Squib Cover Story

FEDERAL HIGH COURT IKEJA: ROTTEN REGISTRY SPOILS FINE COURT

2011-11-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

In June 2009, the Federal High Court, Ikeja Division, Lagos State was created. It was a development much welcomed by legal practitioners and litigants alike in Lagos State, especially those residing in Mainland Lagos.

Before 2009, all matters for the Federal High Court in Lagos State were heard and determined at Ikoyi on the Lagos Island, a situation mainland lawyers and litigants found irksome.

The creation of the Ikeja Division was with the active support of the Lagos State government which provided the land for the court and actually funded the building. The court room and her appurtenances including the Judge’s Chambers and the administrative section is a bungalow; simple but elegant. The inside of the court house is particularly attractive, cool, neat and well lit, having an ambience that stimulates good delivery from lawyers.

Happily the master of the court, the presiding judge, Honourable Justice Stephen Jonah Adah is an asset on the Bench therein. Calm, meticulous and sound, many lawyers who have appeared before him hold him in high esteem.

However the paradise of the Federal High Court Ikeja has an incubus, residing there and her ointment is sullied by the revolting presence of a dead fly floating in it.

The great minus of the otherwise beautiful court is her registry and the Bailiff Section. Our investigations show that as things stand, it would be foolhardy for any lawyer seeking urgent reliefs for his client, to approach the FHC Ikeja for succor. This is because of a combination of a tardy, unreasonable, and inefficient registry and an extortionate, bribe-mad bailiff section that would ensure that adjudication of matters by the judge do not start quickly.

There have been many instances when getting processes filed in the registry become simply hellish. Lawyers or their litigation clerks have been known to visit the court’s registry many times just for their papers to be ‘initialed’ as they are told that the officers to do the initialing “is not on seat.” At times litigation clerks who come to file papers have been rebuffed and told to bring their principals to do the filing.

After scaling the big hurdle of filing processes at the Registry, the lawyer or clerk now faces the equally daunting trouble of dealing with the messengers of the court (bailiffs) who however love demanding and collecting ransome fit for kings in the name of effecting service of processes.

Worse, these shameless court officials demand gratification to do their official jobs as a matter of right, while the lawyers are reduced to begging or negotiating for a reduction in ‘bailiff tariff.’

Really incredible things happen at the FHC Ikeja. Sometimes filed processes either get “temporarily lost” sometimes for weeks or sometimes it takes the processes several days to travel from the Registry (less than twenty meters away) to the court, with the effect that hearing in cases are stalled as the necessary papers already filed by counsel days, even weeks before, are not found in case files in court.

In a chat with this reporter over all the misdeeds of the court officials, the most senior administrative staff, Mrs. N. Omotosho, the Deputy Chief Registrar, admitted to the reality of the very poor attitude of her subordinates whom she accused of being unrepentantly unprofessional in their attitude and who are money mongers.

She however promised that the situation would soon change as the presiding judge had determined to ensure the removal of any staff found guilty of misconduct.

NEW LEGAL YEAR "SHOW" IN LAGOS!

2011-11-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

LAWYERS KICK AGAINST STATE BARS CREATION BAR PROPOSAL

2011-11-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

BIG PAIN; IKORODU BAR CRIES OUT AGAINST JUDGE

2011-11-07T16:32:00.001-08:00

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT OF APPEAL - STILL AGAINST HIGH COST OF LITIGATION IN NIGERIA. WHO ARE THEJUDGES NOW WORKING FOR?

2011-06-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

By my letter of 15th January 2008, I protested against high cost of litigation in the Court of Appeal. This followed the prescription of increased filing fees and the more objectionable imposition of penalty for late filing of court processes under the new Court Rules.

Refer also to my other two letters respectively of 29th of June 2010 and 19th July 2010 by which I protested high filing fees in the Court as well as penalty for default of filing processes. In the former letter, the President, after a review of my protest agreed that collection of N5000.00 (Five Thousand Naira only) with respect to filing of Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court was illegal and directed that the collection be stopped forthwith. In its place, the President directed that the appropriate fee of N500.00 (Five Hundred Naira only) be collected henceforth.

In the latter of the two letters, which relates to my personal matter, I demanded for abrogation of penalty for late filing as well as a refund of the penalty I was made to pay in respect of the matter under reference. I concluded with threat of an action in court in the event of your failure to effect the refund and stop further collection of the penalty.

I was to learn soon after my letters that the rules were being reviewed. I was rather optimistic that my various protests might be considered in the review exercise and necessary changes reflected such that the practice of collecting penalty would be discontinued. I, therefore, held up my threatened action in court.

It will be recalled too that the letter of …………………..relating to Chief Thaddeus Inegbedion v NDIC, was a demand for a refund of N4,500.00 being excess payment for filing of Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court. The Registry of the Court had refused to agree accept our view that we were only liable to pay N500.00. It however, agreed to refund the excess when it was confronted with relevant instruments. Yet, to date, no refund has been made despite repeated demands since 2008.

I have had the opportunity of looking at the new rules since they came into force in April 2011 and I regret to observe that the fees have not been changed. Rather, they remain at the commercial rate before the amendment.

I also observe with great trepidation that the penalty imposed without due authorization under the old rules have also been retained. I am therefore, impelled to continue with my protest against a commercial rate of fees as well as imposition of penalty for late filing not only in the Court of Appeal but in our courts generally under the rules of court.

Let me once more state the crux of my objection. Justice is a social service by the State to the citizenry. It is not yet known to be the intention of the State to treat it otherwise and begin to sell it to seekers of it as a commercial commodity. Even if the State had formed that intention, let it first be expressed in an Act of the National Assembly as a national policy for the Courts to enforce.

From my little knowledge of the law and practice of constitutionalism, and from case law, no member of the executive or of the judicial department can, in the exercise of his ministerial powers, lawfully impose a financial burden on the citizen of this country. And since the prescription of fees as well as the imposition of a penalty is a financial burden, it should be left for the representatives of the people in Parliament, (here in Nigeria, the National Assembly) to do. It amounts to a usurpation of the legislative function of the State for the Judge to enact a rule to extract money from the citizen.

I still stand convinced that under our system, it is out of order for the Chief Justice of Nigeria, The President of the Court of Appeal or the Chief Judge of the High Court of the State, s the case may be to make a rule in the exercise of his ministerial powers, for purpose of raising revenue for himself or for the State.

I stand convinced, if the large body of our case law is still anything to go by that unless the Constitution has directly authorised him to do so or indirectly, by permitting the National Assembly to enact a law authorising him to do so, none of these principal judicial officers of the State can lawfully enact any such provision.

And also going by the case law, since the constitutionality or legality of the action is being raised, the law requires that it is desirable to exercise caution in enforcing it. That the Court has chosen to ignore this position of the law since January 2008 and continue to enforce the provisions thereby collecting money that may ultimately turn out not to have been appropriated to it, or the State, it might be necessary to submit the matter to the Court officially for judicial review.

In considering this, I stand convinced, until I am proved otherwise, that the revenue realisable by the Court from fees and penalty is not money appropriated by an Act of the National Assembly to the Court. And if it is ultimately so adjudged, the collection of the fees and penalty will fall into the realm of ‘corrupt practices and abuse of power’ within Section 15(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which “The State shall abolish”.

Since 2007 when the new regime of fees and objectionable penalty came into operation under the now defunct rules, I have had cause to discuss with several of my colleagues whose only courage lies in grumbling and gossiping but have failed to talk out. The various words they use to describe the new innovation are not what should be allowed to go into the print. But just a few that can be accommodated have it thus:- “These people” (i.e. the Justices of the Court of Appeal) “are not ready to work. They are after money” (or revenue) for the Court” or “They want money for welfare” or “If you want to get the silk, you have to be careful, these are the people who will comment on you” ……etc…..

It is sufficient to say from the comments that the Bar has been cowed down. And this is not good for both the law and the society. An unguarded Bench with a docile Bar will certainly impact negatively on law and society because the former does as it likes thereby unwittingly perpetrating the culture of impunity that Oguntade, JSC (Rtd) spoke against with passion in his various valedictory/thanksgiving lectures sometime ago.

With the benefit of watching the process of enforcement of the rules during proceedings in court, I can safely say without equivocation that the main concern now seems to be revenue generation. So, I hear, from the temple of justice (?), “Have you paid the penalty?”. I hear “How much did you pay?”. And I see the President of the intermediate appellate court of my otherwise great country picking up a receipt of payment from counsel, and with a calculator, calculating the sum due as penalty to confirm what counsel paid. And my spirit revolts within me. I witness this with utter disgust.

Until now, I had always said that money and justice cannot work together. One will pollute the other. It gives me great anxiety that I am witnessing it at my time. God who made the Judge only commanded him to “Hear the causes…” not count or calculate money; in open Court (?).

In a recent encounter at the High Court of Lagos State where collection of penalty has also become the driving force in the administration of justice, Jose, J. refused an application for waiver of penalty as well as extension of time to file a final written address out of time on account of the non payment of the penalty. Most interestingly, the learned trial Judge acknowledged that the motion, both for waiver and for extension, was not opposed by all the other counsel including Assistant Chief Legal Counsel from the Ministry of Justice of the Lagos State. According to her, “…although the motion is not opposed,…there is no provision under the rules for waiver”.

I recall that late Chief Fola Akinrinsola died in a motor accident a few meters to the Court in Ikeja. I have seen a lawyer collapsing at Court premises; some rushed out of Court to the hospital where he spends about two weeks. Obviously, it will take the litigant an extension of time to get himself properly back before the Court. But from the situation today, such litigant can not be heard on why he defaulted. He must pay that penalty to get justice because “There is no provision for waiver under the rules”. Sir, this is totally unacceptable. And I will keep saying it until the position is either reviewed by you or the Government of Nigeria tells us that justice is no more a social service but is now up for sale.

There are many other reasons why a party or counsel may not be able to file processes within the time allowed by the rules or ordered by the court. Such reasons are no less human than the reasons that may prevent a court or Judge from sitting occasionally or delivering judgment within three months (3) after address or still from releasing copies of judgments to parties within seven (7) days.

As stated above, even under the British system of Sovereignty of Parliament as against Nigeria’s Supremacy of Constitution, the authorities show that only Parliament can legislate to place a financial burden on the subject or sanction what is viewed as a contravention. It is an aberration that under our more superior system, a member of the third arm of government will in the exercise of a ministerial power unilaterally legislate an imposition of a financial burden on the citizen seeking justice in our courts. It will be a test of our practice of constitutionalism.

We can not all lower the standard. I expect that a judge who declines waiver because “no provision for it under the rules” should equally quip whether there is a provision under the Constitution or any law made pursuant to it enabling the President of the Court of Appeal or the Chief Judge of a State to impose and collect a penalty, and yet deprive a citizen of this Country his fundamental right to a fair hearing for failure or inability to pay such illegal penalty.

I see a serious contradiction under our system where a judiciary that has been known to rule out statutory provisions as well as executive actions which encroach on fundamental right of the citizen to a fair hearing can make a subsidiary legislation by way of rules of practice and procedure in our courts, even without an enabling provision, to take away the right to a fair hearing. I weep for my country, I weep for myself. And I weep for generations coming behind.

Perhaps, I should like to remind us that Nigeria is a republic which set out for a land “where no man is oppressed”. It is dangerous for any society to allow its judiciary to turn itself to an instrument of arbitrariness and oppression. It is also dangerous to allow the judiciary to evolve a policy that will invariably promote corruption to some level that might not have been contemplated. Experience has shown since the new rules in 2007 that the scope of corrupt practices have widened and level increased. It will be share hypocrisy for any member of the Bench and the Bar to pretend not to know this.

In the light of the foregoing, I still request by this letter that you review the rules by removing the provisions relating to fees and penalty which are fast becoming a hindrance to access to court and justice.

TAKE NOTICE that if after this letter, the rules are not changed I shall take out a process in a court of law for appropriate remedy including an order for account for all money collected so far since 2007 when the new regime of fees came into force.

In taking this course, I have not failed to consider the odds that I might be confronted with generally. But I look at an example from what a woman did in the Holy Bible when she rose to a challenge before her people “…and so will I go in unto the King, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish”, See Esther 4:16.

Yours faithfully,

Johnson O. Esezoobo.

08033200595

CHIEF G.O.K AJAYI: THE CELEBRATION OF AN ICON AT 80

2011-06-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

May 29 of every year is always special for Chief Godwin Olusegun Kolawole Ajayi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (1978 set). The reason is not farfetched; that is the day of his birth.

