*Flags “CPD,Licensing, Stamps Route Through NBA Creates Pay-to-Practice Triad”
A coalition of legal practitioners known as the Advocacy for Bar Licence Freedom (ABLIF) has called on the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to overhaul the controversial Legal Practitioners Bill, 2025 (SB. 965), warning that its current draft would entrench an “unconstitutional monopoly” for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over the regulation of the legal profession.
In a detailed 12-page memorandum submitted on December 4, 2025, to the committee at the National Assembly in Abuja, ABLIF described the bill as a “fundamentally flawed” attempt to retroactively legitimize the NBA’s alleged overreach into public regulatory functions. The group, comprising lawyers from across Nigeria, argued that vesting powers such as licensing, mandatory continuing professional development (CPD), and issuance of stamps and seals in the NBA – a private voluntary association – violates Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association.
“This Bill hands a private body the power to decide who may work, under what conditions, and subject to what financial burden,” the memo states. “Regulation of a profession… is a public function which must be exercised by the state itself or by a neutral statutory regulator, not by a private association governed by its own internal constitution and politics.”
ABLIF’s submission comes amid escalating tensions within Nigeria’s legal community. The group said it had repeatedly engaged the NBA on issues like compulsory CPD, practice licenses, and stamp-and-seal controls, viewing them as lacking legal basis and amounting to “overreach by a private association.” When those efforts failed, ABLIF filed a lawsuit in November 2025 at the Federal High Court in Abuja (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/2241/2025: Christabel Zoe Ayuk, Esq. & 11 Ors. v. Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association & 4 Ors.). The suit challenges the delegation of public functions to the NBA and seeks an injunction against extra-statutory conditions for practicing law.
The memo accuses the bill of attempting to “retroactively legalise the very practices which are subject to ongoing constitutional challenge,” potentially inviting “prolonged litigation” if passed unamended.
ABLIF outlined five “core defects” in the bill, framing them as threats to constitutional freedoms, fair competition, and public interest:
The coalition emphasized that while it supports CPD as a tool for “continuous learning, competence, and high professional standards,” it should be “advisory” and pluralistic – not a “punitive and commercial instrument” linked to licensing.
To salvage the bill, ABLIF proposed targeted amendments, including:
These changes, the group argued, would lower legal service costs, foster competition, and amplify dissenting voices, ultimately benefiting ordinary Nigerians seeking affordable justice.
The submission arrives as Nigeria’s National Assembly pushes for reforms to the aging Legal Practitioners Act, amid debates on modernizing the profession. Critics like ABLIF warn that the bill’s flaws could exacerbate divisions, with the NBA facing accusations of prioritizing revenue over inclusivity. The NBA has not yet responded publicly to the memo.
ABLIF’s national convener, Hameed Ajibola Jimoh, Esq., and national secretary, Christabel Zoe Ayuk, Esq., signed the document, enclosing copies of the lawsuit’s originating summons and injunction motion. The group has requested an oral presentation at the bill’s public hearing.
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