Section 12: Penalties for professional misconduct

(1) Where –
(a) a member is adjudged by the Tribunal to be guilty of infamous conduct in any professional respect,
(b) a member is convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria or elsewhere for an offence, whether or not punishable with imprisonment, which in the opinion of the Tribunal is incompatible with the status of a member of the Institute, or
(c) the Tribunal is satisfied that the name of any person has been fraudulently registered,
the Tribunal may, if it deems fit, give a direction reprimanding that person or ordering the Registrar to strike his name off the relevant part of the Register.
(2) The Tribunal may, if it deems fit, defer or further defer its decision as to the giving of a direction under subsection (1) until its subsequent meeting but –
(a) a decision shall not be deferred under this subsection for periods exceeding two years in the aggregate; and
(b) no person shall be a member of the Tribunal for the purposes of reaching a decision which has been deferred or further deferred, unless he was present as a member of the Tribunal when the decision was deferred.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) (b), a person shall not be treated as convicted pending the final determination of an appeal against the conviction.
(4) Where the Tribunal gives a direction under subsection (1), it shall cause notice of the direction to be served on the person affected.
(5) The person affected may, at any time within 90 days of service on him of notice of direction, appeal to the Tribunal and the Tribunal may review its decision.
(6) A person whose name is removed from the register on the direction of the Tribunal under subsection (1) (c) shall not be entitled to be registered again except under a direction in that behalf given by the Tribunal on the application of that person to the Council, and a direction under this section for the removal of a person's name from the register may prohibit an application under this section by that person until the expiration of such period from the date of the direction, and where he has duly made such an application, on the date of his last application, as may be specified in the direction.