Order Of Precedence Debate: NBA President Is The Leader Of The Bar, Speaks First At Any Event After The Attorney General — Falana, SAN

*Says Order of Precedence Established since 1987
*Says Mr. Alao Aka-Bashorun Was Not A SAN But Spoke, After The Attorney General As The NBA President At Any Event

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Femi Falana has waded into the order of precedence debate between the NBA and Body of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (BOSAN). Narrating how the order of precedence was established, Chief Falana, SAN narrates:

This was a reaction to the most recent debate on who should take precedence in valedictory court sessions and other ceremonial events, the NBA President or the Chairman of BOSAN.

Reacting to this, the learned silk stated clearly that the debate was not necessary and was only as a result of lack of institutional memory. He emphasized that the NBA President was the leader of all advocates whether he was a SAN or not, and this had been the resolution since the 1980s. His line of thoughts where thus:

Owing to lack of institutional memory an irrelevant debate is currently raging among members of the Nigerian Bar Association about the order of precedence in the legal profession. Contrary to historical inaccuracies which have dominated the debate, I wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that the  issue of order of precedence in the legal profession has long been settled. It is on record that members of the NBA had unanimously resolved in the 1980s that the NBA President was the leader of all lawyers in the country, whether he was a Senior Advocate or not. There was no opposition to the position of the NBA from any quarters whatsoever, at the material time.

Thus, flowing from this premise, it was the reasoning of the learned Silk that the NBA President had precedence. Backing his submission, the learned silk recounted history, where the then NBA president in 1987, Mr. Alao Aka-Bashorun upon winning election wrote to all heads of courts in Nigeria that in all valedictory ceremonies and other programmes, the NBA President would speak after the attorney general, the head of the official bar. And in separate letters, the head if the various courts promised to accede to the request of the NBA President, and from 1987-1989, the then NBA President spoke immediately after the attorney general, when he was invited to address the bar and the bench at any ceremony.

The learned silk went on further to recount a story about when the then NBA President, Mr. Alao left for Lome to secure the release of 20 bar heads that were imprisoned, and he had been represented at a valedictory speech af the Federal High Court in Lagos, by the then NBA 3rd Vice President, Dame Priscilla Kuye, she was invited to speak before the leader of senior advocates, Chief FRA Williams SAN in line with the established order of precedence by the courts.

Furthermore, the Femi Falana SAN reminded his learned fellow silks that the then NBA President in 1987 was not a SAN and refused to be a SAN as a result of his ideologies but that didn’t stop him from respecting the body if senior advocates and fighting for the inner bar. The learned silk’s words read thus:

It may interest colleagues to know that Mr. Aka-Bashorun was not a SAN. In fact, he refused to apply for the rank on ideological grounds! However, in spite of his radical stand, Mr. Aka-Bashorun had tremendous respect for all Senior Advocates of Nigeria. In particular, he worked effectively with the progressive extraction of the inner bar in the struggle against disobedience of court orders and termination of unending military rule in Nigeria.

Ending this piece, the learned silk reminded everyone of the public tribute he paid to Mr. Alao upon his demise in 2005, and recalled when he wrote that Mr. Alao was given precedence as the NBA President right address the gathering of lawyers and judges before the leader of the Senior advocates of Nigeria. His words were thus;

Upon the glorious transition of Mr. Aka-Bashorun to eternity in October 2005, I had cause to pay a glowing tribute to him as my former boss and comrade. In the well publicised tribute, I recalled that, “During his tenure, the NBA took precedence over other bodies in the legal profession. In particular, Aka was allowed to address any gathering of lawyers and judges before the leader of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria.”

The learned silk’s tribute to the then NBA chairman, Mr. Alao Aka-Bashorun can be found at: https://dawodu.com/articles/aka-bashorun-a-life-of-inspiration-256