The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami might have bitten more than he can chew over the recent the amendment to the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for Legal Practitioners 2007 by his office.
This is even so as lawyers under the auspices of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) begun the collection of signatures to strip Malami of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) tittle over the amendment to the rules. They accused the minister of individually embarking on the amendment of the conduct without consultation with relevant stakeholders.
The association insisted no alteration has been made to the rules and therefore directed its members to ignore a gazette on the issue while it engages the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in talks over the matter.
The controversial gazette which was issued after the controversial amendment to the rules abolishes the payment of legal fees by lawyers.
The instrument also removes the requirement for NBA stamp and seal on court processes.
NBA argued in a statement on Sunday by its President, Olumide Akpata, that the gazette or instrument was crafted to weaken its powers.
The stamps and seals are sold to lawyers at N4,000 for 72 pieces and given to them upon payment of NBA dues.
Without the stamp, a lawyer cannot submit any document or letter in the court.
The sale of the stamp and seal is one of the major sources of NBA’s revenue.
Thus with the coming of the gazette, the use of the stamps is no longer necessary.
In the statement, Akpata pointed to the Legal Practitioners Act which states that only a resolution of the Bar council, comprising the AGF, attorneys-general of the 36 states of the federation and 20 members of the NBA can issue or amend rules of professional conduct for legal practitioners.
Akpata accused Malami of amending the rules without taking cognizance of the other parties that are legally supposed to be involved in the process.
Akpata assured lawyers that he had begun speaking with Malami on the issue and would update them in the coming days.
As at the last check, about 378 lawyers have signed the petition to strip Malami of the title of SAN.
According to Izu, the AGF had no such power to do so.