FG BACKTRACKS, SAYS UK LAWYERS CAN’T PRACTISE IN NIGERIA

February 14, 2024

Read Time:52 Second

The Federal Government has retracted its earlier statement on the legal aspect of the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership signed with the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

This occurred in response to complaints from Nigerians against what they saw as the Memorandum of Understanding’s partiality toward the UK.

The Nigerian Minister for Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, in a thread on X, retracted her earlier statement, emphasising that there was no such legal agreement between Nigeria and the UK.

She said, “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 MpU.”

The minister reaffirmed that Nigeria and the UK do not have a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MOU), and that neither party has promised to permit the practice of law in Nigeria by UK-licensed attorneys.