As Nigeria approaches 2027 for the next general elections, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Ngozi Olehi, has called on the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to formulate a comprehensive code of political behaviour for lawyers in politics, to subject deviants to disciplinary mechanisms if they swerve from the social engineering functions that public service offers to lawyers as the foremost professionals in Nigeria.
Delivering a keynote speech titled “From Ruins To Reform: Action Plans Towards Ethical Rebirth Of The Legal Profession In Nigeria” at a CLASFON Seminar in Owerri, Barr. Olehi, SAN, insisted that Nigeria has crashed because lawyers in politics, who ought to have applied the transformative tools of social engineering and the rule of law to reverse the political and economic glooms and misfortunes that have befallen Nigeria, rather joined corrupt leaders to impoverish the nation.
He said the NBA’s motto, “To Promote Rule of Law”, was the economic development tool that Singapore’s political leadership used to transform, within a few years, her shattered economy, fight corruption, and halt poverty after the country’s independence and de-mergence from Malaysia. He regretted that Nigeria’s governance, economy, and security have kept worsening in spite of rich rule of law resources and laws that can halt the inexcusable debilitations.
Barr. Olehi, SAN, disclosed that studies have confirmed the inexorable link between rule of law and economic development and foreign direct investment, without which it is impossible to entrench a stable private-sector-driven economy.
He lamented that Nigeria, where her legal practitioners are obliged to observe and promote the rule of law, is always at the rear in global rule of law rankings, with poor and less populated countries, particularly in West Africa, being ahead of Nigeria in global rule of law standing.
His words: “The 2024 WJP Rule of Law Index evaluated 142 countries and jurisdictions around the world, with Nigeria scoring 120th out of 142 countries evaluated. Niger, Liberia, and Togo scored higher than Nigeria, ranking 114th, 109th, and 106th respectively.
“This ranking is anchored on four universal principles of the Rule of Law, to wit: Accountability, Just Laws, Open Government, and Accessible/Impartial Justice, with nine factors, namely: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, Criminal Justice, and Informal Justice.”
The erudite SAN noted that breach of the NBA’s Rules of Professional Conduct is observed more in breach and warned that if the trend is not abated immediately, the legal profession will shortly be stripped of its nobility, dignity, and prestige, in view of the changing patterns of public perception of the profession hitherto revered by both elites and non-elites.
He therefore called for the strengthening of disciplinary processes of the NBA, particularly from the branch levels, and reminded lawyers that as officers of the court and ministers in the temple of justice, their obligation is more to the court, to dispense justice no matter whose ox is gored.
The occasion was chaired by Hon. Justice Alma Eluwa, while the discussants of the keynote address were Hon. Justice I. M. Njaka, Associate Prof. Chizoba Okpala, and Barr. Mrs. E. O. Echebima.
2027: Olehi advocates code of political behaviour for Nigerian lawyers
