The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has taken legal action against the Police Service Commission and other key authorities over what it described as the “unjust and undue delay” in the conversion and promotion of legal practitioners serving in the Nigeria Police Force to the specialist cadre.

The suit, filed on September 3, 2025, at the National Industrial Court, Abuja, and marked NICN/ABJ/264/2025, seeks an order compelling the defendants to upgrade all junior police officers who are qualified lawyers to the substantive rank of Superintendent of Police (SP).

The NBA argued that the failure to implement the provisions of the Nigeria Police Force (Establishment) Act 2020 and Force Order 137 of the Ratified Force Order 2013 has left police lawyers stranded in junior ranks for years despite performing full legal duties.

According to the NBA, while professionals in other fields such as medicine, engineering, aviation, and accountancy enjoy automatic conversion to specialist cadre with corresponding promotions, police officers who become lawyers have been excluded from this statutory entitlement.

Many, the association said, remain at the ranks of Inspector, Sergeant, and Corporal while appearing daily in courts to prosecute and defend cases for the Force.

Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, Chairman of the NBA’s Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL), in a statement, said: “This is an assau’t on the dignity and nobility of the legal profession, reeks of double standards, and can no longer in good conscience be condoned.”

The NBA explained that while some officers enlisted in the Police Force already qualified as lawyers, others were called to the Bar with the Force’s approval during service. In both cases, Section 18(9) and (11) of the Police Act mandates their conversion to the legal cadre — a provision the association insists has been consistently flouted.

Despite several interventions by past NBA leaderships, the matter remained unresolved. The association noted that police lawyers continue to be deployed for legal duties without the formal recognition of their professional status, a practice it said violates the Rules of Professional Conduct.

The suit was Instituted through SPIDEL’s Public Interest Litigation Committee, chaired by Mr. Olukunle Ogheneovo Edun, SAN.

The NBA called on the Police Service Commission, the Inspector General of Police, and other defendants to respect the judicial process, halt further harassment of police lawyers, and await the court’s decision. (The Nation)

Update news