The Nigerian Bar Association has petitioned the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee over alleged insulting remarks made by a lawyer, Kalu Kalu, against a judicial officer during a television programme.
The NBA President, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, SAN, disclosed this in a statement on Friday on her X handle condemning the lawyer’s comments during the November 11, 2026 edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, hosted by Seun Okinbaloye.
The lawyer was discussing the November 5, 2026, Federal High Court judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu concerning the leadership crisis in the African Democratic Congress and its implications for Atiku Abubakar’s 2027 presidential ambition.
Kalu made disparaging personal remarks about Justice Lifu during the programme.
When Kalu made the remarks, the programme host interrupted him and said,
“I would not allow you to use this platform to disparage a sitting judge… calling him personal names and attacking his personality. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t allow you to do that.”
Okinbaloye subsequently asked him to withdraw the statement.
Kalu eventually responded:
“Because of time, I do withdraw it.”
Badejo-Okusanya said she watched a recording of the programme and condemned the remarks, insisting that lawyers must maintain professional conduct even when expressing disagreement with judicial decisions.
She said, “A lawyer’s disagreement with a judicial decision, however strongly held, cannot excuse personal abuse of the judge who delivered it. Neither the intensity of a political controversy nor the platform on which a lawyer speaks relieves that lawyer of professional responsibility.”
The NBA president acknowledged that lawyers had the right to scrutinise judgments, challenge their reasoning and expose errors, adding that constructive criticism was necessary for the development of the law and the administration of justice.
She, however, said personal attacks on judicial officers undermined public discourse and brought the legal profession into disrepute.
“Personal insults do nothing to establish that a judgment is wrong. They offer the public no legal analysis and provide no remedy for an aggrieved litigant. Instead, they diminish the quality of public debate and bring our profession into disrepute,” she stated.
Badejo-Okusanya noted that the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, required lawyers to maintain high standards of professional conduct and treat courts with respect, dignity and honour.
She added that the rules also provided appropriate channels for filing complaints against judicial officers.
According to her, lawyers must uphold these standards regardless of the platform on which they express their views, including television programmes.
The NBA president disclosed that she had forwarded a formal petition, alongside relevant broadcast materials, to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for consideration.
She said Kalu would be given the opportunity to respond, while the committee would determine whether professional misconduct occurred and the appropriate sanction, if any.
“Respect for due process does not, however, require the NBA to remain silent about language that falls below the standards we expect of our members,” she added.
Badejo-Okusanya maintained that the legal profession must be able to demand accountability from the judiciary while ensuring discipline among its members.
“Our credibility depends on our willingness to do both,” she said.
She urged lawyers to express disagreements with judicial decisions firmly but professionally, stressing that their conduct shaped public perception of the legal profession.
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