The Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigerian Law Society: On the Impossibility of Parallel Bar Associations in a Single Jurisdiction

BY ERNEST OJUKWU

I have read reports of Chief Mela Audu Nunghe, SAN, President of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), and his presentation at the public hearing on the Legal Practitioners Bill 2025. In his address, he urged the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to incorporate a pluralistic framework for national bar representation.

While I acknowledge and support the right of legal practitioners to establish and join professional associations such as the Nigerian Law Society, it must be clearly stated that there cannot be two Bar Associations within one jurisdiction. The establishment of lawyers’ associations is constitutionally protected under the right to freedom of association; however, this right does not extend to the creation of parallel Bar Associations with overlapping regulatory mandates.

There is nothing in the Nigerian Constitution that grants a right to establish more than one Bar Association within the same legal jurisdiction. To do so would be conceptually and institutionally wrong. The Nigerian Law Society, therefore, should not aspire to function as an alternative Bar Association. There exists no precedent for such an arrangement within the Commonwealth or the United States. Nigerian Bar Association leadership should stop blocking the establishment of the Nigerian Law Society and the Nigerian Law Society should stop canvassing to be regarded as an alternative Bar Association. There is nothing like an alternative Bar anywhere else.

Comparative Jurisdictions

England and Wales
In England and Wales, the nearest equivalent to a Bar Association for barristers is the Bar Council of England and Wales, whose regulatory counterpart is the Bar Standards Board (BSB). For solicitors, the representative body is The Law Society of England and Wales, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

Scotland
Scotland maintains a similar distinction. Barristers, known locally as advocates, belong to the Faculty of Advocates, while solicitors are represented and regulated by the Law Society of Scotland.

Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, the Bar of Northern Ireland represents and regulates barristers, while the Law Society of Northern Ireland performs similar functions for solicitors.

Canada
Canada’s legal profession is organized around voluntary bar associations for advocacy and professional development, and law societies that exercise regulatory control.

At the national level, the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) serves as the principal voluntary association for legal professionals, complemented by specialized associations such as the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), Canadian Defence Lawyers (CDL), Criminal Lawyers’ Association (CLA), and the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA).

Each province and territory also has its own branch of the CBA—e.g., CBA–Alberta, CBA–British Columbia (CBA-BC), Manitoba Bar Association, CBA–New Brunswick (CBA-NB), CBA–Newfoundland & Labrador (CBA-NL), CBA–Nova Scotia (CBA-NS), Ontario Bar Association (OBA), CBA–Prince Edward Island (CBA-PE), CBA–Québec (CBA-QC), CBA–Saskatchewan (CBA-SK), CBA–Yukon (CBA-YT), CBA–Northwest Territories (CBA-NT), and CBA–Nunavut (CBA-NU).

Regulation, however, is reserved to the provincial law societies, such as the Law Society of British Columbia, Law Society of Alberta, Barreau du Québec, Law Society of Ontario, and their counterparts across the provinces and territories. Membership in these bodies is mandatory for legal practice.

United States
In the United States, the American Bar Association (ABA) serves as a national voluntary professional organization but does not license lawyers. Each state maintains a single Bar Association—some of which are regulatory (mandatory), others voluntary. Examples include the Alabama State Bar, State Bar of Arizona, Colorado Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, and State Bar of California (regulatory), alongside the California Lawyers Association (voluntary). Where dual systems exist—such as in North Carolina—there is a clear distinction between the North Carolina State Bar (regulatory) and the North Carolina Bar Association (voluntary).

Across the U.S., there is no jurisdiction with two competing Bar Associations exercising regulatory authority.

The Nigerian Context

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is sui generis. Although registered as a voluntary association, it enjoys statutory recognition and regulatory functions under the Legal Practitioners Act (LPA) and the Rules of Professional Conduct.

In Suit No. OB/27/2020 — Ben Oloko v. The Incorporated Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association (judgment delivered on 29 July 2022), the Enugu State High Court, following the precedent in Chinwo v. NBA (SUIT NO FHC/PH/CS/518/2011), declared membership in the NBA mandatory for all legal practitioners upon call to the Bar and for continued practice. This decision reaffirmed the NBA’s special status within Nigeria’s legal architecture. It does not matter whether you agree with the decisions- that is the current status of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Nowhere within the Commonwealth does one find multiple Bar Associations operating within a single jurisdiction. The Legal Practitioners Bill 2025 reinforces the NBA’s regulatory role — a continuation of Nigeria’s long-standing legal tradition. While there may be debate over the scope and nature of these regulatory functions, the reality remains that the NBA occupies a unique and indispensable position in the professional governance of lawyers.

Nigeria’s regulatory framework for the legal profession already comprises several bodies — the Body of Benchers, Bar Council, Council of Legal Education, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, and the Supreme Court. Previous attempts, such as the 2018 Legal Profession Regulation Council Bill, to remove the NBA’s regulatory powers were rejected by the Body of Benchers when they rejected the entire bill and made attempt with their draft bill to become the complete regulator for the legal profession.

Comparative analysis from the Commonwealth and the United States confirms that, whether or not a Bar Association has regulatory powers, it remains a singular and foundational institution.

Accordingly, the Nigerian Law Society may validly exist as a voluntary professional association — promoting networking, welfare, and advocacy — but cannot share regulatory powers with the Nigerian Bar Association. To do otherwise would constitute a clear aberration in both principle and precedent.

• Prof. Ernest Ojukwu SAN (aka Teacher) is a former Deputy Director-General of the Nigerian Law School and currently Co-chair of NBA’s Anti-Money Laundering Committee