Most times, the legendary lawyer, famous for his forthrightness, principled stand on issues, consistency, courage, sharp intellect, mesmerizing advocacy and progressive politics marks his birthdays quietly, celebrating with only his family and a few other intimates. However the 2011 edition was not to go the quiet lane; largely due to the insistence of his wife, children, friends and admirers.

Called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in 1955 when he was only 24 years old and to the Nigerian Bar two years later, Ajayi, more popularly known by his initials “G.O.K.” has had a tremendously successful legal practice over the decades and is one of the very few practitioners whose pre-eminence in the profession has moved them beyond the portals of mere respectability to the shores of awe- inducing reverence.

In 1978, twenty-one years after he was called to the Nigerian Bar, G.O.K was made a silk, bagging the award of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in company of twelve other legal practitioners to wit:- Obafemi Awolowo, Remi Femi-Kayode, T.A. Bankole-Oki, E.A. Molajo, Kehinde Sofola, Richard Akinjide, Olisa Chukwura, Nwakama Okoro, Mudiaga Odje, P.O.Balonwu, B.O. Nwabueze and Augustine Nnamani.

Of this set, only Richard Akinjide, B.O Nwabueze and G.O.K. himself are alive today. Six years after his call to the Nigerian Bar, G.O.K. became a part time lecturer at the Nigerian Law School, till 1971. In the course of those seven years (1963 – 1971), well known jurists and lawyers today like former Chief Justices of Nigeria, Muhammed Uwais, Alfa Belgore, Idris Legbo Kutigi and Honourable Justice Umaru Abdullahi sat at his feet as students. From around the middle of the 1960s, G.O.K. Ajayi started earning fame as a legal luminary and his reputation waxed stronger down the four successive decades.

So brilliant and trusted as a progressive and competent lawyer was he that he was the foremost legal warrior in the Second Republic for the Unity Party of Nigeria led by the immortal Obafemi Awolowo. He was the lead counsel in the famous 12 2/3 case Awolowo vs Shagari (presidential election dispute) in 1979 and was lead counsel in the equally famous 1983 political cases like Adekunle Ajasin v Omoboriowo (Ondo State Gubernatorial Election Dispute), Bola Ige v Victor Olunloyo (Oyo State Gubernatorial Election Dispute).

Earlier in 1981, he had successfully handled the landmark case of AbduRahman Shugaba v Minister of Internal Affairs. This was a curious case in which Shugaba the minority leader in the Borno State House of Assembly was suddenly arrested and deported to Chad by the National Party Nigeria controlled Federal Government on the grounds that the politician was never a Nigerian citizen.

Aside from Chief G.O.K himself, Nigeria has been blessed with many other extra-ordinary legal practitioners, with late Chief F.R.A. Williams S.A.N. and late Chief Gani Fawehinmi S.A.N.,the irrepressible human rights activist being perhaps the best known.

Yet these two lawyers deeply respected G.O.K’s abilities. Senior lawyers still recount with awe the many battle royales especially between the 70s and the 90s between Williams, better known as F.R.A. and G.O.K, for their respective clients. The formidable F.R.A., the quintessential legal mind also known as “Timi the Law” was said to always find G.O.K, though his junior at the Bar by at least 14 years, a formidable, unsparing and deep cutting opponent.

As for Chief Gani Fawehinmi S.A.N., famous for his “battering ram” advocacy style and always in trouble with the military authorities, G.O.K was easily the preferred counsel to defend him in peak trouble in 1989. Thus G.O.K. was there for him in 1989 before the Transition to Civil Rule and Miscellaneous Tribunal headed by the late justice Anyagbunam.

G.O.K. led dozens of other famous lawyers including Mr. Alao Aka-Bashorun, Chief F.O. Akinrele S.A.N, Dr. Olu Onagoruwa, Chief Mike Ozekhome and Mr. Femi Falana to defend Gani.

Another famous client of G.O.K was retired General Zamari Lekwot who with some other members of the Atyap community of Kaduna State was charged with murder before a Special Military Tribunal headed by one Justice Okadigbo over the Zango Kataf Disturbances in 1990. Against all odds, G.O.K’s fearless and brilliant advocacy led to the discharge and acquittal of the embattled General Zamani Lekwot and his kinsmen. Thereafter a grateful Atyap Community unanimously and joyously conferred the honourary title “ACHOK ATYAP” on G.O.K. ‘Achok Atyap’ means the “The Guardian of Atyap.”

In 1993, G.O.K. was on hand to lead a battery of seasoned lawyers to defend the business mogul turned politician, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola against the charge of Treason preferred against him by the General Sani Abacha regime for demanding the actualization of his mandate to rule Nigeria as president after winning the June 12 1993 Presidential election which was annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime.

To mark his 80th birthday, a Holy Communion Service of Praise and Thanksgiving was organized at the St. Peter’s Church (Faji) Ajele Street, Lagos. The service commenced at about 1.00p.m on 29th May 2011 with three principal officiating ministers in charge to wit:- Rt. Rev. E.A. Awosoga, the Bishop of Ijebu Ode, Rt. Rev. Ranti Odubogun the Bishop of Ife and the very Rev. (Dr.) P.R. Oludipe, the Provost of the Cathedral Church of Our Saviour, Halowojoda, Ijebu Ode.

The church was filled to the brim and over-flowed with worshippers. The most prominent was the foremost traditional ruler in the land of the Yoruba, South West, Nigeria, Oonirisa of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, Olubuse II. In the entourage of the monarch were his wife, about a dozen other Obas and Chiefs. Other dignitaries in the church included Mrs. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, Otunba Subomi Balogun, Mr. Tunji Kola Awodein S.A.N., Professor Elebute, Mr. Tunji Gomez, Mr. Yinka “Afro” Fayokun and other notables in the business world and the professions.

A longish affair, the church service ended at about 4.30p.m and the joy of the occasion was shared with Chief Ajayi by his immediate family, in-laws, kinsmen, grandchildren, associates, professional colleagues and numerous other well wishers.

A reception at the Lagos City Hall followed after the service. Again the venue was jam-packed by happy gaily dressed people. Proceedings did not start until about a quarter after the hour of five in the evening but nobody including the Ooni, appeared eager to leave.

Otunba Subomi Balogun was the Chairman of the occasion, while Chief Femi Adeniyi-Williams acted very competently as the unofficial Master of Ceremony. Professor Elebute, a childhood friend of G.O.K supervised the cutting of Chief Ajayi’s 80th Birthday Cake. All these elders and many more had very kind words for Chief Ajayi, attesting to his candour, integrity and humaneness.

The celebration of the 80th birthday of the legal luminary did not end on the 29th May. It continued the next day at the Lekki Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, courtesy of the G.O.K. Ajayi & Co. Alumni Association, headed by Mr. Tunji Ayanlaja S.A.N.

The Alumni organized a classy cocktail for their old principal. It was virtually a lawyers-only affair. This reporter saw at least one former World Court Judge, Judge Bola Ajibola, at the occasion. There was also at least one judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria present, Honourable Justice George Oguntade.

There were at least three judges of the Lagos State High Court present: Abiru J., Okunnu J., and Opesanwo J. As for Senior Advocates of Nigeria, they numbered about thirteen, including Supo Sasore, Professor Kasumu, Tokunbo Williams, Ebun Sofunde, Tayo Oyetibo and Layi Babatunde.

There were many other notable lawyers present such as Mrs. Ayo Obe, Mrs.

Titi Kareem, Mrs. Mary Bassey, Mr. Stephen Kola-Balogun, Mr. Chijioke Okoli, Chairman NBA Lagos branch and Mr. Dave Ajetomobi, former Chairman, NBA Ikeja branch.

The masterful Master of Ceremony was an elated and nattily dressed Mr. Tunji Ayanlaja, assisted by Mrs. Ayo Obe. Predictably, choice wines and other drinks flowed and tasty ‘small chops’ were also in abundance. Taking of photographs was also a constant.

Seated with his wife Mrs. Margaret Ajayi and Judge Bola Ajibola in a corner of the room, Chief Ajayi quietly soaked in the atmosphere, listening with a rather studied detachment to the rain of accolades that speaker after speaker were pouring on him with regard to his humanity, strict professional discipline, dedication to duty, industry, knowledge, courage and sartorial elegance.

One scene that those present would not quickly forget was when Adesina Ogunlana, unabashedly gave Chief Ajayi a full length public prostration after rounding up his speech and subsequently dissolved into tears. Earlier on in his speech he had spoken glowingly of Chief Ajayi’s solid support for him in terms of financial, moral and free quality defence of him before the Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers between 2003 and 2009 for his activities as the Editor of this magazine.

Many at the occasion wondered at the rather curious sight of a supposed “man of war” weeping like a baby! And in public too! After all the speeches, Chief was called upon to give his response. Once on his feet to make his speech, any seeming appearance of frailty left him.

In his charming, quietly penetrating voice, the veteran practitioner thanked the organizers of the event, shared some insights and ended with a declaration that he, despite his advanced years, was not yet ready to hang up his wig and gown. This attracted an ovation.

After an alumni gave the vote of thanks, Mr. Ayanlaja drew the curtains on the event saying, “We hope to see you around when we celebrate Chief G.O.K. Ajayi’s 90th birthday.”

People who wanted to leave at that point left and those who wanted to stay back to enjoy the unending flow of wine and soft music, satisfied themselves.

DISMISSED MAGISTRATE TO FACE PROSECUTION SOON?

2011-05-26T09:31:00.001-07:00

Mr. Wilberforce Meigbope, formerly Senior Magistrate with the Lagos State Judiciary is today a sad, broken man.
A few weeks ago, the man would have been described as an imperial magistrate, who was all-in-all in his rather humble post at the magistrate court in Isolo, Lagos.
The judicial emperor’s reign however came to a sudden and rude end on Thursday 28th April 2011 when a small delegation led by Mr. T.A Elias Deputy Chief Registrar (Admin) paid his highness a visit.
According to geckos, Emperor Meigbope was already holding court when the Elias team arrived.
He quickly rose to receive the team in his office. The leader of the team gently handed over a letter to Meigbope. Some of our invisible geckos resident in every magistrate and judge’s chambers, almost fell off their perch when the “bomb” hit Meigbope.
According to the geckos, Meigbope exclaimed and shouted when his eyes confronted the contents of the letter. He raised his hands up in shock and fell off his chair, much to the bewilderment of his visitor, who encouraged him to take his fate like a man. Geckos saw the emperor breaking out in hot sweat, hold his head in his hands and valiantly struggle to keep back tears from badly reddened eyes.
Thereafter Mr. Elias took his leave but not before instructing the registrar of the court to adjourn all pending matters.
The news of the dismissal of the “Alaseju” magistrate soon floated out. Some stunned and bemused lawyers in court now went in to pay the ex-magistrate condolence visits.
However going by the information reaching us from ever trusty geckos, the dismissal of Meigbope from office is not the end of the story. Plans are said to be afoot by the authorities to ensure his arrest and prosecution for alleged acts of demanding and receiving bribes when he was in office.
The action is said not to be targeted at Meigbope alone but his alleged co-extortioners and bribe takers in the court, to wit the court registrar, the prosecutor and some lawyers who acted as go betweens and bribe-brokers.
If the plan succeeds, observers say that it will deter other corrupt magistrates and their court staff from continuing in the despicable act of bribe taking.

