The Attorney General of the Federal, (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubarkar Malami, SAN has advised the leadership of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) against the isolation of its members.
Malami gave the advice at the inauguration of the General Council of the Bar on Monday in Abuja.
The Council inaugurated comprised of all the Attorneys General of the States, twenty members of the Nigerian Bar Association and the Attorney-General of the Federation who shall be the President of the Council as enunciated in Section 1 (2)( a-c) of the Legal Practitioners Act 2004.
He said that NBA serves as a vehicle for social conscience and therefore should not seek to isolate its members in government who are positioned to drive its success.
“We must work collectively to build an enviable legal profession that will be beneficial to us all, and rejig it to change the current negative perception of the profession.
“The council should strive to overcome its inherent limitations to reinvent and reassert itself in the legal architecture of the country.
“This will only be possible if we as members demonstrate uncommon commitment and dedication to making a difference through our various inputs and services to the Council.”
Meanwhile, the President of NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN said that there was the absolute need to provide regulations that will guide the conduct of legal Practitioners in the fight against corruption, money laundering, terrorism, economic crimes, and other criminal activities.
He said the profession should continue to maintain the privileges conferred on it by the statutes and self-regulate its conduct so as to make it accountable in the fight against the menaces that have bedeviled the nation.
Maikyau, therefore, urged all members to farmililarise themselves with the Legal Practitioners’ Acts, and the Constitution of the Association which, he said, remains the principal legal framework ‘governing the operation of our Association’.
