The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has inaugurated nine disciplinary committees and constituted a group of NBA prosecutors to restore plummeting standards in the profession, in response to rising acts of indiscipline among legal practitioners.
Under Order 5 Rule (1) and Order 6 of Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) Rules 2006, the Nigerian Bar Association is a party before the LPDC in the presentation of cases against legal practitioners.
The NBA prosecutors are required to present cases before the LPDC where the association is of the opinion that a prima facie case is shown against a legal practitioner.
Inaugurating the committees on Tuesday, 18th December 2012, NBA President, Okey Wali (SAN) explained that the leadership decided to revert to the zonal disciplinary process with some additional committees in order to improve the disciplinary process by ensuring expeditious handling of petitions.
He observed that indiscipline, particularly acts of unethical conducts have continued to erode the reputation of professionals.
“The maintenance of professional standards is the hallmark of the legal profession and it is the role of the NBA to regulate the professional ethics of lawyers in Nigeria,” said Wali, who recalled that the association had engaged in restructuring the regulatory process to protect the highest standard of the profession, over the years.
“The NBA used to have a singular disciplinary committee chaired by Chief Bandele Aiku (SAN). But over time, the process became slow and it became evident that a single committee could not handle the deluge of petitions that came into the NBA on a daily basis.”
He also recalled efforts by the administration of Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) to improve on the process by creating the Regional Disciplinary Committees.
“The administration of Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) also attempted to improve on the process by creating state disciplinary committees but they became unwieldy,” he added.
Wali expressed hope that the disciplinary committees will succeed in their responsibility of investigating complaints of unethical behaviour of legal practitioners and making findings of a prima facie case or otherwise.
