PHOTOS: Controversy Trails Change In Supreme Court Program List Placing BOSAN Ahead Of NBA President

TheNigeriaLawyer Editorial

Valedictory court session is a farewell ceremonial session held in honor of a retiring judge. It is a tradition in Nigeria judiciary, and it witnesses the attendance of special invited guest and the general public.

Two photos of the programme of events for the valedictory Supreme Court session hosted in honour of Honourable Justice Ejembi Eko on his retirement has revealed an alteration in the order of precedence placing the representative of the Body of Senior Advocates before the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata.

Recall that on the 24th of May, 2022, TheNigeriaLawyer reported that the NBA President while speaking at the Valedictory ceremony expressed dissatisfaction at what he said is becoming a norm.

In the photos sighted by TheNigeriaLawyer, the first programme of events placed scheduled the NBA President’s speech to come before the representative of the Body of Senior Advocates, Prof. Ben Nwabueze.

However, this has sparked up a lot of controversies, and in his address at the Valedictory Session, the NBA president, Olumide Apata addressed this issue stating that no member of any group is higher than the bar.

According to Akpata the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court was apparently pressured by some unidentified Lawyers to withdraw the Program of Events which had already been distributed and to alter it by placing the Chairman of BOSAN before the NBA President in the order of precedence.

The second photo which was the order followed at the ceremony shows the Body of Senior Advocates representative placed before the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, a development that has raised eyebrows.

This whole incident and the its reoccurrence, begs to ask the question; who should speak first in valedictory court sessions and other court proceedings, The NBA president or the Chairman of BOSAN?

TheNigeriaLawyer, strongly opines that the NBA president was very much correct when he stated in clear terms that it was the NBA president that should be the one to have first stage in valedictory court sessions and other ceremonial occasions.

This should not be a debate. The NBA has been in existence before the idea of BOSAN was conceive, and despite the fact that there is no legal basis or protocol to follow when it comes to who to speak first, the fact that NBA is older than BOSAN suffices to establish the NBA president as first speaker.

Also, the nature and relevance of their offices helps to resolve this dispute. The NBA president is the head of the NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, which means all lawyers including the members of BOSAN, which are;

*Senior advocates
*Junior advocates
*Private bar members
*Official bar members.

All these advocates are under the leadership of the NBA president, thus, it is absurd to state that the chairman/representative of BOSAN should have the stage first before the NBA President, when the NBA president leads the bar which the chairman is under and subject to.

The failure of persons to recognize the significance of the office and not the person in office is what has given rise to this controversy. The office of the NBA president carries a higher-ranking authority over the chairman of BOSAN, and as such any person in the office of the NBA President carries a higher-ranking authority in terms of addresses in valedictory court session and other ceremonial occasions. No heed should be placed on the fact that the chairman of BOSAN is senior to the current NBA president.

Furthermore, the argument that the First Schedule of the Legal Practitioners Act provides for the flow in which precedence shall be taken in addressing the court, and the senior advocates comes before any other lawyer is clearly absurd. The issue here is who speaks first in valedictory court sessions or other ceremonial occasions? In these occasions, recognition is placed on the essence of the office and not the status, and in this case, the office of the NBA President has the right to speak first in ceremonial gatherings and not the BOSAN chairman.

TheNigeriaLawyer, strongly recommends that this should be adopted and respect should be paid to the office of the president of the NBA irrespective of who is in office.