LAGOS SACKS NOTORIOUS MAGISTRATE

2011-05-26T09:30:00.001-07:00

Thursday, the 28th April 2011 is a day, Mr. Wilberforce Meigbope, formerly of the magistrate court 3 Isolo will never forget in his life.
It was a day that he was forced out of his exalted office of magistrate and booted out of the employ of the Lagos State Judicial service.
His dismissal, critics say, so richly deserving, came late. According to our sources, the fallen magistrate in the last five years had no less than forty-eight petitions against him before his employer.
Well known, feared and held in contempt by many lawyers who had practiced before him, Meigbope became a law unto himself. Brash, rude, queer, ignorant, pompous and out rightly abusive to lawyers and litigants in court, he over-stepped his bounds about two years ago, when he rushed out of his court room at the Botanical Gardens Magistrate Court, Ebute Metta to confront some policemen who were taking away a suspect. That move proved costly for Meigbope as the policemen descended on him, beating him to near stupor.
From Ebute-Metta, Senior Magistrate W.A.O Meigbope was transferred to Isolo, with his reputation for being very corrupt intact. He was known as a magistrate who collected bribes for granting and approving bail to accused persons brought before him.
Our investigations reveal that one usual method of ensuring that accused persons or their relatives pay bribes was for Meigbope to hand down stiff or impossible conditions upon the granting of bail.
If for example a man is accused of stealing money or chattels of a plastic company, Meigbope would demand that one of the sureties of the accused must be a manger in the very company or a senior staff of another plastic company! Please see the case of MM/C/67/10 COP vs HILARY OKEY & 9 ORS OF 27/10/2010 (date of arraignment) in the Meigbope court.
And if a person is charged with visa fraud or forgery, Meigbope would demand that one of the accused person’s sureties must be a “commander in the immigration service”! (Please see the case of MM/C/32/2011 COP vs OBINNA OKOR (M) OF 12/4/2011 (date of arraignment). Of course faced with the terrible bail conditions, the affected persons and their relatives often played ball. As soon as the bribes demanded for and negotitated upon via middle men were paid, the bails met Meigbope’s approval.
By the time, the very last petition (of Prince Tunji Adejare a legal practitioner, wrongly and heedlessly labeled and arrested at the Magistrate court Isolo by the police upon the orders of Meigbope as a quack lawyer) reached the authorities, Meigbope’s days in the Judiciary became numbered.
In reaction to the strongly worded petition (please see cover Story Exhibit), the Lagos State Judicial Service Commission summoned Meigbope to appear before a Disciplinary Panel.
The petitioner also gave his testimony before the panel likewise Adesina Ogunlana, in his capacity as General Secretary NBA Ikeja branch. Two members of the Public Training and Complaints Committee of the Lagos State Judiciary told the Squib that in the last six years, petitions against Meigbope were always coming up at every sitting of the PCTC.
As the news of the sack of the notorious magistrate spread, the reaction of people was “good riddance to bad rubbish.”

CJN VS PCA TUSSLE TURNS SPIRITUAL...COURT OF APPEAL ORGANISES PRAYER FOR PRESIDENT

2011-05-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

DISBARRED: THE END OF THE ROAD FOR JIDE ALADEJOBI?

2011-05-26T09:27:00.001-07:00

DISBARRED: THE END OF THE ROAD FOR JIDE ALADEJOBI?

IN THE LEGAL PRACTITIONERS DISCIPLINARYCOMMITTEE OF THE

BODY OF BENCHERS

ON TUESDAY THE 22^ND DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2011.

COMPLAINT NO: BB/LPDC/057

BEFORE:

1. HON. JUSTICE UMARU ERI OFR CHAIRMAN

2. HON. JUSTICE Z.A. BULKACHUWA OFR MEMBER

3. HON. JUSTICE ABDU ABOKI JCA MEMBER

4. HON. JUSTICE A.S. DAHIRU CJ, SOKOTO MEMBER

5. HON. JUSTICE KULU ALIYU, CJ, ZAMFARA MEMBER

6. CHIEF A.S. AWOMOLO, SAN MEMBER

7. CHIEF N. NWANODI, SAN MEMBER

8. CHIEF R.A. LAWAL RABANA SAN MEMBER

9. CHIEF M.O.O. NWAMU MEMBER

10. NIYI OWOLADE ESQ. AG OSUN MEMBER

11. CHIVE I. KAAVE AG BENUE MEMBER

12. EDWARD G. PWAJOK AG PLATEAU MEMBER

BETWEEN:

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION- COMPLAINANT

JIDE ALADEJOBI- RESPONDENT

DIRECTION:

On the 23^rd April 2008, this committee delivered its direction concerning the respondent. On 5^th June 2008, the respondent caused the said directions to be set aside on the grounds that he was not given every opportunity to defend himself as preserved in section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.`

Rehearing of the complaint against the respondent began on 26^th July 2010. The complaint read to the respondent reads as follows:

"Jide Aladejobi as Counsel to Alhaji Salin Gbolagade, on or about the Year 2001, conspired with the said Alhaji Salin Gbolagade to draft and execute a 10 Year Lease Agreement purportedly 'On behalf of Mrs. Victoria Akniyele Aliu (the Petitioner) in respect of the Petitioner's Property situate at No 52 Western Avenue. Surulere, Lagos with the intent to interfere with the Petitioner's ownership rights over the Property, all contrary to Rules 24, 28 and 49(a) & (b) of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the Legal Profession and Section J2 of the Legal Practitioners Act 1990as amended."

The respondent denied any liability.

The lead senior counsel for the complainant Sunday Ameh Esq indicated that he had two witnesses and was ready to proceed with the hearing of the matter.

The first witness gave his evidence as follows:-

"My name is Abubakar Ibrahirn Maude. I am the Secretary of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers. I live at No. 36 T.O.S- Benson Crescent Utako District Abuja. As the Secretary I receive Petition from the NBA wherein a prima facie case of Professional Misconduct has been shown against a Legal Practitioner. In respect of the Respondent I received a Petition against the Respondent dated 16^th March, 2005 1 will be able to identify it because it has been in my custody. This is the complaint of 46 pages which I received from the NBA.

I seek to tender the complaint in evidence."

Agabi SAN: No objection.

Committee: Admitted in evidence as exhibit Al- A46.

PW 1: Exhibit A8 is a letter from Mike Omonnan & Co dated 1^st December, 2003 titled forging of lease agreement by Mr. Jide Aladejobi- On receipt of exhibit A1-A46, I made copies for the Chairman and Members of this Committee. I also served

copy on the Respondent. Exhibit A2 is a letter dated is" June, 2.004 addressed to the Respondent titled Complaint of Professional Misconduct. The letter is Signed by Dele Adeshina General Secretary of the NBA.

Cross examination-Agabi SAN: None.

PW2: My name is Mike Omonnan. I live in Lagos. I practice at No. 11 Olowo Street Ikeja. I am a Legal Practitioner. I know Dr. Mrs. Victoria Akinyele Aliu. Mrs. Victoria Aliu contacted me sometimes in 2003 to write a Petition against the Respondent. Mrs. Victoria Aliu is about 86 years old and when she realized she could not come to give evidences she gave me Power of Attorney to come on her behalf, I can identify the Power of Attorney this is the Power of Attorney.

Ameh SAN: I seek to tender the Power of Attorney in evidence.

Agabi SAN: No objection.

COMMITTEE: Admitted as exhibit B.

PW1: I can identify the Petition because it has my signature and is dated 1st December, 2003. I see exhibit A8-A46: Exhibit A8 - All read. Annexure 1 is exhibit A 12 annexure 2 is exhibit A 14, annexure 3 is exhibit A 14, annexure 4 is exhibit A23, annexure 5 is exhibit A24, annexure 6 is exhibit A29, annexure 7 is exhibit A31, annexure 8 is exhibit A37, annexure 9 is exhibit A44. When the matter came up before the direction that was set aside was given, the Respondent approached the Petitioner and apologized. He wrote a letter to that effect. The Petitioner directed me to write an application for withdrawal of the matter but our application was refused.

Cross examination-Agabi SAN: All I did was to write the Petition that I tendered. All I wrote was that I was consulted and I wrote what I was told by my client.

Re-Exam-Ameh SAN: Nil.

The respondent gave evidence and he was cross examined as follows:-

RW1: My name is Babajide Aladejobi. I live at No 18 kogberegbe Street, Isolo, Lagos. I am a Legal Practitioner. I have been a Legal Practitioner since 22/10/1987. I know the Complainant. I know the Petitioner to the Complainant I got to know him when he Petitioned against me. He is PW2. He wrote the Petition on behalf of one Victoria Akinyele. Victoria Akinyele is not before this Committee. She has never been before this Committee. I was reported by Victoria Akinyele to the police. The report against me to the Police was that of Conspiracy to forge a lease: Following the Complainant the Police insisted that. I drop the representation. The Police Police insisted that I drop the representation. The Police charged me to Court for Conspiracy and forgery of the lease. It is the same charge as the one I am standing trial. The charge went on trial before the Hon Justice O. GbajaBiamila of the Lagos High Court. The trial has been concluded. The Court discharged and acquitted me. I have a certified copy of the Judgment.

We seek to tender it in evidence.

Ameh SAN: No objection.

Committee: Admitted and marked as Exhibit Rl.

RW1: The Complaint against me was that I conspired with Alhaji Gbolagade to forge the Lease. I know Alh. Gbolagade. He was my Client. I did not conspire with Alh. Gbolagade to forge the Lease. I have never been charged with any Professional Misconduct before now. I have been in practice since Oct. 1987 I did not drive any profit from what was alleged to have been done.

Cross examination Ameh SAN-: I was before the Committee when PW1 and PW2 testified PW1 tendered many documents which were admitted as exhibits. I see exhibit A 12-A 18. I have seen the exhibit before now. I see exhibit Rl, last paragraph of exhibit Rl read.

Learned counsel for the respondent Kanu Agabi SAN filed his written address on 20th July 2010 but the learned counsel for the complainant did not file any address.

The facts of the complaint against the respondent as laid before the committee are as follows:-

The petitioner, Mrs. Victoria Akinyele Aliu, an 86 year old lady is the owner of property situate and lying at No 52, Western Avenue, Surulere, Lagos, Lagos State. Between 1996 and 1997, a part of the said property w-as let to one Alhaji Saliu Gbolagade for a sum of600.000.00 per annum by her niece while she was in America. Later on her return on 14th December 1997, the petitioner entered an agreement with the said Alhaji Gbolagade appointing the latter as caretaker of the property7 to collect rents and eject tenants currently owing arrears of rents.

The agreement also let to Alhaji Gbolagade the first floor of the building consisting of seven rooms for office A13-14. Alhaji Gbolagade engaged the services of the respondent for the purpose of filing court processes at the rent tribunal to eject the debtor tenants. The tenants were ejected. Alhaji Gbolagade remained a tenant in the said property.

Sometime in May 2002, the petitioner was informed that the tenant/caretaker Alhaji Gbolagade was making arrangement to sell the property to some Lebanese. She called the firm of Abimbola Isikalu & co, Legal Practitioners, to write and warn Alhaji Gbolagade from selling her property.

The respondent by a letter dated 8^th May 2002 in response wrote to Abimbola Isikalu & co wherein he said:

“Yours dated 3rd May 2002 and titled as same addressed to our client has been referred to us for necessary action. Permit us to say with respect that your client did not reveal facts very material to the transaction between herself and our client to you.

The brief gist of the matter is that our chambers undertook a couple of years back the recovery of the premises in question from tenants and in consideration of the renovation/repairs carried out by our client, a ten year lease (copy enclosed) was executed in his favour with the expiration being 28th February 2011.

We are therefore to assume that our client has no intention whatsoever of alienating your clients as to do this would be illegal."

The petitioner knew and saw the attached lease agreement for the first time. The agreement dated 1^st day of March 2001 shows the owner as Mrs. V.A Aliu of 20 Adeniyi Jones Ikeja, Lagos, the home address of the petitioner: She was described as the owner and Alhaji Saliu Gbolagade as the developer. The agreement demised the property for a term of 10 years beginning from 1st day March 2001 and terminating un 28th February 2011. The respondent was me maker of the said leasehold between the petitioner and Alhaji Gbolagade. He received his instructions from his client Alhaji Gbolagade only.

The matter was reported to the police and the petitioner denied entering into the said agreement with Alhaji Gbolagade. She denied the signature on the agreement, all these to the knowledge of the respondent. Indeed, the police arrested the respondent, conducted signature analysis by forensic science laboratory of the Nigerian police and found that the signature on the leasehold agreement prepared by the respondent, allegedly that of the petitioner was not that of the petitioner.

The respondent as counsel to Alhaji Gbolagade instituted a civil suit at the Lagos High Court in suit No ID/ 1603/2002 between Alhaji Saliu Abolade Gbolagade and Mrs Victoria Adun Akinycle (aka Mrs. Adun Aliu). In the affidavit in support of a motion for Interlocutory injunction dated 25^th September 2002, one Mrs. Layamadi deposed 10 facts as follows:

4. That the plaintiff proceeded to give effect to the defendants instruction and instituted several court actions at the Surulere bank Tribunal for recovery of possession of the premises whereas the defendant in fact appeared in some of the actions as witness on the invitation of the plaintiffs solicitors.

5. that the upon due conclusion of the assignment the defendant in consideration of the sum shall be expected by the plaintiff to carry out substantial renovation on the premises granted to the plaintiff a ten year lease in ond over the said premises on 1st day of March 2001. Now shown to me and marked EXHIBIT is a copy of the lease."

In the respondent's statement to the police dated 08/01/03.agreed that he prepared the agreement in original and counterpart. That the petitioner signed the agreement as she had many signatures as the same signature had been used on other documents. The respondent admits that he caused her former office clerk to witness the signature of the petitioner. He was unable to submit to the police the said clerk.

