The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has referred seven lawyers, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who allegedly influenced judges to issue conflicting court orders, to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for judicial misconduct.
The LPDC is a statutory body put in place to take disciplinary action against lawyers accused of professional misconduct.
The NBA President, Mr Olumide Akpata disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a briefing to begin the association’s 2022 Justice Sector Summit slated for Jan. 25.
According to Akpata, some lawyers have been identified to have played roles in conflicting decisions that emanated from different courts recently. They are seven in number, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
“We are in the process of filing a petition against them before the LPDC. This is based on our determination to ensure that the system is protected, irrespective of those involved,” Apata said.
He said the seven lawyers were found culpable by NBA’s investigation committee.
The names of the affected legal practitioners were, however, not disclosed.
The National Judicial Council (NJC), in 2021, placed a promotion ban on three judges of High Courts of coordinate jurisdiction.
They were penalised for engaging in acts many, including the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, believed were capable of derailing the 2023 general elections as well as truncating democracy.
Speaking on the summit, the NBA president said the main focus would be on how to reform the process of appointing persons as judges since the present process was flawed.
He said that the NBA as a body, believed that there was something wrong with the way judges were currently appointed as the process was not rigorous or robust enough.
“We cannot expect such a process to be beneficial to the judiciary.
“We have sent our recommendation to the NJC regarding how we think that the process should be structured to become better and more efficient.
“The process needs to be standardized; While some states subject candidates to examinations, others don’t.
“We have passed the era when someone will sit down in the comfort of his chamber and decide who should be appointed as a judge,” the NBA president said.
Akpata maintained that there must be a clearly defined process of selecting those that should be appointed as judges.
He disclosed that the Justice Sector Summit 2022, which had the theme: “Devising Practical Solutions Towards Improved Performance, Enhanced Accountability” was organised by the NBA and the Justice Research Institute (JRI).
He added that the NBA was also working on the summit in collaboration with The Konrad Adenauer Foundation, The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Justice Reform Project (JRP).
