AT the end of the deliberations the Conference resolved as follows:

1. That any successful reform process in Nigeria must involve legal practitioners, be holistic, people oriented, sustainable and geared towards entrenchment of true democracy, good governance and security. No meaningful reforms can take place in the absence of the rule of law as manifested by dictatorial tendencies of government and disobedience to court orders.

2. That the legal and institutional framework for the implementation of Reforms in any sector of national life should be strengthened, and the concept of local content legally defined. To this end the National Assembly should set the machinery in motion to repeal or amend all obsolete and outdated laws that impede access to justice, or discourage domestic and foreign investment. For specific mention are            Prince Lanke Odogiyon, NBA President, 2005

the Evidence Act and the Nigerian Tax Law regime.

3. That Government should reform and strengthen the military and security agencies with a view to making them more pro-active and subject to civil authority in order to enhance and sustain democracy and good governance.

4. That Government should dispassionately handle the issue of resource control in a holistic manner by effectively protecting the rights and interests of resource producing areas better than presently being done.

5. That the Conference noted the indiscriminate abuse by Legal Practitioners of their professional ethics and endorsed the disciplinary machinery being put in place to arrest the trend.

6. That Government should as a matter of urgency ratify and domesticate all international conventions that provide for the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups.

7. That to ensure probity in the management of pensions, persons of doubtful integrity should be barred from operating as Pension Funds Administrators and Pension Funds Custodians. Also Pension Funds Administrators must establish risk management committees to oversee reserves, risk profile of investments, and internal control mechanisms.

8. The Conference supports the adoption of electronic voting system as a means of checking rigging and other forms of electoral fraud, provided the possibility of human manipulation of the process and equipment failure are adequately addressed. Also, there should be public education and awareness and mock election voting exercise before electronic voting should be adopted.

9. That lawyers as social engineers should be encouraged to provide pro-bono legal services to indigent and needy members of the society.

10. That the process of privatization should be made more transparent in order to win public confidence and trust.

11. The Nigerian Bar Association condemns in very strong terms the increase of the price of Petroleum products in the country by the Petroleum Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Federal Government of Nigeria. The aforesaid increase of the price of petroleum products is most arbitrary and grossly insensitive to the plight of the ordinary Nigerian who is already groaning under the heavy burden of the harsh economic realities in the country.

The NBA is of the view that the PPPRA and the Federal Government have by the frequent and arbitrary increase of the prices of petroleum products in the country shown that the power to increase or regulate the prices of petroleum products should not be left to the absolute discretion of the PPPRA and the Federal Government.

The nation has reached a point where the prices of petroleum products in the country would have to be inserted in an ACT of the National Assembly in order to limit or reduce the arbitrariness exhibited by the Federal Government and PPPRA in terms of the regulation of the prices of petroleum products in the country.

Meanwhile the NBA in clear and unequivocal terms hereby calls on the PPPRA and the Federal Government to revert to the former position in the overall interest of the entire citizenry. Unless this is done, the NBA will in conjunction with Labour and other civil society organizations be constrained to support all legitimate and lawful means of ensuring that the Federal Government reverts to the former position.

The Conference received reports from five statutory institutions, namely the Council of Legal Education, Legal Aid Council, National Human Rights Commission, and Corporate Affairs Commission. The Conference in the Annual General Meeting Expressed its commitment to the funding of legal education and hoped that with the putting in place of a Roll of Legal Practitioners, the Conference committed itself to supporting the Nigerian Law School through the contribution of a percentage of lawyers' income, to be determined.

The Conference expressed concern about the re-emerging backlog of law graduates who are unable to gain admission into the Nigerian Law School. It was agreed that Disciplinary measures should be taken against Deans of Law Faculties who admit and graduate more students than accredited by the Council of Legal Education. In solving the problem it was agreed that double-streaming was not an option as it stretches the personnel and facilities and lowers the standard and quality of lawyers produced. The Conference supports the proposed solution of issuing law school admission forms with the names of the students graduating from the universities.

The Conference noted with satisfaction and appreciation the thirty-five (35) years of service that Dr. Kole Abayomi, SAN, the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School has put into the Nigerian Law School and his contributions to the legal profession. Conference wished him a blissful retirement.

The 2006 Annual General Conference of the NBA will take place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in August 2006.

The Conference expressed appreciation to the government and people of Plateau State for their support and hospitality. The personal involvement of His Excellency, Joshua Dariye, the Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Dakkas C. J. Dakkas, the Chairman and members of the Jos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association is commendable.

Prince Lanke Odogiyon - President General

Hon. Nimi Walson-Jack - Secretary

Dr. Friday Chijioke Nwoke - Rapporteur General

Within the year, your National Executive Committee (NEC) approved the establishment of a Lawyers' Action Committee Against AIDS (LACA). In approving the establishment of the Lawyers' Action Committee against Aids, NEC considered the fact that the HIV/AIDS scourge has assumed a pandemic dimension and the NBA cannot but play an active role in the global and national efforts at stemming the debilitating and decimating effects of the killer disease.

