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Professional Rules: Lawyers sign petition to strip Malami of SAN title
BY NICHOLAS ABE
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, may have stirred the hornet’s’ nest with his alleged unilateral amendment of the 2007 Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for Legal Practitioners in Nigeria.
A group of lawyers is currently literally calling for his neck with an online petition on change.org, started on Sunday by one Izu Aniagu.
The petition is calling for Malami to be stripped of the coveted rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
As at 12.45am Monday, no fewer than 534 lawyers have signed the petition which drew the attention of “Lawyers in Nigeria, Nigerian Bar Association, Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, National Judicial Council and The Bar Council”.
READ: https://reliablesourceng.com/malami-cant-unilaterally-amend-lawyers-rule-of-professional-conduct/
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the umbrella association of Nigerian lawyers had already issued a statement through its president, Olumide Akpata, faulting the Attorney-General for single-handedly, as no meeting was convened, tweaking a critical part of the RPC.
The NBA President said decision to amend the LPC can only be taken by the General Council of the Bar, of which Malami is the head.
“The Bar Council comprises the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation (‘HAGF’), the Honourable Attorneys General of the thirty-six states of Nigeria, and 20 members of the NBA. Consequently, the RPC and any amendments thereto may only be validly issued after it has been deliberated upon and approved at a properly convened meeting of the Bar Council,” Akpata explained.
The online petitioner, Aniagu, listed several reasons why he wanted Malami sanctioned, including that the AGF’s actions amounted to threat to the rule of law.
He said: “Since assumption of office, the Attorney General of the Federation has continued to go rogue, from his disobedience to court order, to his lacklustre prosecution, to his outright failure to prosecute, to allegations of corruption and bias against his person, to usurpation of office, to shielding of suspects, to his general dereliction of duty.
“This time, the AGF has decided to take his imprudence to top notch by unilaterally deleting the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct which provide for stamp and seal as well as bar practicing fee for government lawyers. The AGF does not have such power. Section 12 (4) of the LPA gives the General Council of the Bar power to make any such amendment and make other decisions concerning the NBA.
“There is no record of any meeting convened by the The Attorney General of the Federation who is the president of The Bar Council. The AGF took the decision alone and his actions constitute a threat to the rule of law. His action is totally shameful and is undeserving of a lawyer in the rank of a Senior Advocate, let alone a Chief Law Officer of the federation.”
READ: https://reliablesourceng.com/nba-dumps-el-rufai-withdraws-invitation/