John Aikpokpo-Martins Calls On CAC To Have A Symbiotic Relationship With Lawyers

The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chairman, Warri Branch (2014 – 2016.), John Aikpokpo-Martins, Esq has made suggestions on how the relationship between the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and lawyers can be improved.

This is contained in a statement made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL) where Aikpokpo-Martins said he “listened to the news yesterday and was not too pleased on the current state of relationship between the Corporate Affairs Commission and legal practitioners.”

He said the Commission is one of the places where lawyers go to earn a living and therefore the existing interface between the Commission and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should be improved and if it doesn’t exist, it should be created as soon as possible.

Apart from help desk to attend to disputes between lawyers and staff of the Commission, Aikpokpo-Martins also suggested deployment of modern technology.

“The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is one of the agencies which many lawyers engage and practice to earn their living, therefore any situation that can impede on lawyers’ wellbeing, and/or the relationship between the Commission and lawyers must be of paramount interest to every lawyer and the NBA.

“The simmering dissatisfaction and worries expressed by lawyers in recent times, and which obviously culminated into the action of yesterday should be, and can be addressed by improving on the existing interface structure between the Commission and the NBA, and if non is in existence, then an NBA/CAC Forum must be created as soon as possible. I have no doubt that such a forum will create a veritable platform for the Commission and lawyers to amicably iron out issues between them timeously, and before such issues can snowball into intractable and embarrassing problems.

“It is also germane that a lawyers’ help desk be established by the Commission to handle every day sundry issue as may arise between lawyers and the staff of the Commission.

“Furthermore, I also strongly advocate the hastening up of the plans of the Commission to engage and deploy the use of IT in her operations. The deployment and engagement of modern technology will no doubt also make the physical presence of members of the public to the offices of the Commission needless.”

Finally, Aikpokpo-Martins suggested calling of meeting between the Commission and the NBA to find a way of creating a long-lasting friendly relationship between them

“Lastly, I hereby urge and call on the Commission to immediately call for an all stakeholders’ meeting, and engage the NBA on how to navigate a pathway through this time, and also draw up a roadmap to creating an enduring lawyers friendly and public-oriented service system in the interest of all.” Aikpokpo-Martins said.