The respondent admitted that he instructed, his wife, who is a lawyer in chambers, to sign the document as the maker. Her name is M.T. Aladejobi (Mrs.) Alhaji Gbola.gade in his statement to the police dated 06/01/03 wrote "The purported agreement was made by my lawyer Banister Jide Aladejobi" From the common evidence before the committee, the respondent and his client were charged to Magistrate court of Lagos state on 9 counts charge ranging from forgery, stealing, conspiracy, fraudulently forging a lease agreement, attempted murder, forgery of receipts, willful and unlawful damages to properties etc.

Before this committee, the respondent admitted the report of the criminal allegations to the police. That he was charged to court and tried by Hon. Justice Gbajabamila of Lagos High court. He was discharged and acquitted. He tendered the CTC of the judgment.

He denied being the Legal Practitioner to Mrs. Victoria Adun Aliu, the petitioner.

The respondents address is anchored on three main issues;

1. That he, having been tried discharged and acquitted, he cannot be charged and tried by this committee for the same offence. He relied on the principle of double jeopardy in criminal proceedings and section 36 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and the decision of the Supreme Court in N1GRE1AN ARMY v. MAUDE AM1NU KANO (2010) unreported. A copy of the judgment was not made available neither was the full case number and the date of the decision disclosed.

2. That the offence charged was not proved at all or not proved beyond reasonable doubt as required by law. He laid emphasis on the two words "conspiracy" and "forgery”. He relied on the principle of hearsay to ask this committee to disregard the evidence of the second complainant's witness.

3. He finally addressed on the intendments of Rules 24 and 49 of the Rules of Professional Conduct in the legal Profession and stated that none of the rules is relevant and if relevant, none was proved against him.

The committee in consideration of this matter is of the opinion that this is a case where the various documentary evidence admitted in evidence speak on and for all matters in controversy. However, the parties are agreed on these important facts.

1. That the petitioner Mrs. Victoria Adun Akinyele Aliu was and is still the lawful owner of the property situate and lying at No 52 Western Avenue, Surulere Lagos.

2. That on or about the 14/01/1997, Mrs Aliu entered into an agreement with one AlhaJi Chief Saliu Abolade Gbolagade to act as caretaker of her property at No 52, Western Avenue, Surulere, Lagos.

3. That Alhaji Gbolagade employed the services of the respondent to repossess from tenants occupying the above properties vacancies through litigation instituted at Rent Tribunal in Lagos.

4. That the respondent as counsel for Alhaji Gbolagade was aware of the agreement between the petitioner and Alhaji Gbolagade.

5. That the respondent prepared a 10 year lease agreement between 'the petitioner and Alhaji Gbolagade on the said property situate at No 52 Western Avenue, Surulere Lagos.

6. The petitioner did not instruct the respondent neither did she append her signature to the said lease hold agreement in the office or presence of the respondent.

7. The respondent caused his law clerk to witness the purported signature of the petitioner who was claimed to have signed as lessor.

8. The respondent caused and authorized his wife, a legal practitioner in his chambers to sign the franking column on the said leasehold agreement as if she was the maker of the agreement.

9. That when the petitioner became aware of plans by Alhaji Gbolagade to sell the properties, she caused a law firm of lsekalu to write a warning letter to Alhaji Gbolagade.

10. The respondent acting as Legal Practitioner to Alhaji Gbolagade replied to state that a 10 year lease hold agreement was executed between the petitioner and his client Alhaji Gbolagade, he forwarded a copy of the lease agreement.

11. The petitioner disputed the leasehold agreement and reported the matter to the police.

12. The police investigated the matter and charged the respondent and Alhaji Gbolagade to Magistrate Court for various criminal offences.

13. While the matter was on, the respondent instituted a suit- on behalf of his client against the petitioner and sought to restrain the petitioner from disturbing his client from peaceful occupation and enjoyment of the premises.

14. The respondent was later arraigned before a Lagos High Court for various crimes relating to the leasehold agreement.

15. The respondent was later discharged and acquitted.

The first issue to be settled in this matter is the jurisdiction and competence of this committee to hear the complaint against the respondent. It has become trite that this committee is not and should not be equaled and regarded as one of the courts established under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. No it is not. It is not a Tribunal established under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. No it is not. It is indeed a fact finding committee established by the Legal Practitioners Act to inquire into and deal with all complaints or allegations of professional misconduct against any Legal Practitioner in the performance of his duties and responsibilities as a legal practitioner.

Rule 1 of the Legal Practitioners Act 2007 gives the general guide line to the duties of the committee- It says:

"A lawyer shall uphold and observe the rule of law, promote and foster the cause of justice, maintain a high standard of professional conduct and. shall not engage in any conduct which is unbecoming of a legal practitioner. So where a legal practitioner acts contrary to any of the rules his conduct may be inquired into because such conduct is unprofessional or unbecoming of a legal practitioner”.

The committee has no competence or jurisdiction to try any criminal' offence; it is the function of Courts established under the law. The committee cannot therefore retry any matter or criminal allegation already decided upon by any court of law.

In the case of CHARLES OKIKE v. THE LEGAL PRACTITIONERS DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE (2005) NWLR 471, the Supreme Court at pages 518 and 520 laid to rest any misgivings as to the jurisdiction of this committee. The Court per Uwais C.J.N. said

"The legal Practitioners Disciplinary tribunal is not a tribunal but a fact finding and house cleaning body to maintain, discipline and decorum in the legal profession. It is a committee to investigate and make recommendations. It is not a tribunal or court of law. It is a quasi- administrative body and because of the strategic importance of the legal profession to administration of justice, it must maintain the highest standard discipline."

The submission of the respondent that this committee has no power to try or retry' him on criminal allegations on which the High court of Lagos State had tried and acquitted him is correct. There is no charge before the committee. The committee in the circumstances discountenanced all the submissions on competence and jurisdiction to try crimes under the Criminal Code Act or the principle of double jeopardy in criminal proceedings and section 36 of the 1999 Constitution. Members of the committee are Legal Practitioners like the respondent.

The committee believes that the respondent acted as a Legal Practitioner in all the transactions in question. He as counsel is deemed to know the rights and limits of authority and obligations of his client Alhajl Gbolagade arising from the agreement of 14 /12/97. He did not at any time deny knowledge of the content of the agreement. He admitted the making of the leasehold agreement allegedly between the petitioner and Alhaji Gbolagade, his client, dated 12/02/2001. He at no time told the committee he ever took instruction from the owner of the property the petitioner. He never met the petitioner the owner of the property upon which he created encumbrances. He had no letter of authority instructing him as counsel to prepare the lease agreement.

The respondent never produced any written instruction from the petitioner. He followed only the instructions of his client. Even when the petitioner disowned the purported lease agreement, he maintained a strong resistance. When the matter was reported to the police, he asserted in his statement to the police that the petitioner signed the lease agreement. He did not for once think twice rather he continued to assert and defend the rights of his client. He caused a civil action to be filed against the petitioner- He made his law clerk swore to an affidavit in support of the motion for injunction against the petitioner, the owner of the property.

This committee is strongly of the view that in the absence of written instructions from the petitioner, or written agreement between Alhaji Gbolagade and the petitioner on the 10 year lease, the respondent ought to have personally investigated or queried his client's instruction. He had a duty to take instruction from the owner of the property to be demised. He failed to do this.

Before this committee, the respondent did not make any efforts to prove the truth of his instruction on the 10 year leasehold agreement he prepared. The signing of the agreement by the petitioner is very crucial on the evidence before us concerning the validity of the lease agreement.

The respondent did not produce Alhaji Gbolagade to appear before the committee. Indeed, the presence of Alhaji Gbolagade would have proved whether or not the lease was executed by the petitioner or not. The respondent had a duty as a legal practitioner to uphold the law, property guide his client and deal prudently with properties of persons, as improper advice or services is unethical and merit strong condemnation as unprofessional conduct.

The respondent had the primary duty to decipher where an instruction is founded upon deception, improper motive or fraud. In this case, the petitioner was not interviewed, she was not made, to write instructions, and the agreement was not executed in the presence of the respondent or any of his counsel. Rather, the agreement w-as allegedly signed by the petitioner and the respondent in the absence of the respondent and the respondent caused his clerk to sign as witness to the signature of the owner, while his wife, a Legal Practitioner was directed to sign the franking column. There is every reason to hold the respondent liable for improper conduct in the transaction. The committee expects the respondent to know his obligations in conveyancing matters. Particularly, when he was purportedly acting as counsel for both parties, one of whom is his close client.

The committee holds the view that the respondent took advantage of the old age of the petitioner to assist Alhaji Gbolagade in perpetrating conduct bordering on fraud on her because there was no instruction from the petitioner.

The committee believed that the respondent knew that Alhaji Gbolagade played fraud and deception on the petitioner and when he was discovered, he was, in our view, peeved by her audacity to report him to the police, here he resolved to swim through or sink with his client.

It is clearly, from the facts before us that the respondent exhibited indiscretion and an abuse of the privilege position of a Legal Practitioner. It is indeed oppressive on the petitioner that the respondent took out a summons and injunctive application to restrain her from disturbing or displacing Alhaji Gbolagade from the property.

It is clear to the committee that the respondent was deeply involved with his client to deny the petitioner the possession and the fruits of her property for l0 years and this is unfortunate.

The respondent has argued that the complainant has not proved the allegations beyond reasonable doubt. The submission is without substance. All the documents made available to the committee spoke with a loud voice the inequities and shameful conducts of the respondent. The documents alone without oral evidence have conclusively proved the full liability of the respondent.

How could the respondent prepare a lease agreement when the lessor never instructed him? Why would the respondent not request execution of the agreement in his office to be witnessed by him and any of his legal practitioners including his wife? Why did the respondent ask his clerk to witness the petitioner's signature when it was false, untrue and unprofessional? Why did the respondent not at the time the matter became an issue under the police investigation not properly advice his client? Why did he pursue the innocent petitioner with a civil suit knowing the full implication?

Every legal practitioner has the duty to put right all matters which appear deceptive, fraudulent and unconscionable. The committee considers this matter as the height of irresponsibility, show of insensitivity, brute unconscionable conduct and a grave odium on the dignity honor and integrity of the legal profession.

Hon. Justice Chukwudifu Oputa CON, Justice of the Supreme Court, in the case of ATANO V. A.G. BENDEL STATE (1988) 1 NWLR (pt 71) 454 at 480, lamented the moral decay in our society. He said painfully...

That a Bank Manager, appointed to manage and entrusted with the Banks money, should steal the very money entrusted to him shows how deep the 'get rich quick' virus has eaten into our societal fabric. That an Accountant, appointed and paid to keep the books of his Bank, will bum those books to destroy all evidence of his theft looks grossly Machiavellian. And yet this is what one sees every day. It is the re-occurring decimal of theft followed by arson. This raises a social question-are we not now paying very dearly for the wrong emphasis we have placed on the mere acquisition of wealth not minding how it is acquired? After all, the view of criminology is that the society prepares the crime and the criminal merely commits it. Do we not need urgently a re-orientation and a irons valuation of our value system, especially our views on money? That is the question for our society.

What gave Oputa pains and agonies of the heart has crept into the Legal Profession. We now live in times where Bank Managing Directors admit to stealing several billions of Naira. Poor depositors money; agreed to forfeit to the state properties scattered all over the world valued at several billions of Naira. Here is a country where minimum wage is on1y N6,500,00 per month and recently increased to N18, 000.00 and per capital, one of the West in the world. The Legal Profession should be the guardian of the nation's conscience. Legal Practitioners by their training and privileged position stand as vanguard against corruption, fraud, oppression and be the epitome of all that is virtuous, honourable and worthy of emulation. The respondent represents the class that is completely different from this. He does not deserve to be a Legal Practitioner and member of the most honourable, learned and respected practice of Law.

FINDINGS

The committee finds that the respondent willfully, recklessly and without due regards to the interest of the petitioner Mrs. Victoria Adun Akinyele Aliu prepared a 1 0 year lease without instruction, caused fake execution of the lease and acted in oppressive manner on the petitioner.

The committee finds the conduct of the respondent in the whole complaint as an infamous conduct in a professional respect proved.

The committee appreciates the maturity, industry and co-operation of Kanu Agabi S.A.N. and Sunday Ameh Esq. S.A.N who are honourable members of the Legal Profession. They conducted this proceeding diligently and acted manners worthy of emulation.

DIRECTION

1. The committee hereby directs that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court strike off the name of the respondent from the rolls.

2. That the direction be brought to the notice of all Chief Judges of the Federation, the Federal High Court and the Federal Capital Territory.

