By Innocent Anaba & Abdulwahab  Abdulah

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, will, today (Sunday), start its weeklong annual conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Over 10,000 lawyers are expected to grace the event.

The conference holds as  many issues confronting lawyers and the legal practice in the country  beg for  attention. The issue of abolition of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),  raised at the 2009 conference in Lagos, but was deferred against popular opinion  is still a major issue the leadership of the legal profession must conclusively address.

The theme for this year’s conference is, “Sustaining an Enduring Democracy”, and the keynote speaker is Prof. Wole Soyinka, while the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, is expected to chair the event. President Goodluck Jonathan  is the special guest of honour.

With less than two weeks to the swearing-in of the 30 new SANs, recently appointed by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, LPPC, some lawyers under the aegis of Movement for the Abolition of the Rank of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria  have asked a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to stop the swearing-in.

This is a clear indication that the SAN abolitionists are not happy with the way the issue has  been treated so far, even though the new SANs appointment was stalled for a while over a similar suit by the NBA.

Also, the conflicting conclusions of the separate panels set up by the National Judicial Council, NJC, and the NBA into the face-off between the retiring CJN  and president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, remains another problem.

The allegations of corruption and abuse of office leveled against the two top  judicial officers  have not only cast aspersion on the exalted positions, but  also have grave consequences for the ordinary masses, who read of the accusations  and counter-accusations  on how money  allegedly exchanged hands and how judicial officers were forced to bend the law in favour of certain interests.

The suspension of  Salami by the NJC  has yet added to the issues  the NBA conference must address squarely because any misgiving about  judges, whether at the trial court or appellate levels, would rob-off on lawyers.

On what to expect at the conference, Prof Chidi Odinkalu said, “The NBA conference takes place against the background of the elections of this year and its aftermath and in the immediate context of the  tragic developments at the top of our judiciary. The Port Harcourt Bar conference owes it to the profession and the country to address these issues thoughtfully and speak to Nigerians clearly and truthfully.”

Similarly, Mr. Layi Babatunde, SAN, believes that the NBA conference should as a matter of rescuing mission address the ongoing squabble going on at the high echelon of the judiciary.

Babatunde, who said the development is worrisome, pointed out:  “There is a dark cloud in the air and it is time  for retrospection. It is definitely time to look inwards in order to sustain our democracy which some still call  civil rule. The signs are worrisome for both the Bar and the Bench.”

Dame Carol Ajie  meanwhile raised concern over the amendment of the association’s constitution, being proposed by the  leadership of the association.

According to her, “could the NBA President and his ‘cabinet’ go for an extensive or even any amendment to our (NBA) constitution, copies of which were  not circulated  30 days to annual general conference to delegates in branches? The proposed amendment was not also  circulated online for ease of access in keeping with the policy of maintaining a digital Bar.

“Some of the NBA president’s proposal  include creation of State Bar. We can’t have State Bar when the NBA is one. In US, we have State Bars considering that  attorneys have to take and pass the  exam set by each State Board of Examiners. For example, New York Bar, California Bar among others, whereas in Nigeria, we all write and pass one Bar exams.

“The present leadership of the association, also lifted some of proposals from former NBA President Olisa Agbakoba’s 2006 proposal, where he sought a reduction in the number of NBA  national  officers, presently 14 and we shut down the  proposed amendment. Same thing will happen to this proposal.

“Rather than drag  NBA into possible litigation arising from any amendment, it is best that the  NBA President and his National Executive Council, NEC, shelve the proposed “blind” amendment, as it were, to our Constitution, until Article 23 thereof has been met,” she added.

Another Lagos based  lawyer, Mr. Tokunbo Mumuni, wants the conference  to look inward and address issues such as “disagreement at the Bench saying the turn of events  at the highest judicial level  namely the imbroglio between the President of the Court of Appeal Isa Ayo Salami and the Chief Justice of Nigeria- Katsina-Alu,  the plight of the junior members of the legal profession  who are finding it  difficult to survive the harsh socio-economic terrain  and the  falling standard in the training of lawyers.”