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.
Jerrymusa.com reports that this occurred in response to complaints from Nigerians about what they saw as the Memorandum of Understanding’s partiality towards the UK.
UK and Nigeria Did Not Sign a Legal Agreement
In a thread on X, Nigeria’s Minister of Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, withdrew her previous assertion and emphasised that the UK and Nigeria did not have a legal arrangement of this kind.
“Nigeria and the United Kingdom signed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding for Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership earlier today,” she stated.
“Unfortunately, our previous post incorrectly said that Nigeria had signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing British lawyers to practice law in Nigeria.
“We would like to declare unequivocally that the MpU has no such clause or agreement.
“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-licenced solicitors.
“As of right now, the MoU unequivocally states that foreign-licenced attorneys, including those with licences from the UK, are not permitted to practice law in Nigeria.
“We acknowledge that cross-jurisdictional practice between Nigeria and the UK is still a topic of discussion among pertinent stakeholders within the Nigerian legal profession, and the MoU reflected this,” the speaker continued.
A tweet from Nigeria’s Minister of Trade and Investment and a statement from the UK’s Department of Business and Trade on Tuesday revealed that Nigeria was about to sign a contract to remove restrictions on UK lawyers practicing international law there.
The alleged agreement was denounced by the Nigerian Bar Association as well, which called the minister’s comments “ridiculous, unpatriotic, and uninformed.”