3. That this direction be brought to the notice and enforcement of the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and all the chairmen of all the branches of the Nigerian Bar Association.

Hon. Umaru Eri OFR

Chairman

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE VISITS IKEJA BRANCH

2011-05-26T09:26:00.001-07:00

On Thursday 24th February 2011, history was made as the new commissioner of police Lagos State paid a courtesy visit to Nigerian Bar Association Ikeja Branch.

In his entourage were Mr. Adesoyin N.,Ikeja Area Commander of Lagos State Police Command, the Divisional Police Officer of the Ikeja Police Division as well as Mr. Jinadu the new Publicity Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command.

Billed to arrive at 1.00 p.m the police boss came to the venue of the visit, the secretariat of the Ikeja Bar a.k.a Tiger Bar, a quarter of an hour earlier.

He was warmly received by the chairman of the Ikeja Bar, Mr. Adebamigbe Omole and other members of the Executive Committee. After the formalities of introductions were done with, the meeting commenced at exactly 1.03 pm with the ebullient PPRO serving as the Master of Ceremony.

The Commissioner of Police said in visiting the Ikeja Bar he was respecting the saying that charity begins at home. He said the Tiger Bar, being in Ikeja ia his immediate neighbor since his office also in Ikeja is just a stones throw away.

He observed that not only is that no structure of government can afforde to stand in isolation from the people, the Nigerian Bar Association is cardinal in the administration of justice and thus must be appreciated and respected.

The new police chief assured the Ikeja Bar that the Nigerian Police has transformed for the better, noting that it is no longer “the police of old.”

According to the police boss many of our laws are outdated and not in consonance with our values and customs as Africans and called for the remaking same to have them in conformity with the realities of our lives as a people.

He wondered why lawyers should still be citing and relying on cases decided in colonial time courts such as the WEST AFRICAN COURT OF APPEAL, where cases bear names such as Queen vs XYZ or REX vs ABC.

On the issue of human rights Mr. Alkali, who was the Divisional Police Officer at Idimu, Lagos twenty five years ago, observed that the campaign for the protection of fundamental rights in Nigeria is not holistic and balanced. According to him, many human rights campaigners do not seem toknow too that the police too have their fundamental rights which should also be respected.

Apart from this, Nigeria does not yet have an enabling social environment for human rights to attain to the expected heights in the country.

He called for greater cooperation between the legal profession and the police since both are indispensable stakeholders in the administration of justice. There must be a synergy between the two bodies, he said and charged theleaders and members of the two professions to add new fertilizer to the existing rapport and cooperation between the two bodies.

The chairman of the Ikeja Bar in his response, thanked the Commissioner of Police for his unprecedented visit and expressed his confidence that the existing cordial relationship between the police and legal practitioners in Lagos State will continue, judging by the “move” of the incumbent police boss.

The chairman further said, the best way for the police to succeed in their work is by gaining the cooperation and confidence of the members of the public. This cannot be, when people are afraid or scared of the police because of the oppressive and unfair treatment they regularly receive from the police.

On the coming general elections, the chairman urged the police to be independent and neutral and not allow themselves to be used as tools by the government or any political party.

The chairman thereafter proceeded to give book gifts and a well-wish card to the Commissioner of Police, on behalf of the Ikeja Bar.

Thereafter the General Secretary gave the vote of thanks and expressed the earlier optimism of the branch chairman that just as it was in the times of Marvel Akpoyibo, the immediate past Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, the police-lawyer relationship in the state would be cordial.

The police chief, members of his entourage later took group photographs with the leaders and members of the Ikeja Bar present.

LAND SALE SCAM: JUDGE SENDS SCHOOL MATE TO 100 YEARS IMPRISONMENT

2011-05-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

10th February 2011, was judgement day in charge no: ID/102c/2007 between FRN vs Kole Bello and Or. The first defendant a lawyer is not a stranger to the honourable trial judge. In fact both men had attended the famous University of Ife, Ile-Ife for their law studies in the early 80s. While Oyewole J, the learned trial judge graduated from “Great Ife” in 1985 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986, the 1st defendant, Barrister Kole Bello, graduated in 1984 and was called to the Bar in 1985.

After their calls to the Bar, both men came to the city of Lagos to practice their profession. In 2001 Oyewole was appointed a high court judge in the state and before too long established a reputation as a tough customer to face in the criminal division of the state high court, for his remarkable industry and grounding in the criminal law and procedure topped with a dry-eyed approach to sentencing upon conviction.

Kole Bello was not doing badly as a legal practitioner too, and known as a gentle and amiable person. His lead counsel in his case before the Oyewole court was another “Great Ife” product, Mr. Bisi Ade-Ademuwagun, former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Ikeja Branch.

However when the dust of the case settled (upon the delivery of the judgement) only two of the three “Great Ife” products aforementioned went home at the end of the day. They were Justice Oyewole and Mr. Bisi Ade-Ademuwagun. The third, Barrister Kole Bello was taken to a large government house, known as Security Prison Kirikiri, Lagos, having been convicted on all the ten-count charge against him and sentenced to a total of one hundred years only.

Mr. Bello’s lawyer, however is not convinced about the guilt of his client. In a brief telephone chat with the Squib, Ademuwagun, a doctor of divinity, but more popularly referred to by younger colleagues as “doctor of divination” said that Bello has no hand in the perpetration of the fraud that he was convicted upon. According to Ademuwagun, Bello was sure to go on appeal against Justice Oyewole’s verdict. “You know his career (as a lawyer) is at stake,” he explained further.

LAGOS JUDGE DRAGGED TO NJC OVER MISSING JUDGEMENT

2011-05-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

FAWEHINMIISM 2011: GANI, LEGENDARY LAWYER LIVES ON

2011-05-26T09:22:00.001-07:00

HISTORY MAKERS: TIGER BAR MEETS WITH LAGOS MAGISTRATES

2011-05-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

History was made on November 15 2010 in the Lagos State Judiciary by a small group of legal practitioners numbering just sixteen who held a meeting for just a little over one hour. The venue of the epochal event was humble: the chambers of a magistrate at the Yaba Magistrate Court Sabo and there was no fuss or fanfare to announce or celebrate the great occasion. The sixteen legal practitioners belong to two different groups in the legal profession. The first five to wit: Mrs.

C.T Adesola Ikpatt, Mr. K.O Ogundare, Mr. S.K Matepo, Mrs. M.B Folami and Mr. A.A Adesanya are members of the lower bench and are the Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer and Assistant General Secretary of the Lagos State Branch of the Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria, respectively. The second group is from the famous Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, popularly known as the ‘Tiger’ Bar. They are Adebamigbe Omole – Chairman, Yinka Farounbi – 1st Vice Chairman, Adesina Ogunlana – General Secretary, Segun Fatoki – Assistant General Secretary, Lateef Abdulsalam – Welfare Secretary, Carolyn Ibeh – Treasurer, Dave Ajetomobi – immediate past Chairman, Dare Akande – immediate past 1st Vice-Chairman, Isa M. Buhari – immediate past General Secretary, Ademola Adewale, Alternate Chairman, Professional Ethics and Judiciary Monitoring Committee of the NBA Ikeja branch.

The unprecedented meeting of the lower bench and the bar was an initiative of the Adebamigbe Omole administration of the Tiger Bar, as part of a programme to ensure a more productive and friendlier relationship between the Bar and the Bench in Lagos State. The initiative however became a reality due to the cooperation of the leadership of the Magistrate Association of Nigeria Lagos State Branch (MANLS) which did not hesitate to welcome the formal request of the NBA Ikeja leadership to have a meeting with the leadership of MANLS.

Mr. Adebamigbe Omole the leader of the Ikeja Bar in his speech praised the leadership of MANLS for acceding to the request of the Bar to meet with her. Chairman Omole went on to raise issues of lateness to work, absenteeism and lack of industry on the part of some Lagos State magistrates. He also raised concern about the dressing of certain magistrates who dress casually or inappropriately to court. The chairman said the Bar would appreciate it, if Magistrates could take a second look at the way they grant or deny bail to accused persons to avoid unnecessary detention of accused persons. Another important issue raised by Mr. Omole was the instance of court room corruption, even extortion involving the registrars of the court, in the performance of their duties. After Mr. Omole’s speech, three other members of the delegation, Dave Ajetomobi, Adesina Ogunlana and Ademola Adewale Esq. lent their voices in support of the observations and comments of their chairman.

In reaction to the comments of the chairman of the Ikeja Bar and his other colleagues, Mrs. C.T Adesola Ikpatt, said that both the bar and bench are necessary partners, who cannot function separately and as such must work together. She thanked the Ikeja Bar for the initiative to have the meeting. The leader of the Magistrates Association also observed that magistrates were working in an environment or system which lacked sincerity and did not, oft times, reward industry. This was the reason why, according to the Chief Magistrate, some magistrates found it difficult to give their best to their work or excel therein. Mrs. Adesola Ikpatt in illustrating her point referred to the existence of “piece-typists” in the judiciary who are not the staff of the judiciary but more or less, self employed free lancers who are not even given necessary materials to work with and as such devise ways and means of carrying out their duties. She wondered why such a corps of workers, who still use ancient typewriters, should be existing in the judiciary. She also referred to the existence of “super court registrars” who regularly misconduct themselves and yet do not get punished, even if reported to the authorities. Some of these “super registrars” are so powerful that, they even threaten magistrates with transfer! The MANLS boss also noted that the registrars and other support staff of the magistrates do get away with their deeds because lawyers who are aware of their misdeeds, rather than report them to the presiding magistrates, compromise their integrity and collaborate with the corrupt staff. She explained that the job of many magistrates in the grant and approval of bail is made more difficult by the antics of “Resident Lawyers” who work hand in hand-in-glove with “Professional Sureties.” According to Mrs. Adesola Ikpatt and Mrs. M.B Folami, many of the so called resident lawyers often conduct themselves shamefully including fighting physically in open court.

They asked the Ikeja Bar to think of what could be done to reduce the menace of “Resident Lawyers” in the magistrate courts. Mrs. Adesola Ikpatt further stated that under her watch, the MANLS will not be indifferent to genuine cases of corrupt magistrates and that her association always told her members to be polite to legal practitioners and shun late coming to work.

At the end of the meeting, both parties (MANLS and Ikeja Bar) agreed that there was need for more of such interactions between them.

THE JUDGE WHO LOST HER JUDGEMENT

2011-05-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

THE JUDGE WHO LOST HER JUDGEMENT

GBENGA AKINGBEHIN & CO

LEGAL PRACTITIONERS

(BARUWA MAINA BUKAR CHAMBERS)

37, Mafoluku Road,

Oshodi, Lagos State,

Nigeria.

+234-1-851255

Mobile: 08023226255, 08034123968

E-mail: sirgb2001@yahoo.com

Date: 10TH November, 2010

The Editor,

Squib Magazine,

C/O NBA Secretariat,

Ikeja, Lagos State.

Dear Sir,

RE: THE CHIEF JUDGE OF LAGOS STATE: A TOOTHLESS BULLDOG?

COMMUNIQUE OF RESOLUTIONS REACHED AT THE ONE DAY STAKEHOLDERS’ SUMMIT ON THE CHALLENGES OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004” ORGANISED BY THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, IKEJA BRANCH AT HER NEW BAR CENTER OLD LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT GRA IKEJA ON THURSDAY, 21ST OCTOBER 2010

2011-05-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

The programme started by 12:55p.m with Mrs. Bisi Akindiji saying the opening prayer. The Goodwill Message was given by Honourable Justice Opeyemi Oke on behalf of the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Inumidun Akande (Honourable Justice Oke is the current chairman of the Rules Committee). Honourable Justice Oke identified the following areas as being crucial to the deliberations:

(1) PROBATE RULES

(2) INCLUSION OF ADR IN THE COMING AMENDED RULES

The welcome address was delivered by the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch – Mr Adebamigbe Omole who appointed Mr. Femi Falana as acting chairman of the summit. Mr. Layi Babatunde SAN came later and tool over Mr. Femi Falana in his capacity as acting chairman stated the following views:

a) How to address the ways in which Judges contributes to delay in the administration of justice for example by insisting that the matter must go on whether or not a junior was holding brief or a senior.

b) Senior Advocates of Nigeria may only call his case out of turn if his case is listed for mention.

c) Judges should take up the initial role of promoting amicable resolution of dispute as it was before the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004.

d) When judges are not going to sit, the Court’s Registrar should inform Counsel on both sides. The floor was now opened for general opinions/contributions. The following Orders were deliberated on and suggestions made by participants at the Summit.