As an Association, we acknowledge the urgent need to organize ourselves and join the awareness campaign with a view to educating and enlightening our members, workers, and family on the reality of the scourge. To this end, we promise to put in place a programme and package to assist our colleagues living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

The NBA must represent a strong voice in the management of victims and the protection of the human rights of such victims. They must be protected from the victimization and stigmatization at the work place in particular and in the society in general. To do these, we must be enlightened and informed about the condition.

The Lawyers' Action Committee against Aids (LACA) is expected to play proactive and central roles in the making of legislation on the HIV/AIDS scourge. LACA will be the pivot of our collaboration with other agencies, bodies and organizations that have similar focus.

The Anti-Corruption Crusade Corruption is a cankerworm that has eaten deeply and badly into the fabric of this Nation. This administration's commitment to fighting corruption, both among members and in the larger society was boosted within the year when the National Executive Committee resolved that we were past talking time and need to act more positively to show our zero-tolerance for corruption. A Committee to work out our anti-corruption policy and the details of this Anti-Corruption Crusade will be put in place soon.

We would like to use this medium to express our support and resolve to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria in the fight against corruption. We would help the Government take the fight to all facets of the administration of justice. This should however neither be taken to mean support for a blanket condemnation of the judiciary as corrupt nor the selective prosecution of cases which do not meet the criteria of "family affair". That is not acceptable, because we know that the Nigerian judiciary as an institution cannot be classified as corrupt. The bad eggs therein must be fished out and shown the way out. In the same vein, we believe the fight against corruption cannot make substantial progress if we overlook the activities of "our friends".

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NBA has noted with concern the worrisome development in the polity of our country. That is the problem of disobedience to court orders by members of the executive arm at all tiers of government. This problem, which was prevalent during the military dictatorship, has reared its ugly head mid-way into the second term of our leaders. This ugly state of affairs is perhaps the greatest threat to the rule of law in our democracy.

The NBA advises all public office holders, especially the political class, to retrace their steps and return to the path of sanity dictated by the law. The law may be an ass, the judges are human and fallible, yet we must learn to live by the rules written both at home and on the global scene. It would be recalled that in 1988 the Alao Aka Bashorun administration called for and embarked on a three-day boycott of Courts to protest the disobedience of Court Orders. That option is still open to the NBA to drive home its point against the incessant disobedience of Court Orders.

Let me take the liberty of this Conference to caution our members in establishments and institutions that disobey Court Orders. In whatever capacity they function they have a responsibility to society as professionals to ensure that their employers tread the path of civilized nations and decency. As members of the legal profession, they owe a duty to the legal profession to ensure that they give appropriate legal advice to the various organs of the government they work with. There is already a proposal to sanction legal advisers, including the Attorneys General, in any establishment, who disregard Court Orders. We shall continue to monitor the situation and draw attention to any more of such acts of disobedience.

As we all work toward reforms, we would like to single out the Nigeria Police for special mention. Our interest in the Nigeria Police is borne out of the fact that the Police and the Legal Profession are allies in the administration of justice. Events in the Nigeria Police directly or indirectly impact on the legal profession. On the national scene, we believe that effective law enforcement by the Nigeria Police would help bring back sanity in the conduct of our lives. An effective Police is the counter force to the proliferation of agencies poaching on Police functions.

However, the Nigeria Police cannot meet the challenges of policing in modern society unless and until we undertake some painful reforms in both human resources and facilities. The ten-point police programme of policing with integrity unveiled by the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sunday Ehindero Esq., is a welcome development. The new programme, which promises to serve and protect with integrity, conforms to the philosophy of policing all over emerging and developed democracies.

The fact that the Acting IGP accepts that the Operation Fire for Fire was to all intents and purposes authoritarian, unaccountable and contrary to the principle of responsive policing is appreciated and goes to confirm the old adage that truth cannot be hidden, it will always come afloat. It is regrettable that over the years, the service functions of the Police have been lost in the infamy of brute force and corruption.

The Acting IGP's modus operandi for achieving accountable and responsive policing however, must provide for a massive re-organization of all levels of Police affairs. The Acting IGP must be bold and courageous enough to disengage from the Service, Officers and top echelon who in their conduct and administration contributed to violations of human rights, humiliation of the dignity of citizens, and corruption, to mention a few.

The IGP is called upon to order investigations into and bring to book, cases of Police Officers who willfully murdered innocent citizens and passed them off as armed robbery suspects. The Nigeria Police owes Nigerians a duty to ensure that such officers who exceeded their duties are shown the way out of the Force.

