*Appointment Comes Amidst Murmurs on Lack of Due Process
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The Body of Benchers has appointed a Former Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Ishaq Bello as the Chairman of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
His appointment comes on heels of a series of resignations which bedevilled the Committee in the last few months based on a subtle disagreement between the Former Chair of the Committee with a decision of the Body of Benchers then chaired by Hon. Justice Rhodes-Vivour (Rtd) to sit on appeal over a verdict of the Disciplinary Committee.
This led to the resignation of the Former Chairman of the Committee, Emmanuel Ukala SAN and some other members including current Chairman of the NBA Section on Legal Practice, Chief Ferdinand Orbih (SAN) and Boma Ayomide Alabi (SAN).
It would be recalled that following his retirement as Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Bello made an unsuccessful attempt to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) bench, having been nominated by the Federal Government.
However, according to feelers from the Body of Benchers, there is widespread displeasure amongst its members as they complain that due process was not followed in the appointment of Hon. Justice Bello.
The aggrieved members argue that due process was not followed in the appointment, saying that the immediate past BoB Chairman, Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour merely announced the appointment of the jurist towards the end of the last meeting of the body.
They said that not only was the Bar not consulted in the process leading to the appointment but that there was no opportunity given to BoB members during plenary to ratify Bello’s nomination.
According to another BoB member, by conventional practice, the Chairmanship of the LPDC alternates between the Bar and Bench, and both groups must reach a consensus on the choice of the candidate to head the August Body of Benchers committee.
“Sadly, that did not happen this time,” said the member. “Due process was not followed; instead, a fait accompli was foisted on the body. That is not the precedent we are used to.
Some other members who spoke on the emergence of Justice Bello argued that the appointment is inchoate hoping that the new chairman of the Body of Benchers will seek the earliest opportunity to present the nomination of Justice Bello for ratification at the plenary. Otherwise, it will be a bad signal for both the committee and the Body of Benchers.
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