Your Rank Will Be Permanently Withdrawn If You Misbehave – AGF Fagbemi Tells New SANs

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, has issued a stern warning to newly sworn-in Senior Advocates Of Nigeria (SANs) to uphold the highest ethical standards and adhere strictly to the 2022 Guidelines for the Conferment of the Rank of Senior Advocates Of Nigeria.

Fagbemi warned that failure to comply with these guidelines could result in the permanent withdrawal of their rank.

He stated this during the Supreme Court legal year ceremony, emphasizing that unlike the 2018 Guidelines, which allowed for the restoration of rank after a three-year withdrawal period, the 2022 Guidelines provide no such provision.

This means that once a SAN’s rank is withdrawn for misconduct, it cannot be regained.

“Whether or not you have read the paragraph, let me seize this opportunity to bring it out.

“One of the highlights of the new Guidelines is that unlike the 2018 Guidelines which contains provisions for discipline of erring holders of the rank and for the restoration of the rank after three years of withdrawal upon the fulfilment of certain conditions, the 2022 Guidelines makes no provision for the restoration of the rank after withdrawal,” Fagbemi told the new lawyers in the presence of a host of SANs, lawyers and judges both serving and retired.

The AGF maintained that once the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 26(4) of the Guidelines withdraws the rank from any holder who may have breached the provisions in sub-paragraph (a)-(h), the withdrawal is final and the rank cannot be restored afterwards.

“It therefore behoves on any Senior Advocate of Nigeria to strive to conduct himself in utmost professional standards and to avoid running foul of the Rules of Professional Misconduct for Legal Practitioners,” Fagbemi advised.

Fagbemi encouraged the new SANs to subscribe to the mentorship of the very senior elders at the Inner Bar.

“Law is a dynamic profession. We learn every day and the seniors are there to play the role of mentors. You are therefore in a unique position of still being mentored by the elders in the Inner Bar while at the same time acting as mentors to the younger colleagues at the Bar,” he said, while urging them to also serve as good mentors by showing good examples in and outside the court room.

“To the new silks, I warmly welcome you to the inner bar. It is indeed a remarkable privilege to be chosen and decorated with honour amongst your colleagues. As the name of the LPPC implies, the conferment of the rank of SAN is a privileged position for the deserving only,” Fagbemi congratulated the new silks.

The AGF leveraged the situation to call for speedy promotion of judges into the Appeal Court and Supreme Court bench, adding that vacancies in judicial offices can cause disruptions in the judiciary and rule of law.

Fagbemi said, “I am aware that the process of filling the vacancies for the Justices of the Supreme Court has begun. I would however like to use this opportunity to urge the leadership of the National Judicial Council to fast-track the process of achieving a full complement of the Supreme Court and to also concurrently put in place the process of filling the consequential vacancies that will be occasioned at the Court of Appeal to avoid undue delay and minimize disruptions at that level.”

For the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, he said members of the bar who claim judges/ justices collect bribes, “should quit being cowards and make bold to present the evidence to law enforcement agencies, even when the bribes are allegedly given by or through them. It is a sacrifice we must make to save the nation.”

He therefore called on the judge who alleged that a senior counsel attempted to bribe the Tribunal in Kano to forward the particulars of the counsel to the NBA for disciplinary action.

” If this cannot be done, because the allegation was unfounded, the Bar demands an apology just as I have severally done for the unwarranted hurt
caused your lordships by members of the Bar, ” he added.