A total of 1, 785 new lawyers were admitted into the Nigerian Bar on Tuesday, with Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief O. C Okocha, SAN, urging them to embrace professionalism at all times.
At the ceremony that held at the Eagle Square in Abuja, the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Prof Isa Hayatu, SAN, disclosed that the new lawyers were among candidates that passed the January 2020 Bar final examinations that were supervised by the Council of Legal Education.
According to the Law School DG, 1, 779 candidates passed the examinations, while six candidates were from previous Bar final examinations.
Hayatu revealed that a total of 2, 515 students participated at the examinations, out of which five candidates were graded in first class, 76 graded in the second class upper, 633 graduated with second class lower while 1, 065 came out with a pass.
He said the candidates successfully completed the vocational training at the Nigerian Law School as prescribed by the Legal Education Act and had also taken the prescribed examinations and the dining terms and met all other required conditions set by the Council of Legal Education.
“I am happy to affirm that they all exhibited good manners and decorum during their training. They have also been groomed in the best ethics and ethos of our noble profession,” Hayatu added.
In his speech, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Okocha, SAN, charged the new lawyers to be of good character and uphold honesty and integrity which he described as the hallmark of the legal profession.
He said: “In all that you do while in practice, commit yourselves to upholding the rule of law and pursuit for justice. As legal practitioners, we are all bound to observe and uphold the rules of professional conduct in the legal profession,” he said.
He said the Body of Benchers has the power to enforce discipline and decorum at the Bar through the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, LPDC.
