By Saxone Akhaine it
Irked by the activities of erring judges in the country, one of the newly appointed Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Samuel Atung, has frowned on the professional misconduct of some Judges who issue conflicting judgments.
Atung said it is disheartening that such judges do not abide by the ethics of their callings, adding that such professional misconduct is capable of bringing the judiciary to disrepute before the public.
He said there was no need for any judge to issue a conflicting order, especially when the case has to do with political matter because the provisions of the Electoral Act are very clear.
The National Judicial Council (NJC), last Thursday, barred three judges from being promoted for issuing conflicting orders.
Atung, who spoke at an event in Kaduna to mark his conferment as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria told journalists that he was ready to mentor younger lawyers to attain the rank, since he was a beneficiary of mentorship by notable SANs in the country.
“I have always had my opinion about indiscriminate ex parte orders, especially political related cases. Successive Chief Justices and even the NJC have made several pronouncements against the issuance of conflicting court orders. So, I think what the Chief Justice of Nigeria is doing is quite in order,” Atung said.
He dedicated his elevation to the almighty God, saying it is an honour, which God bestowed on him.
“If you undergo a tutelage in a reputable law firm, you stand a chance of making it to the rank of Senior Advocate than those who do not. I will try as much as possible to mentor the younger ones to aspire to the rank of SAN. I have benefited from mentorship by notable SANs. It therefore behooves on me to hand down to the younger lawyers what I have benefited from mentorship,” he said.
The acting governor of Kaduna State, Hadiza Balarabe who was represented by Deputy Chief of Staff, James Kanyip at the dinner, expressed happiness with Atung.
“This is no mean feat. You got to this position from humble background. God elevated you for a purpose, to serve humanity. Just be yourself and do your best and move on,” she remarked.
Chairman of the dinner event, the Minority Whip, House of Representatives, Hon. Gideon Gwani, said: “The day I realised my brother was elevated to SAN, so many questions came to my mind. What does it take to become a SAN, and at what age? And I realised that to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you need to be a man of integrity.
“I also realised that we lack mentorship, but if we have mentors, a good number of lawyers will go places in their careers. Your position is serve humanity without religious and ethnic bias,” he advised.
The guest speaker, who is the Executive Secretary, Federal Character Commission, Muhammad Bello Tukur, said: “I have been with Atung for the past 35 years as friends and students at ABU Zaria. I share a lot of things in common with Atung. We came from rural areas background”.
“Rural communities work very had to feed and send children to school. We cannot afford to be at each other’s throat. People are scared of going to the farm, school and market. This is because rural areas are now getting deeper into insecurity.
“There are lots of lamentations in the land. We must find solution to it. There is collapse of governance. There are cattle rustling. We have to look at the issue of insecurity in the rural area. Community leaders must find solution to communal dispute.
“Religious leaders have roles to play. Department of government agencies have roles to play. Light weapons are all over the place. We need to strengthen the capacity of our security agencies to mop up these weapons.”
