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SANs ask NBA to suspend stamp project

By Editor
04 August 2015   |   5:02 am
Leading lawyers under the aegis of the influential Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) have called on the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend implementation of the stamp scheme initiated by the association, saying there is no enabling law backing the scheme. In a letter to NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh,…

LawLeading lawyers under the aegis of the influential Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) have called on the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend implementation of the stamp scheme initiated by the association, saying there is no enabling law backing the scheme.

In a letter to NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh, SAN dated July 21, 2015 and signed by Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), BOSAN Chairman and the oldest surviving senior advocate, the group stated that while the aim of the scheme is to sanitize the profession and rid it of quacks, “the implementation is ill-timed and counterproductive,” adding that “nothing would be lost by a temporary suspension of the scheme.”

It noted in the letter that its members at their last meeting on July 4, 2015 raised issues concerning implementation of the scheme, saying “our members complained about the difficulties associated with the non availability of the stamps and seals whilst many others observed that the implementation of the scheme is premature as there is presently no enabling legislation to justify its implementation.

“Our members observed that the Legal Practitioners Bill is yet to be passed into law and the provisions made in the Bill for the introduction of the stamp and seal have therefore not come into effect.”

The members of the Inner Bar further noted that there is a “huge backlog” in the supply of the stamps and seals, “as several practitioners who paid for these items several months ago are yet to receive their orders.”

BOSAN said: “The reality is that adequate arrangements do not appear to have been put in place to satisfy the needs of the large number of lawyers who are required to key into the scheme. The result has been that members of the profession have been disabled from filing court processes in many courts and tribunals and this has hindered them in the pursuit of their legitimate professional undertakings.”

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