The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, has called on newly sworn-in notaries public to uphold the highest standards of integrity in their professional duties.
Alogba made this appeal on Thursday during the swearing-in of 31 new notaries public at the Chief Judge’s Court, Ikeja High Court, Lagos State.
The event was attended by the administrative judge of the Ikeja Judicial Division, Justice A. M. Nicol-Clay, alongside several other judges of the High Court.
In his address, Alogba emphasised the role of notaries as private participants in public service, urging them to “Live up to the expectation of high integrity” that the profession demands.
“He warned against sharp practices and incidents of attestation of fake documents by unscrupulous notaries. This he said contributes to Nigeria’s poor image abroad as most of the documents go beyond the shores of Nigeria”, a statement made available to PUNCH Online stated.
In his vote of thanks, Lagos lawyer, Chijioke Emeka, SAN, who spoke on behalf of the new notaries, thanked the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and Alogba for the trust reposed in the new notaries and pledged to work with integrity.
He, however, called on Kekere-Ekun to initiate a reform in the process of application for appointment as a notary public in Nigeria and the practice generally.
The senior advocate disclosed that he applied for an appointment as a notary public before he applied for the rank of senior advocate of Nigeria.
However, according to him, while “It took about four years of wallowing in the dark for the appointment as a notary public to come”, it took his SAN application only a few months of openness and clarity with the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee to come well ahead.
He therefore called on the CJN to “Issue comprehensive guidelines that will govern the application for appointment as notary public in Nigeria. The guidelines will also closely govern the practice of notaries, the conduct of notaries public and disciplinary procedures for erring notaries.”
Emeka added that the “Expected reforms will take care of a situation where an applicant for the appointment is left in the dark for several years about the fate of his application, create public awareness for the practice of notaries and the need to report erring notaries for sanctions.”
(PUNCH)