SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA AND NBA STILL CONTROL PAYMENT OF BPF.
This contribution is in response to a statement issued by Mr. Steve Sun and published by some bloggers. It is therefore necessary to state some hometruths. While the NBA recognises the right of members to express their opinions on activities of the Association, such criticisms should be factual, fair and not premised on general assumptions.
We would accordingly use the opportunity of the statement of Steve Sun to shed more light on how the system of the Bar Practice Fee is ran. It is correct that the Supreme Court and the NBA are the major beneficiaries of the BPF. However, the further truth is that the BPF account with Access Bank Plc has still not changed. What the NBA has just done is to simplify the payment process by creating an electronic platform for the payment of the BPF. The bank account number and name of the account where the BPF are paid into still remain the same. The Supreme Court is still very much in the know and control of the funds and the processes. Therefore, as some persons may erroneously think, the funds in the BPF account cannot be touched or withdrawn without the authority of the Supreme Court.
It is in this wise, that we advise members not to heed to the erroneous impression that the BPF solely belongs to the NBA and accordingly discountenance any insinuation made.
We hope this information suffices.
Thanks.
Kunle Edun
