The Chairman Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Garki branch, Mr Obioma Ezenwobodo, has restated needs for legal practitioners to equip self in order to excel and play the critical role of being change agent.
Ezenwobodo, who chaired the Liberty bar stated this at the NBA Garki 2023 law week held in Abuja on Monday.
The programme is with the theme: Keeping the Pace.
The hallmark of the ceremony was the unveiling of the branch maiden Journal by legal stakeholders which included the President of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, President of the Industrial Court, Justice Kanyip, Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Baba Husseni Baba-Yussuf, President of the Shariah Court of Appeal among others.
Ezenwobodo at the occasion charged members to refocus their mind and interest, warning that the terrain of legal practice is fast-changing.
In his remarks, Justice Baba-Yusuf charged practitioners to utilise the opportunity that the event provided to expand their knowledge and collectively strengthen the law and jurisprudence.
While delivering a keynote address at the occasion, the former Attorney General (AG) of Lagos State, Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN called for the splitting of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) or State Attorney Generals from the ministry to give room for independence and unbiased judicial advise.
According to the former AG of Lagos, the national assembly once suggested and put machinery in motion to effect the change but expressed regrets that former President Muhammadu Buhari could not implement it before his exit.
He berated the British model being adopted by the country, saying the French, America and even the Canadian model where the AGF and AG may not necessarily be a member of the cabinet gives room for independence.
He said: “As long as the office of the AGF and Minister of Justice or State AGs and Office of State Commissioners are not separated, there cannot be an independent advise, as it would if any be tainted with bias.”
