By Abdulwahab Abdulah
A fresh hurdle to stop the ongoing process of appointment of lawyers into the rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, has been mounted by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, which is asking a Federal High Court to stop the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN and the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, LPPC from going ahead with the exercise.

In a suit at Federal High Court, Abuja,  NBA suing through its Registered Trustees asked the court to restrain the LPPC “from proceeding or purporting to proceed on the appointment of legal practitioners to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria made pursuant to section 7 of the Legal Practitioners Act in the appointment exercise to the rank of SAN for the year 2010-2011.”

Joined as co-defendant in the suit is the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The body wants the court to determine whether the defendants particularly the LPPC has complied with the mandatory provisions of paragraph 12-(1) of the Guidelines for the appointment of Legal Practitioners to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria made pursuant to Section 7 of the Legal Practitioners Act in the appointment exercise to the rank of SAN for the year 2010-2011.

If the above question is answered in the affirmative, the NBA requests to know “whether the present exercise is not incompetent, null and void on account of fundamental breach by the defendants of the statutory guidelines for the appointment of numerous applicants to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria for the year 2010-2011?”

It is also praying the court to determine “whether in view of the foregoing the plaintiff is entitled in the circumstances to an order of injunction restraining the defendants from proceeding or purporting to proceed the appointment of Legal Practitioners to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria made pursuant to section 7 of the Legal Practitioners Act in the appointment exercise to the rank of SAN for the year 2010-2011?”