I saw your publication on me (vol 12 no6 of 5th of March 2012) and I wondered why you went to press without hearing my own side of the story.
According to the story you published, they claimed that I have been removed from the Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers. Let me tell you, I have not been removed. I am in Court against them, the Body of Benchers and I have obtained an Order of Injunction restraining them from interfering with my membership of the Committee. I will give you a copy of the said Order of Court. What they have done (purporting to remove me from the Body of Benchers) is contemptuous of the Court and I have begun contempt proceedings against them.
This is not the first time they made attempt to remove me from the Committee. In June 2011 I received a letter from the Secretary of the Body of Benchers that I should no longer participate in the proceedings of the Disciplinary committee pending the determination of my suit- Pro. Adesanya V. Hon. Justice Umaru Eri & Ors.
I protested verbally at the sending of this letter to me and it was later withdrawn. But only very recently, by a letter dated 17th February 2012, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers who is also now the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Dahiru Musdapher wrote to me purporting to terminate my membership of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. But can that stand in view of the Order of Court?
I went to Court on a very simple reason- should Umaru Eri who is being mentioned freely as being involved and investigated over an alleged 6 billion naira fraud competent and fit to continue presiding over the Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers? That is the case that is still pending in Court.
As for Dele Oye, I don’t know the boy. I was here in my office in 2009 when two of his staff Elizabeth Ishola and Jane Orumen came in to brief me that I should come to their defence as the EFCC is after them for a crime they did not commit. They briefed me that the EFCC was alleging they were the Directors of particular companies who took loans from the Oceanic Bank.
According to them, they never were directors of those companies talk less of taking loans. That it was their boss, Dele Oye who used their names without their knowledge or permission as Directors of the said companies. At that point in time, Dele Oye had fled abroad. Here in this office on that day, Dele Oye called these people and instructed them to go to a particular place to collect money and flee the country.
I was shocked at this development and I spoke with Dele Oye. You know what he told me-: “Baba, I have immunity!” On the 14th August 2009 a Friday, Cecilia Ibru of Oceanic Bank was arrested and on 17th August 2009, a Monday, Dele Oye organized for the change of names of the names of these my clients as Directors of the Companies. The change and substitution was fraudulent. He just made up documents and signatures. For example my client Jane Orumen never wrote any letter of resigning any Directorship of Dilivent International Limited, because she was never a director in the first instance. That company and two others Prisky Gold Nigeria Limited and Flotsome Investment Limited by the advertisement of the C.B.N of debtors took unrepaid loans to the tune of #22 billion from Oceanic Bank.
I understand that at the recent NEC meeting of the NBA in Akure Ondo State, J.B Daudu, S.A.N, the NBA president was defending the retention of Dele Oye as NBA prosecutor before the Disciplinary Committee, saying that the boy is innocent under the law.
You see there is a Plea Bargain and Settlement Agreement between the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and Cecilia Ibru dated 15th September 2010 over the criminal charges brought by the EFCC against Cecilia Ibru of Oceanic Bank. That Plea Bargain signed by the A.G of the Federation on behalf of the Federal Government and Cecilia Ibru as the accused seriously implicated Dele Oye as a criminal.
Interestingly when I told Mohammed Adoke, the Attorney-General about the Plea Bargain, he denied at first, signing any such document. So I procured a Certified True Copy of it. If you look at page 71 of the P.B.A, Dele Oye is listed as No. 20 in the 44 member Ibru group and if you look at page 73 of the P.B.A, Dele Oye is No. 7 in the 21 member “IBRU RELATED PARTIES”. Now if you go to paragraph 2.1 of page 11 of the P.B.A, you will see where it is stated as follows:
UNDERTAKING OF PARTIES
Undertaking by Mrs. Ibru
Mrs. Ibru hereby agrees, covenants and undertakes as follows:- She acknowledges that various counts in FHC charges and High Court charges are not baseless or vexatious, but are based on the contraventions by Mrs. Ibru and the Ibru Group of various laws prevailing at the time the action were taken or the omissions were made
If you now go to paragraph 2.1.5 of page 12, you will read the following:
“she has the authority and consent of each members of the Ibru Group to negotiate and enter into this agreement as it pertains to their respective activities, actions and any of their Forfeiture Assets”;
Finally if you go to paragraph 10 of page 21 of the P.B.A, you will see the reason why Cecilia Ibru has powers to negotiate on behalf of members of the Ibru Group.
That paragraph read thus:
MISCELLANY
(Save as otherwise waived by the HAG in any respect, or in regard to any one of the Ibru Group), this agreement is entirely contingent and conditional upon:
the production by Mrs. Ibru of a power of Attorney from each member of the Ibru Group, authorizing Mrs. Ibru to enter into this agreement on each such member’s behalf and/or to undertake the obligations in this Agreement as it relates to the property or other pecuniary interest held in the name of such member and/or as it relates to the obligations of such member to Oceanic.
So from thus Plea Bargain, it is very incorrect to say that Dele Oye is innocent or is not a criminal. There are legal authorities to the effect that a person compromised in a Plea Bargain Agreement over a criminal charge is a criminal. But would you even know that there are serious question marks about the total integrity of the PBA in question?
Pages 75 – 82 of the P.B.A contains list of “Agreed Assets To Be Forfeited and pages 83 – 94 of the P.B.A states “shares in unlisted companies”.
In none of these pages will you find a mention of Flotsome Investment Limited. This is one of the three companies created by Dele Oye suing other people’s names without their consent, to take out 22 billion naira from the Oceanic Bank. Flotsome investment is responsible for 7 billion of the total 22 billion naira.
So what happened to Flotsome and the 7 billion naira it purportedly took as loan? Why was Flotsome omitted out of the assets to be forfeited to the Federal Government? I am bothered about the reputation and integrity of the Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers. The Chairman of that Committee is enmeshed in a 6 billion naira fraud scandal at the National Judicial Institute while the Chief Prosecutor is involve in money laundering charges and compromised in a Plea Bargain.
I believe any normal and well-meaning lawyer and Nigerian must be bothered. How can people like Eri and Dele Oye, with such serious financial scandal/issues hanging over them be involved in the discipline of other legal practitioners?
As for the Chief justice of Nigeria writing me that my appointment as a member of the Disciplinary Committee has been terminated, I can only say that I have the highest regard for the high office he occupies now. I have sent a letter to him, in response to his letter and I wait, for him to do the right thing.
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