Date: 2018-03-13

THE Membership and Bar Services Directorate of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has verified 49,000 lawyers across the country.

The exercise is in a bid to sanitise the legal profession and reduce the incidence of fake lawyers and quackery in the legal profession.

NBA General Secretary Aare Isiaka Abiola Olagunju presented a report on the verification at the just concluded National Executive Committee ( NEC) meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State.

He said: "The NBA Database Verification exercise is an ongoing process. Over 49,855 active lawyers have carried out their verification exercise.

"You may recall that the NBA in 2011 made it mandatory for all active lawyers in Nigeria to undertake a verification exercise to enable the association update vital details of its members.

"Right now, we are working on creating a membership platform on verification whereby any lawyer can personally update his or her phone numbers, e-mail address, contact address and branch, if and when any of these has been changed

"When the unit receives complaint regarding verification of a lawyer, such application is forwarded to the General Secretary and then acted upon.

"Lawyers may send request for such services to the secretariat individually, or through their branches, international bar association, organisation, and parastatals, etc.

"The profession has been to a large extent, preserved from the marauding effect of imposters and impersonators, hence the lawyer column (find a lawyer) on the website is a valuable tool for the search of lawyers since only verified lawyers are uploaded."