ORDER 1 (ONE) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES 2004 APPLICATION AND INTERPRETATION

An observation was made that “Taxing officer” is defined as follows:

“Taxing officer” means the Chief Registrar or such other officer of the Court as the Chief Judge may appoint to tax costs.

It was suggested that to clear any ambiguity, the word “costs” for the purposes of the definition of “Taxing officer” should be defined.

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA – It will do no harm if the word cost is equally defined, by so doing, ambiguities would be reduced if not totally obliterated.

ORDER 3 (THREE) OF THE HIGH COURT STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) 2004

FORM AND COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION

Order 3 Rule 3 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 provides as follows

2(1) All civil proceedings commenced by writ of summons shall be accompanied by:

(a) Statement of claim;

(b) List of witnesses to be called at the trial;

(c) Written statements on oaths of the witnesses and

(d) Copies of every documents to be relied on at the trial.

(@) Where a claimant fail to comply with the Rules (1) above, his originating process shall not be accepted forfiting by the Registry. An observation was made that there is no clear indication on how to deal with a witness under subpoena duces tecum or ad testificandum. If a witness under subpoena is named but his witness Statement on Oath does not accompany the Originating Processes at the time of filing, is a registry entitled to reject such a process under Order 3 Rule 2 (2) of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004?

In other words, is a witness under subpoena supposed to depose to a witness Statement on Oath at the period of filing of Originating Processes or thereafter?

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA

There is a procedural deficit. The Rules should be more explicit on the status of the character of evidence as it relates to a witness under subpoena. Is it compulsory that his evidence must be reduced into writing and under Oath?

ORDER 5 (FIVE) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

EFFECT OF NON COMPLIANCE

Order 5 Rule 1 (1) of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 provides thus:

“Where at any stage in the course of or in connection with any proceedings there has by reason of anything done or left undone been a failure to comply with the requirements as to time, place, manner, or form, the failure shall be treated as an irregularity and may not nullify such step taken in the proceedings. The Judge may give any direction as he thinks fit to regularize such steps.”

Order 5 Rule 1(3) of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 further stipulates thus:

“The Judge shall not wholly set aside any proceedings or the writ or other originating process by which they were begun on the ground that the proceedings were required by any of these rules to be begun by an originating process other than the one employed”

Should a Judge set aside a proceeding commenced by Originating Summons merely because it ought to have been commenced by Writ of Summons rather than ordering a conversion of the Process from Originating Summons Process by ordering filing of pleadings in line with the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court?

There equally appears to be a conflict between the provisions of Order 5 Rule 1 and Order 5, Rule 3 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004. In Order 5 Rule 1, of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004, it appears that where a matter ought to be commenced by Writ of Summons and the matter is commenced by Originating Summons. This nullifies the Proceedings inspite of several decisions of higher courts in the judicial hierarchy to the contrary. What proceedings qualify for outright nullification as provides in Order 5 Rule 1 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 and what proceedings qualify for partial set aside as provided in Order 5 Rule 3 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rule 2004? The ambiguity should be resolved by the Rules.

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA

- The Rules should be more explicit, clearer and should reflect the position of extant decisions of superior courts of records.

ORDER 6 (SIX) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

ISSUE OF ORIGINATING PROCESS

Order 6 Rule 6 and 7 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 provides thus:

“6 (1) The life span of every originating process shall be 6 months.

(2) If a Judge is satisfied that it has proved impossible to serve an originating process on any defendant within its life span and a claimant applies before its expiration or renewal of the process, the Judge may renew the original or concurrent process for 3 months from the date of such renewal. A renewal originating process shall be in Form 6 with such modifications or variations as circumstances may require.

Order 6 Rule 7 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 provides thus:

“A Judge may order two renewals in each case strictly for good cause and upon prompt application provided that no originating process shall be in force longer than a total of 12 months. The Registrar shall state the fact, date, and duration of renewal on every renewed originating process”

The appendix to the Rules, particularly Form 1 which is the Writ of Summons Form stipulates as follows:

“This writ is to be served within three calendar months from the date thereof, or, if renewed, within three calendar months from the date of the last renewal, including the day of such date, and not afterwards.”

What then is the life span of the Writ of Summons, 6 months or 3 months?

Secondly, it appears under the provisions of Order 6, Rule 7 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rule 2004 that there is no possibility of the renewal of a writ that is 12 months old.

In Kolawole Vs. Alberto (1989) ANLR 137, the Supreme Court held as follows:

“Order 5 Rule 6 applies not only to a writ which is about to expire but also to one which has in fact expired. I think the provision about applying for renewal within the valid life of the writ may haw fed many to assume that unless the writ is made within twelve months, it cannot be made afterwards but it is obvious that if the Rule were interpreted in that manner, it would work hardship on the plaintiff, it seems to me that such a provision has been inserted in the Rule in order to distinguished a vigilant plaintiff from a lethargic one. Obviously a vigilant litigant would in accordance with the Rule, apply before the writ actually expires, but this does not mean that a litigant who applies soon afterwards should not be heard.”

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA

- The Rules should be much more precise, definite and reflective of extant decisions of the apex court.

ORDER 10 (TEN) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

ORDER 10- DEFAULT OF APPEARANCE

ORDER 20 – DEFAULT OF PLEADINGS

Even though not expressly prohibited by the Rules, default judgements are not usually given for default of appearance and defence in matters possessing declaratory reliefs.

Where a Defendant fails to respond to an Originating Process containing declaratory reliefs, the practice is that the claimant is asked to take out Pre-trial Conference Forms after which the matter goes for Pre-Trial Conference and thereafter remitted to the Chief Judge for re-assignment to another Judge for trial.

It was suggested that this should not be so as considered time is wasted thereby. Since issues have not joined, there is no need for the matter to proceed to the stage of Pre-Trial Conference as there will be no agenda for the Pre-Trial Conference. The Judge seised of the matter should be entitled to set the matter down for hearing and determine same.

Also, can default Judgement be given in Land under Order 20 Rules 6 and 9 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004?

In Yusuf Vs, Ilori (2008) 6 NWLR part 1083 page 330 at 335 paragraphs F-H, per MSHELIA J.C.A on whether Default Judgement under Order 24 Rule of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules applies for declaration of Title, trespass and injunction stated as follows:

“Where, as in this case, the defendant did not file any defence to join issue on the claim of the plaintiff/default judgement could be given for declaration of title, trespass and injunction, since the law does not require proof of impliedly admitted facts.”

Furthermore, in none Land and Declaratory matters, should a Judge still ask a Claimant to initiate Pre-Trial Conference proceedings in the absence of adverse pleadings?

Assuming a Claimant files a Motion for Judgement in default of pleadings, can’t a Judge take that application and deliver a Judgement by reason of Order 25 Rules 2 and 3 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 which many Judges’ have interpreted to mean that all Applications should be taken at Pre-Trial Conference stage?

Order 25 Rule 1 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 says:

“Within 14 days after dose of pleadings the claimant shall apply for issuance of a Pre-Trial Conference notice as in Form 17”

Where there are no pleadings from the Defendant, is the Claimant still enjoined to take out Pre-Trial Conference notice as in Form 17?

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA-

The intention of the makers of the Rule should be more articulately and clearly expressed to avoid unnecessary confusion and uncertainty.

ORDER 24 (TWENTY-FOUR) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

AMENDMENT
Order 24 Rule 1 of the High Court of Lagos State (Civil Procedure) Rules 2004 provides thus:

“A party may amend his originating process and pleadings at any time before the close of Pre-Trial Conference and not more than twice during the trial but before the close of the case.”

The provision restricting amendments to twice even in deserving cases appears too rigid, inflexible and could defeat the cause of justice.

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA

– Even though amendments are restricted to twice during trial, some discretion should be given to the pre-trial Judge when there are compelling reasons ex debito Justicae to allow further amendments. In other words, there should be a proviso to this rule.

ORDER 3 (THIRTY) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

PROCEEDINGS AT TRIAL

It was suggested that where pre-trial Conference has been narrowed down and there is no situation of pre-trial settlement, then the pre-trial judge should go on with the trial instead of having the case re-assigned and thereby causing immense waste of time. This is also in line with the S. 60 High Court Law Cap N3 Laws of Lagos State 2003 which provides that a case of a litigant shall be heard by a single Judge. The said Section 60 of the High Court Law Cap N3 Laws of Lagos State 2003 provides as follows:

“Subject to the provisions of this or any other enactment and subject to any rules of court, all civil and criminal cases or matters and all proceedings in the High Court and all business arising thereout shall so far as is practicable and convenient be tried, heard and disposed of by a single Judge, and all proceedings in an action subsequent to the hearing or trial down to and including the final Judgement or order shall so far as is practicable and convenient be taken before the judge whom the trial or hearing took place.”

This view did not meet with much approval as it was contended in replicando that by reason of the fact that a pretrial Judge descends into the arena at the Pre-trial Conference stage, if he is allowed to conclude the case after the Pre-Trial Conference, the likelihood of bias cannot be ruled out.

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA

-To accommodate the pre-trial and Trial Judge properly, a second look has to be taken at Section 60 aforementioned to eliminate an obvious conflict of Laws.

ORDER 44 (FORTY-FOUR) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

COMPUTATION OF TIME/PAYMENT OF PENAL FEES

Where the issue of penal fees is to be paid by the litigant, it was argued that this sometimes makes justice inaccessible to the litigant. It was recommended that there should be a ceiling to this payment. Also it was asked if the payment of penal fees prevents from challenging the application to regularize late pleadings.

Who has the right to calculate the number of days of default?

It was suggested that the N200:00 (Two Hundred Naira) penalty paid should be reduced.

It was also suggested that the Judge should have some discretion as to whether penalty should be paid or not. In deserving cases, the judge may waive or reduce the penal fees.

For example, if a matter is brought to a Court and the Defendant desires a Stay of Proceedings for the purpose of referring the matter to arbitration and Conciliation Act, Cap A 18, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 provides as follows:

“(i) if any party to an arbitration agreement commences any action in any court with respect to any matter which is the subject of an arbitration agreement, any party to the arbitration agreement may, at any time after appearance and before delivering any pleadings or taking any other steps in the proceedings, apply to the court to stay proceedings.”

If the Court takes the application for a reference of this matter to arbitration and delivers a Ruling in about 8 months from the date of the Application and the Ruling and overrules the party seeking the reference to arbitration, such a party will now be bound to file his defence which certainly would have been out of time.

Will it be right and accord with the notions of justice to penalize him for failure to file a Statement of Defence on time since he is Statutory forbidden from filing a Statement of Defence before taking his objection that the matter e referred to Arbitration in line with Section 5 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Cap A18, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004?

Where a Counsel to a litigant demonstrates patent and latent negligence and refuses to file processes in time by reason of which he is debriefed.

Will it be fair to ask such a litigant to pay penal fees for late filing of his Statement of Defence against the run of decisions that a litigant should not suffer for the mistakes of his Counsel?

It was also suggested that the opposing party who has suffered delay should be allowed to share in the costs with the Government.

The sum of N200:00 (Two Hundred Naira) should be retained.

The calculation of default should be done by either the Registrar of the Judge.

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA –

The hands of a trial Judge should not be tied. There should be a proviso that in deserving cases, the Judge has the discretion to waive penal fees or to even reduce same.

The calculation of default fees should be done by the Registrar of Court

ORDER 49 (FORTY-NINE) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

COSTS

It was suggested that the Chief Judge should make cost practice discretions to guide the Judges in the award of the cost.

RESOLUTION OF NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION IKEJA –

Guiding principles for the award of cost should be documented just like we have in the Court of Appeal Rules and in the Supreme Court.

ORDER 53 (FIFTY-THREE) OF THE HIGH COURT OF LAGOS STATE (CIVIL PROCEDURE) RULES 2004

This Order is a replica of S. 103 of the Supreme Court of England where all properties are registered.

Unfortunately, this order causes grave injustice here where not all titles are registered.

Discussion of Order 53 yet to be completed. This summit was adjourned till the next Branch meeting for conclusion. The summit ended by 3:30pm

Victor U Opara Esq.

Chairman, Continuous,

Legal Education

Committee

Nigerian Bar

Association, Ikeja

Branch

OPEN LETTER TO 'SEPTEMBER 7'

2010-11-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

My Dear Lords,

It is certainly belated, our congratulations from this end to you for your good luck in getting elevated from the Bar to the Bench of the highest Court in the State. But then, as it is said, better late than never.

I hope that we can dare to trust that your Lordships will not feel affronted that the Squib cares to issue missives to judicial potentates such as you.

