Malami Inaugurates Bar Council, Calls For Collective Development of The Legal Profession
The Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has called on members of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to work collectively to build the legal profession
He made the call on Monday during the inauguration of the General Council which comprises all the Attorneys General of the states and 20 members of the Association
Malami said that the 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, rejig it to change the current negative perception of the profession.
“The council should strive to overcome its inherent limitation to reinvent and reassert itself in the legal architecture of the country.
“This inauguration is an opportunity for all the constitutional heads of the legal profession and members of the Bar to meet and deliberate on pertinent issues affecting the legal profession, especially in view of current challenges and public perception of the profession’’.
He advised those inaugurated to continue to show commitment and dedication to the statutory duties of the Council
“Together we must work to restore the confidence which the public hitherto reposed in members of the legal profession.
“This will only be possible if we as members demonstrate uncommon commitment and dedication to make a difference through our various inputs and services to the Council.”
Responding, 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 towards the fight against corruption, money laundering, terrorism, economic crimes, and other criminal activities.
He said the profession maintained the privileges conferred on the it by the statutes, self-regulate it conduct as to make it accountable in the fight against the menaces that have bedeviled the nation.
Maikyau, therefore, urged all members to familiarise themselves with the Legal Practitioner Acts, LPA and the Constitution of the Association which, he said remains the principal legal framework governing the operation of our Association’’
