Lawyers call for laws amendment to address current challenges

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abuja branch, has called for extensive and urgent amendment of laws to address the present challenges and economic, social and political realities of the country. The call was made at the opening ceremony of the branch’s 2019 Law Week with theme ‘Nigerian Laws: A Case for Extensive Amendments’. The keynote […]

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abuja branch, has called for extensive and urgent amendment of laws to address the present challenges and economic, social and political realities of the country.

The call was made at the opening ceremony of the branch’s 2019 Law Week with theme ‘Nigerian Laws: A Case for Extensive Amendments’.

The keynote speaker, Professor Taiwo Osipitan (SAN) emphasized on the need for the amendments in view of the current realities in the country. He specifically called for amendments as regards legislations on/for state policing, local government and the National Judicial Council (NJC).

For the NJC, he said the constitution of membership of the body saddled with regulating judicial officers was made in such a way that it favours the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), noting that at least seven of the members of the NJC are appointed at the discretion of the CJN.

However, the Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice Ishaq Bello, said beyond law reforms, there should be a moral commitment to the laws, adding that without that, “who will guide the guard, police the police and judge the judge?”

Justice Bello, who was represented by Justice Peter Affen, observed that the judiciary is not proud of the application of obsolete laws in the courts. He, however, said it should be noted that laws are not self-activating, adding that if the laws of the country are amended and the attitudes to the application and enforcement of the laws are not changed, there will not be much desired impact on the society.

Earlier, the chairman of the NBA Abuja branch (Unity Bar), Abimbola Kayode noted that “the scope and the purport of this discourse could not have come at a better time than now. There is no denying the fact that most of our laws date back to the colonial era and many of them have not been amended till date.”

He said the discourse was then aimed at emphasizing the need for urgent review to meet the challenges of the present time.