The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has raised an alarm that no fewer than 1,000 fake lawyers are currently practicing in the country.
The Vice President of the association, Akintokunbo Oluwole, who made this known today in Akure, the Ondo state capital, during a Special Sitting of the NBA to mark the opening of the 2015/2016 legal year said that the fake lawyers were discovered after the inauguration of the association’s Stamp Policy, which was introduced to curb the operation of quacks in the legal profession.
Oluwole explained that the issue of quackery in the legal profession has been a pain in the neck of the association.
“So far, the NBA Stamp Policy has been able to revive the system and has increased the revenue stream of lawyers across the country.
“It has improved the authenticity of documents which are now being filed in court registries since all legal documents must now bear the stamps of lawyers to be considered valid. The persons (quacks) have also devised various means albeit unsuccessfully, to scuttle the smooth implementation of this policy. ”
He called all stakeholders in the profession to assist the association in actualizing the vision of restoring the integrity of the legal profession.
In his remarks, the state Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, said the state judiciary has been able to checkmate all forms of malpractices in the state’s third arm of government.
Justice Kumuyi said that some dubious individuals have carved out personal stamps, which they used in issuing illegal affidavits to unsuspecting members of the public.
One of the ways used to curb the malpractices in the state judiciary, the CJ explained, was the prohibition of affidavits by proxy, irrespective of the respondent’s status, explaining that a special Seal of Oaths and peculiar serial were affixed to all affidavits while hard and soft copies were archived.
The Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, expressed satisfaction over the performance of the judiciary, advising the arm of government not to compromise with any other arm in the interest of democracy. [myad]