Experience shows and history teaches us that reorganization of the Police and security services must undergo the painful process of retiring and dismissing personnel who, one way or the other, compromised their professionalism. Expecting the compromised leadership of the Force at various levels to be part of a reforming Police is like putting new wine in old wine skin. It is the prayer of all persons who mean well for this country that the Acting IGP will have the will to carry through the reforms. The new zero tolerance policy on corruption and indiscipline must begin with the now notorious and disgraceful acts of extortion of money from motorists and Motorbike (Okada) Riders by Police personnel on duty on Nigerian highways. The temerity with which these demands are made, and the transparency with which money is collected, amounts to impunity.

The argument that the Nigeria Police is a reflection of the society is no longer tenable. Nigerians are no longer willing to accept that these officers on the highways make returns to the bosses back in the office. Nigeria has enough educated, honest and morally upright citizens who are willing to join the Nigeria Police if the conditions are right. The main reason for the corruption and indiscipline is the fact that we pay low wages to the illiterates and barely educated, in order to have them obey our commands and bidding to brutalise the people.

The Acting IGP must be commended for the decision to begin obeying court orders, especially orders that have long declared Holding Charges illegal and "moribund". These Holding Charges have been responsible for the unlawful detention and death in custody of thousands of innocent Nigerians, without the opportunity of undergoing fair trial before a competent Court of law. The Nigerian Bar Association assures the Police Boss and the Nigeria Police as an institution, of the support of lawyers, professionals and other well meaning citizens who have for long been fed on long words and promises that sooner than later vanish like the morning dew. The NBA in particular and Nigerians in general, would stand by the Force in seeking and obtaining the appropriate and reasonable working conditions and facilities as it return to the new mission of serving and protecting the people of Nigeria.

Police Prosecutions in the Magistrates' Courts As part of our quest for reforms, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has decided to seek an amendment to Section 23 of the Police Act, Chapter 359 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, which empowers the officers of the Nigeria Police to prosecute criminal cases in the nation's Law Courts. We want all criminal prosecutions to be initiated and undertaken by qualified Legal Practitioners. This was one of the decisions taken by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NBA at its meeting in Yola, Adamawa State, in February 2005.

Subject to the provisions of Sections 160 and 191 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (which relate to the powers of the Attorneys General of the Federation and of the States to institute and undertake, take over and continue or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person before any Court of law in Nigeria), the Police Act states that any police officer may conduct in person all prosecutions before any Court whether or not the information or complaint is laid in his name.

Section 78 (b) of the Criminal Procedure Act and the corresponding Criminal Procedure Laws in several States of the Federation also empower the Police Officer in charge of a matter to sign the Charge sheet when taking a person arrested without warrant before the Court. It is the position of the Nigerian Bar Association that the power conferred on the Police by Section 23 of the Police Act and the Criminal Procedure Act and other corresponding laws, have over the years been flagrantly abused and misused, leading to the illegal detention and death in some cases of innocent Nigerians by way of holding charges, which have long been declared illegal by our Law Courts. Fortunately, the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, has only recently affirmed that the Police shall no longer file such illegal and unconstitutional charges. We expect the Acting Inspector General of Police to live up to his words.

The NBA holds the position that the exercise by the Police of the power of initiation and prosecution of criminal cases constitute an unwholesome incursion into the exclusive rights and privileges of qualified legal practitioners, who alone should have the right to plead any person's cause in our Law Courts. The majority of these Police Officers who have taken over the duties of Legal Practitioners do not have any or adequate legal training.

Justice is jeopardized and cannot be done in a situation where the knowledge of the law of these Police prosecutors is highly limited and they cannot make or respond to legal arguments from lawyers in Court. There is no gainsaying the obvious that the exercise of the prosecutorial powers of the Police as contained in the Police Act, the Criminal Procedure Act and other corresponding Laws are counter-productive and serve no useful purpose and ought to be done away with.

Since the powers conferred on the Police to initiate and prosecute criminal cases is subject to the over-riding powers of the Attorney- General of the Federation and Attorneys General of the various States of the Federation, the NBA calls on the Federal and States Attorneys General to, in their absolute discretion, limit or exclude the exercise of the powers conferred on the Police by Section 23 of the Police Act, or the Criminal Procedure Act or other corresponding legislations. We urge the Attorneys General to direct the Inspector-General and State Commissioners of Police, to withdraw Police Prosecutors posted to the various Magistrates Courts.

The circumstances that necessitated the use of police prosecutors in Magistrates Courts no longer exist. The country now has sufficient lawyers to meet the needs of public prosecution in every Magistrates Courts in Nigeria and help further the ends of justice. The use of lawyers as prosecutors would bring to an end the era of holding charges and the consequent detention of innocent persons would no longer exist.

Prince Lanke Odogiyon-Jack - President

Chief Nimi Walson - General-Secretary