The hearing in a suit instituted against the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation by the Nigerian Bar Association at the Federal High Court was stalled on Thursday.
This is as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), was absent in court.
Malami, who had been served with a hearing notice in the suit marked FHC/ ABJ/ CS/ 77/2022, neither appeared in court nor was represented by a legal practitioner.
Also, no explanation was offered for his absence.
While faulting Malami’s absence, counsel to the NBA, Ibrahim Sunday Ameh, SAN, informed Justice Donatus Okoronwo that the AGF had filed a memorandum of conditional appearance and counter affidavit to the originating summons of NBA served on him and wondered why the defendant did not deem it fit to be in court.
The Incorporated Trustees of the NBA had dragged the AGF before the court challenging the validity and lawfulness of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal practitioners (Amendment) Rules 2021 (S.I. No. 15 of 2020) enacted by the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation.
NBA, while faulting the rules as being unlawful, is praying the court to void and set it aside in the interest of justice and fairness to practising lawyers in Nigeria.
