Court stops police lawyers not recognized as legal officers from prosecuting

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) has ordered police lawyers in the Nigeria Police Force who are not recognized as legal officers to stop handling criminal cases.

Judge Olufunke Anuwe made this ruling on Friday. She stated that police officers who are lawyers but not appointed or upgraded as legal officers are violating Rule 8(1) and (2) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023. According to her, they should not perform the duties of legal officers or prosecute criminal cases for the police.

The judge also directed the police force, the Police Service Commission (PSC), and the Inspector-General of Police to assign police officers who are qualified lawyers to every Police Division in Nigeria. This is to help enforce human rights in policing at those divisions.

She based her order on Section 66(3) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020. This section requires that every division must have at least one police officer qualified to practice law according to the Legal Practitioners Act.

She also pointed out that all police officers who are lawyers but not recognized as legal officers should stop acting like legal officers or doing their jobs.

The judge made this ruling in response to a case filed in September 2025 by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

The NBA sued the Police Service Commission, Nigeria Police Force, Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Legal at Force Headquarters, Abuja, the Director of Legal Services at Force Headquarters, Abuja, Ohiozoba Ehiede, and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

The NBA, represented by its lawyer Olukunle Edun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked for police officers trained in law to be promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Police. They also wanted legal officers and lawyers to be deployed in all police divisions.

The police force, the IGP, and the Commissioner of Police opposed the case. They argued that they could not promote or upgrade the affected officers because promotion is not automatic and depends on available vacancies.

The PSC added that police officers who became lawyers while in service were appointed as General Duty Officers, not legal officers. They claimed that some did not ask for permission to further their education, so they could not be promoted as they did not follow the proper process.

The PSC also said it had no information about the professional qualifications of the affected police officers.

After hearing all sides, the judge noted that the court could not promote the officers or order the PSC to do so if they did not follow the right procedure for promotion in public service.

Still, the judge prohibited all police officers who have not been upgraded to legal officers from performing the duties of legal officers in the force.

Reason for the Rules

Past cases have shown why the rules generally stop salaried lawyers from representing their organizations in court.

These rules are meant to ensure that lawyers maintain professional independence. This allows them to give unbiased advice without the stress of being internal employees.

The rules also prevent in-house corporate lawyers from acting like external solicitors. If this happens, independent law firms might lose legal work. There is an exception to Rule 8(1) for lawyers who work only as legal officers in a government department, allowing them to take cases in court for their employers.