Corruption in the legal profession and practice is now full-scale in Nigeria. This is the submission of the Adamawa branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) which has identified corruption as one of the major impediments hindering legal profession and its practice in Nigeria.
Mr. Jibril Jimeta, Chairman of the organising committee of the just concluded Law Week organized by the branch, made the statement when he addressed a news conference in Yola.
“Corruption in the legal profession is now in full scale às some of our members serve as the conduit for exchange of money between the judges and litigants,” he said.
“We are not measured by our success but by the number of us who proved to be deviants,” he added.
He said the legal profession had found itself in disarray due to breach of the rules of professional conduct and other practices that were inimical to the profession .
“Giving clients false hopes on the true fate of their cases while some lawyers approach judges for bribes among other things were some of the bane in legal practice today.”
According to him, to redeem the image of the profession, legal practitioners need to engage themselves in capacity development, obeying court orders and strengthening the discipline mechanism at the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the bar branches nationwide.
“The battered image of the profession can only be redeemed, strengthened and cleaned by the legal practitioners themselves,” he said.
He advocated for a robust working relationship and synergy between the Bar and the bench, saying the judiciary was the last hope of the common man.
Jimeta said an interactive session was held during the week and issues affecting Police Duty and the Solicitor Scheme (PDSS) were throughly addressed.
He said issues like the gap between the legal aid and lawyers, actions of Police in taking statement of a suspect and the need for a good working relationship between lawyers and security agencies were also deliberated upon.
BRANDPOWER reports that the week-long event featured inauguration of the bar secretariat complex, prayers in Mosques and Churches, football match and dinner.