We too, as roguish as our detractors may like to think of us, are stakeholders in the profession, practice and administration of law. So please bear with our egregiousness.

Apparently it was not easy becoming a member of the Lagos State Bench. Many applied, struggled, jostled, quested and hungered for the job but only a few were chosen.

Your lordships know, as all know that you did not bag the job the European way. It was very much in an African style particularly Nigerian. That is to say you put in merit but added a lot of connection into the contention. Plus prayer. Plus fasting. Plus plus plus and plus. Surely you understand me your lordships.

Ostensibly it was because you were certified fit and proper by the authorities that you all got the nod to become Judges. But it was not all of you that got the support of the bar in your struggle to get appointed.

For those the Bar considered not good enough for the Lagos Bench for reasons of integrity, competence, knowledge etc, it is absolutely compelling that you prove the Bar wrong. Very wrong.

You should not conduct yourself like

“Eni a pe lole

totun gbomo eran jo”

As for those of you supported by the Bar, on your perceived apparent virtues, please do not let us down. Do not rest on your oars, so that the Bar will be able to hold her head high. Do not let the “uncircumcised” as it were ask “Are these not the so called darlings and pearls of the Bar?

Remember that in early 2007, Mr. Babatunde Fashola was an unknown politico. But his principal and sponsor paraded and promenaded him as the “Best Man For The Job”. And, true and truly, we all have seen that that was no empty boast.

I have thought hard and long on which advice one may possibly give you. What is there to say again? After all, one expects your promoters, relatives, friends, spiritual counselors, spouses etc to have sat you down and load you with bushels and sacks of advice.

So what else can a mere gecko, like us offer? If it is corruption they must have told that bribery and mockery are next door neighbors.

If indolence, they must have taken you to the ants. If pride, they must have lectured you that it is a preamble to a fall and drives grace and glory away. If it is anger, they must have told you it brings a Judge easily into the league of maniacs.

If ignorance, they must have recommended knowledge to you

Well, I have scratched my tiny brain very hard and I think I now have a charge that will certainly prove useful to you. The charge is simple-STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE, which is another way of saying “try and be the very best you can be”

Challenge your self always. Always ask “have I put in my best today, my very best? Shun the easy platform of mediocrity, of just being a number, a forgettable judex. Strive relentlessly to be distinguished and distinct, a star judge or better still, a super star judge. Don’t think I have set a tall order for you. What I have asked you to be has been laid down by Jesus the Christ, centuries ago when he admonished believers as follows-

“Let your light so shine before the world

so that they will see and glorify your father which art in Heaven”

So many dear Lords, your appointment should not be appreciated alone from the materialism perspective (the new jeeps, the up-scale social status, the perks of office).

You should also view it from the perspective of service to humanity and a rare opportunity to write your name in gold. Never forget that your first name and your surname is now JUSTICE. Be true to your name from now on to the end of your careers.

Finally, there is this little matter of Squib scooping. The constitutional license to ‘gbeborun’ is not yet withdrawn from us. So if we notice anything untoward in your courts we will surely talk and talk in our squibish manner. It wouldn’t matter then whether you were a friend or foe.

Thank you.

Yours geckostically,

Adesina Ogunlana

OPEN LETTER TO 'SEPTEMBER 7'

2010-10-29T04:17:00.003-07:00

AONDOAKAA'S SUSPENSION: CDHR REPLIES DAUDU

2010-10-29T04:03:00.001-07:00

VOL. 11 NO.2

2010-10-29T03:56:00.001-07:00

INUMIDUN AKANDE CJ LAGOS: LAYING THE FOUNDATION OF AN UNFORGETTABLE LEGACY

2010-10-29T03:55:00.001-07:00

HOW WILL HISTORY REMEMBER THE AKEREDOLU PRESIDENCY?

2010-10-29T02:47:00.000-07:00

NBA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2010 - THE WAY THE ELECTION WILL GO

2010-10-20T06:44:00.003-07:00

PRESIDENT
There are only two candidates here. the first is Joseph Bodurin Daudu SAN. The second is Joe Kyari-Gadzama SAN. Both are determined to win the race but only one, at the end of the day will get the "crown." What are their chances of success?
Daudu is not new to questing for the presidency of the NBA. His first bid was in 2004 when Chief Bayo Ojo SAN emerged the winner. Daudu came second.

BADAGRY BAR BOUNCES BACK TO RECKONING

2010-07-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

On 25 June 2010, history was made at the premises of the Badagry High Court as Chief Magistrate Ganiyu Safari, a deputy Chief Registrar and the representative of the honourable Chief Judge of Lagos State, inaugurated the new Executive Committee of the Badagry Bar.
Legally speaking it is incorrect to refer yet to the Badagry Bar as the Badagry Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association since the NBA is yet to duly register Badagry as one of her branches.
However the agitation for the creation of the Badagry branch by lawyers in that jurisdiction has been on for more than a decade.
The hope for the realization of this fond dream appeared very bright when the Chief Tunji Orisalade led Executive Committee was inaugurated in 2005. However five years later, the situation has not changed.
The ‘branch’ could not just muster the strength to get its registration with NBA done and over with. While many Badagry based lawyers accuse the former chairman, Adetunji Orisalade of frustrating the registration of the branch while perpetuating himself in office for six years, in the absence of elections after his normal tenure of office which ended in 2007, Orisalade blamed the situation on the general nonchalance of majority of the members to the issue of registration. According to Orisalade, only very few lawyers in the Badagry judicial Division pay either practicing fees or branch dues, hence the great difficulty in getting the branch registered since a crucial requirement for registration is that a prospective branch must have at least 25 members who have paid their practicing fees for the year in consideration as at when due (on or before 31st March).
Some six years after the emergence of the Adetunji Orisalde administration, a new regime has finally taken over.
The new leader of the Badagry bar is Mr. Bode Oyeyemi who crushed his only opponent Julius Akinlaja at the polls 22-5 votes. It was learnt that Chief Orisalade the former chairman filed nomination papers to re-contest his post but withdrew from the race two days before the election.
Incidentally it was only the post of chairman that was contested. All the other officers virtually strolled into their respective offices, being unopposed candidates.
In a chat with the Squib, the new chairman of the Badagry bar, Bode Oyeyemi, called to the Nigerian Bar in 1993 disclosed a four point agenda.
Said Oyeyemi –“My first priority is to see that the Badagry Bar is registered with the NBA. This task by the grace of God shall be accomplished. We are mobilizing all our members in this regard and we are already liasing with Mr. Adekunle Ojo, the NBA 2nd Vice-President (who is based in Ikeja, Lagos) for guidance and assitance.
The second assignment is to heal all wounds in the Bar and end all polarization and marginalization. Our members must unite and become one big family.
Thirdly I’ll see to the sanitization of the Judiciary in our jurisdiction. Because in the past years, the bar has been in doldrums, some magistrates in particular have grown wings to perpetrate unacceptable conduct. We are poised to put an end to that.
Finally my administration will pay special attention to the welfare and social interests of our members. Here in Badagry all we do as lawyers is work, work and work. There is no time for relaxation. The bar under my watch will strive to make life more comfortable and livelier for members.

OZEKHOME VS ARIBISALA: GUTTER FIGHT IN COURT

2010-06-24T01:30:00.000-07:00

“Ko ju ma ri bi
Ese logun e”
In his court, the honourable Justice Kazeem Alogba of the Lagos State Judiciary has a reputation of being firm and in control. Hardly shaken by any-thing the judex not only reign there but also rule.
However about two weeks ago, in the face of an impeding-turbulence coming from unexpected and exalted quarters, the honourable Judge considered it expedient to rise hurriedly and move quickly to the safety and sanity of his chambers.
The hurried exit of the judge could be traced squarely to the wonderful, impressive if not memorable performance and conduct of two of the statutorily recognized leaders of the bar, who were appearing in his court on the 8th of June 2010.
The first was Mr. Ajibola Aribisala a senior Advocate of Nigeria and who grabbed the silk in 2004. The second is Mr. Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate of Nigeria too and who was transported into the inner bar, only a few months ago.
According to our sources, trouble erupted in the hearing of the case of claimant in the case of ID/178/2000 vs Zenon Petrol & Gas Ltd & Ors. The counsel for the claimant was Mr. Ajibola Anthony Aribisala who had earlier on secured a mareva-injunction against the defendants in the matter. However the defendants brought various application to the effect that the claimant had secured the order by misrepresenting material facts to the trial court and that same should be discharge.
On the fateful date we learnt that the claimant’s counsel Aribisala sparked off the ugly scene when he reacted in unsavoury terms to Mr. Mike Ozekhome who was seeking to regularize some part of his processes while Aribisala was making certain submissions to the court.
This effort was considered by Mr. Aribisala as bothersome interjections into his own presentation where upon he snapped at Ozekhome – “Sit down baby SAN!”
The deliberate and calculated slur hit Ozekhome harder than a wasp’s sting. Immensely proud himself, a maddened Ozekhome, forgot all decorun as he shot at Aribisala “You are a gorilla. You dare call me a baby SAN. I am five years your senior at the bar and if not for our system, how can the likes of your become a SAN…
By this time Mr. Justice Alogba had “vamoosed” from the court. With the exit of the judge, the two ‘fighting’ senior advocates tore into each other thoroughly, flinging abuses at each other like fish-mongers’ wives. For example while Aribisala called Ozekhome a goat, Ozekhome shouted that Aribisala was a big buffoon.
It was clear to all that the fighting duo had lost all sense of proportion at that point and so heated had they become that they could easily come to blows and further descreate the bar and the temple of justice.
It was then that some of the other silks in courts like Badejo SAN and Kemi Pinhero SAN intervened by persuading a still fuming Ozekhome to leave the court and so put an end to the show of shame.
The Squib learnt that a little while late, the judge summoned all the counsel in the matter to his chambers and calmed down frayed nerves. The court thereafter sat and hearing in the matter continued.

"6-PONDO:" TEAM OMOLE WINS, OPPONENTS WEEP

2010-06-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Since 2004 when the power caucus of the Progressive Bar Forum (PBF) of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association came fully to its own, it has dominated the politics of the Tiger like a colossus.

In 2004 in its largest and most unified form, it scored a 100% victory at the polls, winning all available positions without partnership or alliance and produced Adekunle Ojo as the chairman of the branch at the expense of Hya Osahon Ihenyen who could only garner 10% of the total votes cast.
In 2006, the PBF, still intact, went to the polls and again captured all seats. The prime victim of their might then was Dele Oloke, who with less than 25% of the valid votes cast, lost woefully to the PBF candidate, Niyi Idowu.
Interestingly the loser was a former member of the PBF but who left the group, feeling frustrated after failing to secure approval in the ‘primaries’ of the group.

In 2008, the power caucus regrettably split into three unequal parts. The smallest part belonged to Niyi Akinmola then 2nd Vice-Chairman of the Ikeja Branch and a senior rank caucus member, who suffused with his own sense of self-importance and popularity, refused all appeasement not to leave the group. He was determined to contest the election for chairman at all cost contrary to the placement tradition of the P.B.F which favoured Dave Ajetomobi then the 1st Vice-Chairman to Niyi Idowu.
The second splinter group belonged to Niyi Idowu and Beckley Abioye. That group wanted Abioye the then General Secretary to run for chairman.
If Niyi Akinmola was unappeasable, the duo of Niyi Idowu and Abioye were simply unapproachable. So great was their animosity for their former group and confidence in their own strength to prevail against the PBF. It was Niyi Idowu’s sneer then that he would only consider reconciliation talks after the election had been determined!
At the end of the day the dreams of both splinter groups came to nought. Niyi Akinmola met his waterloo even before the election as he, just like Dele Oloke was disqualified from the race. As for Abioye his chairmanship ambition went up in smoke on June 30 2008 when Dave Ajetomobi came out tops with 60% of the total votes cast.
In 2010, the build-up to the elections of June 7 was strong and tense. Niyi Akinmola, still rebellious, still unrepentant and even headier, built a crop of members round himself. The group was a mixture of former satellites of his former power caucus - Leye Omitola and Terry Adeniji and and a stranger element Emmanuel Otobo, a completely unsubstantial bar player but then the Akinmola group presented him for the post of General Secretary. The three Akinmola followers were all members of the now defunct Dave Ajetomobi administration where they played opposition politics with differing degrees of intensity and finesse.
For example where Terry Adeniji and Emmanuel Otobo were coarse, confrontational and openly subversive, Omitola used the sly and silent style in aiding the interest of his group. He worked very actively in misusing his office of Financial Secretary to disenfranchise scores of supporters of the Mainstream group whom he wrongly labeled ineligible to vote.
Omitola gunned for the post of Treasurer while Adeniji aspired to become the 1st Vice-Chairman. For the other splinter-group owned and controlled by Niyi idowu and un-ably supported by Beckley Abioye, their curious choice for the chairmanship post was Dele Oloke. Choosing Oloke as their top flag bearer reflected poor thinking and a sense of huge desperation.
To any informed observer of Tiger land politics, Oloke serial polls loser, that he is, could only be the chairmanship choice of any self-defeating group.
To worsen the situation, the Niyi Idowu group fielded another political dwarf for the crucial post of General Secretary in the person of Mrs. Titi Osagie. Osagie had vied for the same post in 2008 and lost by 63 votes to Isa Buhari even with all the powers of incumbency in the favour of her political sponsors Niyi Idowu and Beckley Abioye.
The three other candidates sponsored by the Niyi Idowu group, just like Osagie, were minnows. Biyi Oguntuga presented for 1st Vice-Chairman, blends with anonymity, Abdulhamid Ahmed is equally undistinguished while Maimuna Esegime, for Financial Secretary is a green horn in Tiger land politics.
Interestingly the fact that their candidates were second rate was lost to the directors of “Team Oloke.” Three days to the election, Beckley Abioye, the deputy leader of the group boasted of the invincibility of his group in 2010 and that he himself lost the battle for the top job of chairman in 2008 only because the mainstream used mercenary voters against him.
Then in the morning of June 7, the most amiable of the group, Biyi Oguntuga, in a quiet but confident voice assured this reporter “Squib we will surprise you.”

