall Workshop Series, Prof. Chimezie Kingsley Okorie SAN, law teachers and students across universities in the Southeast attended.

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Four institutions delivered presentations on the state of legal education in Nigeria: Abia State University, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Imo State University, and Enugu State University of Science and Technology.

While welcoming delegates to the Workshop, Chairman of the NBA-LEC, Prof.  Olawuyi, who is also the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), highlighted the growing demand to review legal education in Nigeria to meet global standards.

He emphasised the need to revise the curriculum and leverage technology to enhance legal education, ultimately transforming it into a more effective law practice that can compete globally.

 According to him :‘There is also an urgent need to increase investment in learning infrastructure across our law faculties if we are to actively deploy technology-based teaching methods.

 He noted that only a few law faculties have functional ICT centres, modern teaching equipments, digital tools and libraries needed to instil contemporary entrepreneurial, technology and project management skills in law students.

Government or the NBA alone cannot provide all the tools.

We all can do something about this by giving back to our law faculties.’ the Learned Silk concluded.

The Vice Chancellor of IMSU, Prof. Chukwumaeze, (SAN) emphasised the need for all stakeholders in Nigeria’s justice sector, including the NBA to support legal education by providing educational materials. The Chairman of the Townhall Sub committee Prof. Okorie (SAN) also stressed the need for the NBA to be a bridge between the legal education and other relevant authorities in ensuring a strengthened legal education in terms of collaboration.

The ensuing roundtable discussions featured presentations by law teachers on the achievements so far and existing challenges that pose a threat to law teachers and students in law faculties.

The reports expressed concern on the falling standard of law practice in Nigeria and the ethical standard depreciation, this was attributed to various challenges faced by law faculties, affecting  the quality of legal education and the overall development of legal the profession.

 They sought increased collaboration with justice sector stakeholders to alleviate these challenges and improve existing standards.Various challenges were highlighted by the institutions, including infrastructure deficit, poor remuneration of law teachers, excessive workload of law teachers, limited access to legal information and underfunding of law faculties, especially lack of funding to attend international and domestic conferences.

Despite challenges, some faculties showcased good infrastructure and upgraded law libraries from analogue to digital, especially contributions from lawyers and alumni.

While discussing the way forward, the Workshop commended the NBA leadership for providing the innovative platform to reflect on the way forward and called for the swift implementation of the NBA Legal Education Endowment Fund which could go a long way in mobilising financial support for infrastructure and technology upgrade.

 While calling on law firms, companies and other stakeholders to contribute to the fund, the workshop also called for more joint research projects between NBA and law faculties, as well as tailored research programmes and subsidised conferences for academic lawyers, as a way of incorporating theoretical and practical law aspects in the profession.