Order for registration of new body to rival NBA, victory for lawyers – Gadzama, SAN
ABUJA– A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Chief Joe Gadzama, has thrown his weight behind the establishment of a new umbrella body for lawyers in the country other than the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
Gadzama, SAN, who is former Chairman of the Abuja Branch of the NBA and currently the Chairman of the Mentoring Committee for Young Lawyers of the Body of Benchers of Nigeria, lauded the recent judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, to register a new association for legal practitioners in the country.
Describing the judgement as a victory for lawyers and the Constitution, the learned silk said he would attend the maiden meeting of the new association which has been registered as the Nigerian Law Society, NLS.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, Gadzama, SAN, who is a Life Bencher, stressed that the landmark judgement would have far-reaching implications on the legal profession in Nigeria.
He commended Justice Gladys Olotu of the high court for her courage and boldness to okay the creation of the new body, saying, “just like in many other climes, the Nigerian legal practice sector will now experience and enjoy competitive development, owing to the possible multiplicity of lawyers’ associations, as captured in the popular saying, the more the merrier.”
However, Gadzama, SAN, said there was the need to amend the laws regulating and engaging lawyers in Nigeria to reflect the current position and reality of the law.
He called on members of the National Assembly, who are lawyers, to seize the opportunity and table the relevant amendments for consideration.
“It is certainly going to be a gradual process and one thing that is sure is that interesting times lie ahead for legal practice in Nigeria and I believe that 2024 will be a good year for legal practitioners,” the senior lawyers added.
More so, Gadzama, SAN, debunked the notion that the birth of the NLS would be to rival the NBA, adding, “the sky is large enough to accommodate many shining stars.”
He argued that the different associations would complement each other for the betterment of lawyers and the legal profession.
It will be recalled that following a suit that was filed by six legal practitioners, the high court, in a judgement it delivered on December 15, 2023, ordered the CAC to approve any of the names the plaintiffs submitted for the registration of a new association for lawyers.
Those behind the suit were; Bolaji Ayorinde, Mela Nunge, Garba Gajam, Emeka Ichoku, Chioma Ferguson, and Tejumola Adigun.
The names the plaintiffs submitted for consideration were; Nigerian Law Society, Nigerian Bar Society, Nigerian Lawyers’ Society and Association of Legal Practitioners of Nigeria.
The plaintiffs went to court to challenge the initial refusal of the CAC to register their association.
They contended that the names they submitted for consideration and to be registered, were not similar to that of the NBA which had existed as the sole umbrella body of lawyers in the country since 1933.
In her judgement, Justice Olotu ordered the CAC to “approve for registration and thereafter register any of the proposed names submitted to it on behalf of the plaintiffs,” and to issue a certificate of registration to that effect.
The court held that the right to peaceful assembly and association, guaranteed under Section 40 of the Constitution, Article 10 of the ACHPR, and Article 20 of the UDHR, covered the kind of association the plaintiffs sought to register.
