Foreign Licensed Lawyers Cannot Practice In Nigeria – FG Debunks Reports
The Federal Government has come out to douse the tension caused over a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed, allegedly allowing the United Kingdom licensed lawyers practice in Nigeria.
The Federal Government represented by the Minister for trade, Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite, had on Tuesday in Abuja, signed an MoU on the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership with the United Kingdom, represented by it’s Minister for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch.
The legal aspect of the deal had raised criticism as Nigerians queried why foreign lawyers should be permitted to practice in Nigeria.
Clarifying the development, the trade minister, Doris Uzoka-Anite, in a thread on X, said that there was no such legal agreement between Nigeria and the UK.
She wrote;
“Earlier today, Nigeria signed a far-reaching MoU with the United Kingdom for Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership.
“Regrettably, our earlier report erroneously suggest that Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding that allows lawyers licensed in the United Kingdom to practise in Nigeria.
“We wish to state emphatically that there is no such provision or agreement in the MoU.”
“As it currently stands, foreign licensed lawyers (including those licensed in the UK) cannot practise in Nigeria, as categorically stated in the MoU.
“We recognise that cross jurisdictional practice between Nigeria and the United Kingdom is still an ongoing conversation amongst relevant stakeholders within the legal practitioners community in Nigeria, and this was reflected in the MoU.”
