The Chairman of the Ibadan Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ibrahim Lawal, has appealed to the Oyo State Judges not to grant audience to any lawyer who appears before them, dressed in an unprofessional manner.
Lawal made this call on Tuesday, during his tributary speech in honour of the late Chief Judge of Oyo State, Nurudeen Adekola who died on February 15, 2025, at the age of 94, held at the Oyo State High Court, Ring Road, Ibadan.
The valedictory session led by the Chief Judge of Oyo State Iyabo Yerima, had in attendance many Judges, serving and retired, who paid glowing accolades to the deceased.
Having described the late CJ as a disciplined and hard-working jurist whose legacies in the Oyo State Judiciary will endure for ages, Lawal expressed discomfort with the manner some of his colleagues dress to the courts, demeaning the status of the noblest profession.
Asking the Judges to also help in sanitizing the profession, Lawal particularly addressed the Chief Judge, saying: “My Lord, the Chief Judge, the bar notes, with dismay, the unprofessional dressing of our members to various courts.
“The National Executive Committee of the Bar, at its meeting in Akure, passed a resolution that each branch must set up a committee for the enforcement of proper dressing by lawyers in court.
“Ibadan Bar had set up the Committee with Mr Oladipo Olasope, SAN as the Chairman. We enlist the support of my Lords in ensuring that lawyers, who appear in a manner unbecoming of gentlemen of this noble profession, have no audience in court.”
The NBA Chairman also identified late arraignment of suspects in overnight cases at Magistrate’s Courts as one of the factors responsible for prison congestions, while urging the Chief Judge to look into the situation.
He said, “It is also important to mention to my Lord, the Chief Judge, the delay in the assignment of overnight cases to various Magistrate’s courts.
“Some assignments were delayed to the extent that courts would have risen before suspects were brought to court, thereby leading to some defendants having to stay one to two days at Agodi Correctional Centre for failure to perfect their bail conditions on time.”
