The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-Corruption Committee said on Tuesday that lawyers need to play critical roles for corruption to end in Nigeria.
Speaking through its national chairperson, Babafemi Badejo, the committee called on members of the legal profession to reject corruption and must stand for integrity for Nigeria to be rid of corruption.
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“The road to a corruption- free Nigeria begins not only in our courts, but also in the daily ethical choices made in our chambers, our consultations, and our professional conduct.
“If lawyers stand firmly for integrity, many others in society will find the courage to do the same. But if we fail, the consequences for our national development will be grave. Let us therefore walk this road with courage, patriotism, and uncompromısing integrity,” Mr Badejo said in his remarks at the NBA Port Harcourt, Rivers State branch’s anti-corruption seminar.
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He urged Nigerian lawyers “to reject seeing corruption, an abnormality, as the normality.”
The seminar, themed, “Strengthening Integrity in the Legal Profession: The Role of Lawyers in Combating Corruption in Nigeria,” was held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Mr Badejo encouraged lawyers to view their position as being strategic in rescuing “the Nigerian state from this destructive cycle. We are not merely advocates for clients; we are guardians of the rule of law. Our duty to justice and society must never be subordinate to financial gains and/or political pressures.”
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He stressed the relationship between corruption and the rule of law and that accepting corruption within the legal profession is suicidal, with adverse consequences to the existence and development of Nigeria.
Mr Badejo said, “We cannot effectively fight corruption in the nation if we harbour it overtly or covertly within our ranks. Our integrity is our only currency. If we, as lawyers, continue to oil the wheels for corrupt clients without question, then we are not part of the solution. We are enablers.”
He also noted that fighting corruption should not be shouldered by prosecutors alone and called for an overhaul of that mindset.
Mr Badejo said lawyers must refuse “a brief that is fundamentally flawed with corruption and against the public interest.”
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Even though he commended the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) and the role of the NBA’s president, Afam Osigwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), for inaugurating the NBA’s anti-corruption committee, he complained of the long time spent in resolving complaints within the NBA.
This is not Mr Badejo’s first agitation for the eradication of corruption from the legal profession. In December, the NBA Anti-Corruption Committee (NBAA-CC) warned that unresolved corruption allegations involving lawyers are undermining public confidence in Nigeria’s justice system and weakening the rule of law.
Advocates of corruption-free legal profession have cited a case higlighting the scandalous roles played by prominent senior advocate, Mike Ozekhome, in a London property ownership battle.
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