‘We Will Give You The Support You Need To Succeed’- FCT Chief Judge Assures Moses Ebute, SAN-led Unity Bar

Chairman of the Abuja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (Unity Bar) Mr Moses Ebute, SAN on Wednesday 2nd of February, led an entourage of his executive committee, Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other members of the Bar to pay a courtesy visit to the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Hon. Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf.

In his welcome speech, the Honourable Chief Judge, who received the Bar leaders in company of his brother Justices Nasiru, Bello Kawu, Otaluka, Adepoju, and Ogbonnaya expressed his delight that the Unity Bar is united at last after some years of turbulence.

“This has given some of us a lot of disquiet over the years because we know the effect of that type of situation on us as judicial officers; so, it is an achievement for all of us…a win-win situation that we now have a united bar in the true sense of the name.”

The Chief judge continued: “In the course of time, the fact that we were not able to get a united association amongst our members has agitated our minds over the solutions to be proffered, but they never worked out. When late Hauwa Shekarau visited me sometime last year, I told her we were going to do something this year to ensure those problems are put behind us. But as they came to be, she was not alive to see these developments, though I know that wherever she is today, she would be happy to know that once again we are able to come together, even if it meant that her death is a sacrifice for this.”

Applauding the Chairman’s emergence as the new leader of the Unity Bar, he said, “The number of members that have accompanied you here, including the very senior members, the leaders of the Bar who have come with you is a great testimony of your general acceptability by all members. That is to say, if any evidence were to be needed to show that you have been accepted by the members, it is evident by the learned Senior Advocates of Nigeria and other senior members that you have on your entourage. And I think that is the way to go, because when there is problem nobody gains. This shows we are set to achieve, we are set to make strides and we too on the bench in the FCT will be more comfortable to relate with you, now that we know for certain that there is one voice in the Bar association within the FCT. It becomes easier for us to deal with you and the implication is that, all of us will stand to profit from the situation on ground. What has happened, for me is a good omen, and I have no doubt in my mind that you will succeed. We on our part, will give you all the support you need so that you can have a successful tenure”.

Thereafter, the Honourable Chief Judge addressed a number of challenges which the Bar had faced in their interaction with the judiciary, as highlighted by the Chairman, Moses Ebute, SAN. READ HERE

On Judicial Calendar
He said, “For us we have three types of holidays in a year…the annual vacation, the Christmas break and the Easter break. These are all statutory holidays. You will discover that the only period we are out of business during Easter vacation is the week after Easter. That has been the practice and is not likely to cause any confusion. Once you have an Easter break which is a national holiday, the week immediately after is a judicial holiday for all judges.

“Same thing goes for Christmas break where we go off about 18th of December and return around 2nd of January. But despite that we would try to enlighten the Bars about those periods that we are here and when we are on holidays so that in planning your own calendar, you are able to take note of those periods.”

On prison visitations
“We will embark on those exercises very soon. Usually we give notices of such visitations to members and executives of the Bar so that those who would like to be on the entourage or who have cases will also be there to make cases for their clients.”

On Legal Year Ceremonies
“What is usually not certain is the legal year ceremonies. Sometimes we have reasons for not being able to have them as soon as we return. In that regard, what we normally do is just to assure you we may not be able to give you any date with certainty but we should be able to give you notice of such ceremony, months ahead of it. This is as much as is possible so the Bar can prepare but, in some cases, you may not be able to help it because of circumstances beyond our control.

“The only events that we are a bit sure of sometimes, are the invitations coming from the National Judicial Institute. If you do not have, I will try to get you a schedule of the conferences and trainings for the entire year, for the benefit of the Bar. These conferences and trainings are usually set out early and our judges are involved in most of them. So, you can see that there are some events that may also take our judges out of their courts for some days in a week and these are beyond our control.”

On Bar and Bench Forum
“I know of a truth that we had that in the past and it blossomed for the benefit of both sides because you cannot afford not to have cordiality between the Bar and the Bench, as they are two sides of one coin. It is good that we meet and rub minds once in a while. Our profession, which has always put us in a learning process, requires that we engage ourselves and in the course of that, educate ourselves also about issues relating to law and national issues which affect all of us.

“Shortly before Christmas, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) in the FCT met me and I promised them that we are going to set up the Bar and Bench Forum, because I realized that it will be of tremendous benefit to all of us and so I am going to do that. Notice of the formation will be communicated to you very soon.

“However, before that is done usually you get reports from your people about areas of disagreement between the Bar and some of the courts. You do not need to wait for the forum to be able to let me know. If you have such issues to discuss with me I should be able to arrange an audience for you and get those issues ironed out. As a matter of fact, it is better done that way than presenting same at a general meeting of the forum, because there you have a lot of members and issues cannot be quickly tackled as they would be if it were just a small body like this or it were the executive members meeting me one on one.

“So, I think that is the way to go and I assure you that when you get the information on challenging issues that will require me to intervene and to get things properly done, we would respond promptly.”

On pending cases of Unity Bar frozen accounts
“Let me have particulars of those cases so as to identify my brother judges who are handling them; then we can see what to do to ensure early management of such cases.”

Speaking on the rising incidences of fake lawyers practicing within the FCT, Baba-Yusuf said, “Now that you have a United Bar in the FCT, it will be good you also have a published document which shows at a glance, the number of lawyers practicing in the FCT at any particular time. This would help us to know those who should not appear in our courts and those who now tout or pretend to operate as lawyers when as a matter of fact, they are not. The only ones that we normally have notice of, are those ones whose names have either been struck off the roll or those who have been placed on suspension by the disciplinary committee of the Bar.”

The Honourable Chief Judge then thanked all for coming and promised that the judiciary would work with the Unity Bar and give all the support needed to ensure success. “We will give you the support you need to enable you succeed because what you do is not just of interest to the Bar alone but also for the interest of the entire public, and if you must succeed, we need to give the support required for you to manage the members properly and play your effective role in the society.

“Please take time to unite everybody and set up a very strong Bar. In such an association as this, strength is not in the capacity to hoodwink or outwit others, but it is in the capacity to carry everybody along. That is where the strength lies. You need patience also to manage people, and be able to tolerate divergent opinions. Your ability to bend backwards and carry those divergent opinions along will be a major victory for you”, he advised.