By Law Mefor
There is a proverb in Nigeria that states, “The sky is big enough for all the birds to fly without colliding into each other.” Another proverb that is as apt, made well-known by the late sage and renowned author Chinua Achebe, is “Let the eagle perch, and let the kite perch. Anyone who says the other should not, let its wings to break”.
Such Nigerian adage should serve as a guide for the leadership of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), who, in their aggressiveness, have created a barrier to the legal existence of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) despite a subsisting court ruling in favour of the new body – NLS. This shouldn’t be happening in a nation the size of Nigeria, which has more than 200 million citizens. There are billions of stars and galaxies in the vast sky.
The Nigerian Law Society (NLS) has from the beginning stated that it is not in any way a rival to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA). Similar to how other professions permit two or more professional associations like the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) to coexist with the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), the NLS serves as an alternative professional association for Nigerian lawyers.
Professionals are allowed to form associations like the NLS under Section 40 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which is the country’s fundamental law. To safeguard and advance their interests, the section encourages citizens to organise or join associations and ensures their freedom of association. Any current association that insists on being the only superstructure—a function not constitutionally designated to such a body— is to deny this unalienable fundamental human right. This appears to be what the NBA is doing, and it is infringing on the express clause of the constitution by pushing the CAC to follow suit. Since the nation is a democracy, it is even more imperative that this impunity end.
In October 2022, the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) was formally established. The 1999 Nigerian Constitution’s Section 40, which protects the right to freedom of association for both individuals and professional associations, led to the creation of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) to further actualise the principles of the legal profession’s founding fathers. However, some forces are working against the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) receiving full legal standing via the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration, as ordered by an Abuja-based Federal High Court on December 15, 2023.
The NBA applied to the Court of Appeal to be added as a party to a lawsuit against the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), rather than the NBA’s leadership (the outgoing NBA EXCO) focusing on more urgent matters like the ongoing crisis surrounding the outgoing Treasurer of the NBA’s allegations of financial impropriety in the annual report. It is like a case of one chasing rats while his house is on fire.
The Federal High Court of Abuja’s ruling, which mandated that the CAC register the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) right away, was also in a very partisan manner appealed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Descending into the arena rather than keeping a level playing ground, the CAC filed an appeal against the aforementioned ruling rather than immediately adhering to it, since it is a declaratory judgement and cannot be postponed on the grounds of a stay of execution.
Additionally, the CAC has started the unlawful practice of writing petitions against the NLS to various government agencies, including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Department of State Security (DSS), and the Inspector-General of the Nigerian Police Force, rather than waiting for the outcome of its ongoing case at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division. This makes CAC a partisan party, which is an aberration.
In all of these petitions, the CAC’s Registrar-General has been economical with the facts by failing to notify the aforementioned authorities of the existence of a ruling in support of the NLS, which mandated that the CAC register the NLS. Rather, the CAC has sent a letter requesting that all of the aforementioned entities close the NLS’s physical offices and website since they are not registered with the CAC. This gives the false impression that NLS never requested registration with the CAC, even though this was not only done but was also supported by a court order requiring CAC’s compliance.
Remarkably, NLS praises all of the aforementioned federal government institutions for respecting the rule of law by giving NLS officials a fair hearing. All of the aforementioned federal government agencies welcomed NLS representatives to their offices, whereupon they were questioned and NLS officials informed the Federal Government bodies for the first time that the NLS had a ruling against the NBA for its registration by the CAC.
One gathered that each of the aforementioned agencies received a copy of the ruling. These agencies were also informed that the Registrar-General of the CAC is being sued for contempt of court due to his failure to follow the Federal High Court of Abuja’s order of December 15, 2023, that the CAC register the NLS.
For the reason of these legal documents sent by NLS executives to the DSS, Nigerian Police, and NCC, none of these organisations has agreed to close the NLS’s physical location or website. NLS has effectively demonstrated that it is a law-abiding professional society that defends its right to freedom of association, as specified by Section 40 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, by using only lawful means.
In conclusion, the NBA’s operations and relevance are not diminished in the slightest by the existence of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), to warrant their opposition to it. The Nigerian courts and the Nigerian constitution both support the NLS, which the NBA and CAC are unnecessarily undermining.
They have continued to act as though the NLS will eclipse the NBA. Such fear is baseless and more closely resembles an inferiority mentality. The Nigerian Law Society (NLS) is here to stay, so let the NBA and CAC give the young, energetic organisation space. The NBA should rather address the numerous issues confronting it, and it is hoped that the new NBA EXCO, chaired by Mazi Afam Osigwe, will help the NBA regain perspective.
*Dr Law Mefor, an Abuja-based forensic and social psychologist, is a fellow of The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought; [email protected]; Twitter: @Drlawsonmefor.
