A lawyer has called for equal enforcement of professional standards in Nigeria’s legal profession, insisting there should be no “sacred cow” whether the person involved is an ordinary practitioner or a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor made the remark while reacting to a petition filed by the Strategic Public Interest Legal Advocates (SPI-LAW) against former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, SAN. The petition is currently before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).
In a statement titled “No Sacred Cows at the Bar: SPI-LAW’s Petition Against Former AGF Abubakar Malami and the Imperative of Professional Accountability,” Ejiofor urged the Nigerian Bar Association and other relevant bodies to ensure that allegations of professional misconduct are examined through due process.
He said the petition should not stop at the LPDC. Where legally appropriate, he argued, it should also be brought before the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the Body of Benchers.
Ejiofor expressed concern that the NBA had not, in his view, sufficiently addressed the professional dimensions of the issues surrounding Malami even as some related matters proceed through other legal channels.
He declined to dwell on the alleged manner in which Malami conducted himself while in office, noting only that certain acts attributed to him, if established, would be unbecoming of a Senior Advocate and of a former Attorney-General.
SPI-LAW’s petition, according to Ejiofor, relies mainly on findings contained in the International Chamber of Commerce Tribunal’s final award of September 16, 2026, in ICC Case No. 26260/SPN/AB/CPB. The case involved Sunrise Power and Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN Limited and another against the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The tribunal rejected Sunrise Power’s claims and ordered the company and one Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria $11.82 million in legal fees and $414,125 in arbitration costs.
SPI-LAW is asking the LPDC to determine whether conduct attributed to Malami in that award amounts to professional misconduct under Rule 1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, and Section 11 of the Legal Practitioners Act. The petition was filed in the public interest under Rule 4 of the LPDC Rules, 2020, and seeks a determination on whether there is a case to answer and, if so, an invitation for Malami to respond.
“This question, in my respectful view, deserves to be examined fully and without fear or favour,” Ejiofor said.
He stressed that disciplinary proceedings should not be treated as a substitute for criminal proceedings and that the allegations must be independently determined through the appropriate process.
Ejiofor also recalled an earlier instance in which the NBA relied on decisions from foreign proceedings to petition against a Senior Advocate while the substantive matter was still before a court. He argued that the same principle should apply here.
“What is good for the goose is good for the gander,” he stated.
The lawyer further called on the NBA to examine allegations of “disgraceful and infamous conduct” involving senior political office holders who remain members of the legal profession. Professional obligations, he said, must apply equally to all members of the Bar regardless of political position or status within the profession.
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