The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has declared as illegal and invalid the unilateral amendment of the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for Legal Practitioners in Nigeria by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, IgbereTV reports
Justice Donatus Okorowo first dismissed the preliminary objections filed by the AGF and held that all the reliefs sought by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) succeeds.
The AGF had argued that the NBA had no locus to file the suit but in dismissing the objection, the court declared that the General Council of the Bar which has the authority to amend the RPC is constituted by several members, and the RPC cannot, therefore, be legitimately amended by the singular desire and action of an individual.
In September 2020, the legal community woke up to the news of the unilateral amendment of the RPC by the AGF.
The AGF was reported to have said the amendment was made in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 12(4) of the Legal Practitioners Act as Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and President of the General Council of the Bar.
The General Council of the Bar comprises the Attorney-General of the Federation, all the Attorneys–General of the 36 states of Nigeria, and 20 Legal Practitioners representing the NBA.
The purported amendment was immediately criticized by many lawyers with the NBA especially contending that the AGF acted beyond his powers in amending the law which was the prerogative of the General Council of the Bar (GCB) of which Malami is a member.
The body also pointed out that no Attorney-General can unilaterally, whimsically, or capriciously amend the rules, no matter how well-intentioned
