Contrary to the directive of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that none of its members should attendthe swearing in of the new Senior Advocate ofNigeria (SAN), a good number of legal practitioners were, on Friday, present at the occasion.
The event which took place at the Supreme Court in Abuja under tight security saw the out-going Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alloysius Katsina-Alu swearing in 30 new SANs out of which two are women.
This was just as the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA) disclosed that the newly inaugurated silks shall not be recognized at any of its functions.
According to the association, “their names shall not only be entered into a ‘Roll of Dishonour’ and their membership of the NBAwithdrawn, they shall not be recognised as Senior Advocates at any function of the NBA.”
According to the NBA, any lawyer, including those sworn-in, who might be found to have disobeyed the directive of the body to abstain from the swearing-in ceremony of new SeniorAdvocates of Nigeria (SAN) yesterday should consider themselves ostracised from the association.
This was contained in the communiqué issued at the close of 51st Annual Conference of the NBA, held in Port Harcourt and signed by the association’s president, Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN).
Besides the penalties lined out for violators ofthe bar association’s call for boycott of the swearing-in ceremony, it also demanded radicalchanges in the running of the nation’s judicial system.
It blamed the ongoing crisis in the judicial system on the over concentration of powers in the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and asked that whoever occupies the office should no longer be allowed to head the National Judicial Council (NJC).
“That in the event that the newly appointed SANs disobey the NEC Resolution, their names shall not only be entered into a Roll of Dishonour and their membership of the NBAwithdrawn, they shall not be recognised as Senior Advocates at any function of the NBA.(Nigerian Tribune)
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