“We Cannot Stand Tall In Wrongdoing” — Okutepa SAN Calls For Overhaul Of NBA Leadership And Electoral Processes
Prominent Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Jibrin Samuel Okutepa has called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to urgently address internal lapses and uphold discipline if it is to remain relevant in Nigerian society.
Speaking on the outcomes of the 2025 Annual General Conference (AGC) of the NBA in Enugu, themed “Stand Out, Stand Tall,” Okutepa stressed that the profession’s credibility is undermined by unethical conduct and delayed justice.
Reflecting on the 2023 conference, themed “Getting It Right,” he noted that the NBA had failed to enforce accountability among its leaders and members, with some officers sidelined from performing their duties and others allegedly prioritizing personal gain over prudent management of the association’s resources. He said, “If we must get it right, the NBA must first put its own house in order and hold lawyers and judges accountable as to whether they are still fit and proper persons to remain in this profession.”
On this year’s conference, Okutepa questioned whether the Nigerian legal profession truly stands out or stands tall in the pursuit of justice. He argued that slow judicial processes and deliberate sabotage of judicial independence have eroded public confidence, leaving the poor and vulnerable as the worst victims. “Our criminal justice system is slow, punitive, and often unjust. Those with ‘long legs’ evade justice, while the powerless languish in prison, some detained on trumped-up capital charges in violation of the presumption of innocence,” he said.
Okutepa warned that lawyers must refuse to become instruments of wrongdoing. “Law must be practiced with conscience. Any practice that supports wrongdoing under the guise of professionalism is unethical,” he said, urging the NBA to enforce the Code of Conduct for legal practitioners with integrity.
He also criticized the association for tolerating unethical behavior at its events. “Colleagues dress shabbily to NBA functions without sanctions. Electioneering for NBA offices is marred by inducements and vote buying. How then can we expect to ‘stand out’ or ‘stand tall’ when we cannot stand against wrongdoing in our own house?” Okutepa remarked.
According to him, the NBA must rediscover its founding purpose of upholding justice, discipline, and integrity. He emphasized that leadership recruitment processes need urgent reform to prevent the association from mirroring the same democratic flaws it critiques in Nigerian politics. “Until then, we risk being remembered as an association that preached ideals but practiced contradictions,” he concluded.
The 2025 NBA AGC drew thousands of lawyers from across Nigeria and featured discussions on professional ethics, judicial independence, and the role of lawyers in promoting access to justice and human rights.