Accreditation of voters

This prediction proved wrong and empty as the mainstream group walloped their rivals blue and black to claim all grounds.
In the Welfare Secretary position Abdullateef Abdulsalam crushed Team Oloke’s Abdulhameed Ahmed 209 to 180, taking about 66% of the 489 votes cast.
In the Financial Secretary position Maimuna Esegime (Team Oloke) succumbed to Adesina Adegbite (a mainstreamer) 219 to 287 votes, garnering only about 42% of the votes.
The third election result announced was that of Treasurer. This was supposed to be a tough battle between Leye Omitola (Mr. disenfrachiser of the Niyi Akinmola group) Carol Ibeh of the mainstream group. Again, the mainstreamers prevailed as Ibeh gained over Omitola, 288 to 208, scoring 58% of the 489 valid votes cast.
Then came the result for the post of General Secretary. It was a three way struggle amongst Adesina Ogunlana (mainstream) Titi Osagie (Team Oloke) and Emmanuel Otobo (Team Akinmola).
Well, since a rat’s nest conforms to its proportion, Emmanuel Otobo the rat in the group deservedly scored the lowest votes of 87 or 16% of the total votes of 515 cast.
Titi Osagie, the “David” who was expected by her minders to kill a Goliath in the person of Adesina Ogunlana, found out too late the truism in Wasiu Alabi’s (Pasuma wonder) Fuji lyrics which went thus :
“emi yin o gbe,
capacity yin o gbe,
confido yin o gbe,
charisma yin o gbe,
engine aeroplane yen te gbe sinu beetle (VW) yen.”
In the middle of the counting of the votes, the lady saw the bold handwriting on the wall truncating her vaunting ambition and betrayed the woman in her. She was led away into the night, sobbing bitterly, as the scorpion of defeat stung her deeply. What made her case poignant was that her vanquisher, Adesina Ogunlana who won with a total of 266 votes (53%) to her 162 (31%) had weeks earlier sent a message to her camp that she should be withdrawn to a lesser post where she would meet no behemoth and therefore survive. The advice, sent through Dele Oloke was scorned.
For the post of 1st Vice-Chairman. Team Akinmola’s candidate, Terry Adeniji, the exponent and leading apostle of “Tenubole politics” (politics of disinformation and rumour mongering) put up a stiff fight, but at the end fell at the feet of his mainstream opponent, Yinka Farounbi who scored 237 votes (47%) to Adeniji’s 209 (41%). The spectator contestant, Biyi Oguntuga of Team Oloke got only 64 votes (12%).
By the time it came to counting and sorting the votes of the contestants in the chairmanship position (at 9.30pm), it was only Leye Omitola of all the “opposition candidates” that could afford to remain on the election ground. Thus it was his unenviable task to relay the sad news of repeated failures of his friends.

Sorting and counting of the chairmanship election votes

A total of 512 votes were cast in the chairmanship race. As earlier predicted by this magazine (vol 10, No 27), Dele Oloke with his 118 votes (23%) rested at the bottom of the class. Perched a little way above him, was Niyi Akinmola with his 174 votes (35%). Akinmola, when he saw the way the trend was going was heard repeatedly muttering to himself:
“Ha eniyan, aiye le!”
(Alas! How treacherous man is!).
Akinmola’s palpable agony was understandable. He was the longest campaigning candidate, having put no less than three years into it, only to be bested by Adebamigbe Omole whose candidacy was not more than six months old. Akinmola forgot perhaps that Wasiu Alabi has noted:
Ogun odun oni,
ogbon odun oni,
t’aja ti nsare ije,
irin faaji ni fesin.
Gbogbo press up t’alangba n’se
Ko fi ni muscle lara
(all the grounds covered by the dog in twenty,
thirty years of intense racing are nothing
but a stroll for the horse,
the agama lizard’s numerous press ups are in vain
they give him no muscular biceps).
Adebamigbe Omole, calmly took victory by getting 220 votes (42%) of the total valid votes cast.
Of the three candidates who came in unopposed, Gloria Nweze(2nd Vice-Chairman), Seyi Olawumi (Social Secretary) and Samson Omodara (Publicity Secretary) only the last is not a mainstream candidate.
Insiders know that Omodara a member of the Team Oloke was spared the agony of contest and eventual defeat due to a silent deal brokered on his behalf by a friend of his, with the political lords of Tiger land. Omodara’s calm disposition and good comportment helped matters a great deal in this regard.

The great announcement: The Electoral Committee, Mrs. Akindiji (chairman), Quadri(secretary) and Olumide Fusika(member)announcing the results of the election at about 9:20pm.

Insiders also know that the battle for the soul of the Ikeja Bar appeared to take spiritual dimension. About a week to the elections, a pillar of the mainstream group Dave Ajetomobi, the outgoing chairman of the branch got stung in his own bedroom. How the scorpion got there was baffling. The unfortunate scorpion however received the capital punishment for his transgression.
Three days to the election, the trio of Dare Akande, Isa Buhari and Adesina Ogunlana were involved in a ghastly motor accident. On their way to Abuja from Kano, a big cow on the outskirts of Kaduna suddenly ran smack into their vehicle, then moving at about 100km at the time. The cow died on impact and the car was badly damaged but the Tigers disembarked unhurt.

The new chairman, Adebamigbe Omole making his "No winner, no vanquished" speech after being sworn in to office.

Remarkably on the day of the election, there was no rain at all that could have disrupted voting and the electricity supply endured to the very end.
Reflecting on all these seemingly disjointed incidents, the new chairman of the branch, Adebamigbe Omole told his colleagues “I am not worried by those things. Remember we fasted and prayed over this election. The Lord will continue to protect us, no matter the evil machinations (if any) of anybody.”

ELECTION FEVER GRIPS TIGER BAR: AS ‘PARTIES’ TRADE BLAMES OVER ALLEGED MERCENARY VOTERS.

2010-06-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

See Gani's Will by clicking, http://www.ganidelaw.blogspot.com

High tension, bitter disputes and even protracted crisis not infrequently characterize election periods in many branches of the Nigerian Bar Association. The commonest complaints among contestants are allegations and counter allegations of disqualification of eligible candidates, qualification of ineligible candidates, disenfranchisement of valid voters and enfranchisement of illegal voters.

The situation is not limited or peculiar to branch election of the association. It is the same story at the national level-the infamous 1992 election debate that lay the NBA prostrate for six years is still fresh in the memory.
By the schedule of the Mrs. Akindiji led Electoral Committee of the NBA Ikeja branch, general elections into Executive Committee for 2010-2012 will take place on June 7 2010. However there are palpable fears and doubts over the elections-whether it will take place as scheduled.
The main reason for the apprehension does not pertain to candidates. Unlike in 2008, when the electoral crisis erupted over the attempt of Beckley Abioye then the General Secretary of the branch to qualify many otherwise ineligible candidates, such as Dele Oloke, Biyi Oguntuga, Biola Oketoki, and Niyi Akinmola, the row this year is over the voters’ list drawn up by Leye Omitola Esq, the incumbent Financial Secretary of the branch, but who is also a contestant for the post of treasurer.
Under the Bye Law of the Ikeja, two officers are entrusted with roles that crucially affect the electoral process. The first officer is the General Secretary whose duty is to present a finding on the compliance or otherwise of candidates contesting for positions in the election, with the legal requirements of the contest vis a vis payment of branch dues, practicing fees, possession of branch I.D cards and adequate attendance of branch meetings.
The second officer is the Financial Secretary of the branch. His material duty is to forward to the Electoral Committee, the names of the financial members of the branch and who are the only eligible voters in the election.
The situation this year is that there was no problem in the compilation of the names of candidates eligible to contest. Off all the aspirants only one, Aladekomo (Assistant General Secretary) was found wanting and the Electoral Committee had no problem in upholding the General Secretary’s findings.
Even the pathological petition writer Emmanuel Otobo of the Niyi Akinmola group found his petition against Adesina Ogunlana, Adebamigbe Omole and Titi Osagie, thrown straight into the dust-bin, being lacking in merit. Otobo, had in vain, sought to knock out his rivals for the post of General Secretary, (Adesina Ogunlana and Titi Osagie) from the race via his “pepperless” petition. So well had Isa Mohamed Buhari the out-going general secretary of the Ikeja Bar did his duty!
However the same commendation cannot in all fairness be given to Leye Omitola, the outgoing Financial Secretary but a contestant for the post of Treasurer presently under the platform of the Niyi Akinmola Team.
On Wednesday 2nd June 2010, Omitola put up two lists on the notice board of the Ikeja Bar Center. The first list contained the names of 1576 people recognized by Omitola as legal practitioners, bonafide members of NBA Ikeja branch and who are proper financial members of the association. This is List A.
The second, List B contains a list names of 171 persons who according to Omitola “do not fulfill their financial obligation as stipulated by section 19 (5) (c) of the bye Law” and as such not ordinarily eligible to vote. This list was annexed to a report signed Leye Omitola. (Please see Squib Cover Story Exhibit).
According to Leye Omitola’s Report, List B is drawn from those who paid their branch dues between 18th and 21st May 2010 and also who number “almost 500”. According to Omitola, this number of 500 aroused his suspicion “since most of them paid #1,000-#2,000”. Accordingly Omitola caused an investigation according to him, of these names via the website of the Nigeria Bar Association (www.nigerianbar.org/a/nbadir on the internet.
At the end of the investigation by Omitola who is actually not computer literate, not to talk of being internet savvy, he came to the conclusion that 170 (one hundred and seventy) of the 500 (five hundred) people are not qualified to vote because their payment receipts showed that they gave wrong years of call, while some of the names could not even be found!
This strongly suggested that those are the Nigeria Lawyers Directory 2008 (3rd edition) published by law educational.
However a careful examination via the Nigeria Lawyers Directory 2008 (3rd edition) published by Law and Educational Publishers Limited and edited by SIR TAN ATULEGWU NWAMARA of random samples from List B show the Omitola was very wrong in many instances.
Look at these examples:
(1) AbduRaheem Sayi who is no 1 on List B was called 2001 and properly paid #2,000 as branch dues. But Omitola described him as AbduRaheem Seyi and claimed his name could not be found.
(2) The trio of Okheowa Ohonyon, Folashade Owolabi and Perpetual Okonkwo are lawyers working in the Winners Don’t Quit of Adesina Ogunlana (General Secretary candidate) and called to the bar in 2008 and 2009 respectively but they are listed in List B as those whose names could not be found. Interestingly two of them Okheowa Ohonyon and Folasade Owolabi have their names at the same time on the list of those qualified to vote (List A).
(3) Moses Odu (No 100), Izokwu Matthew Chukwuma (No 76) Yamta Yusuf ( 169) mis-spelt as Yinka Yusuf by Omitola, Richard Oloye (143), Seyi Alade (148) Olarotimi Williams (126) Olalekan Idowu (124), Olalekan Tella (123), Moses Ese Igiede (103), Moji Balogun (99) Kunle Olusanya (86) Doris Okereke (52) Bayo Ogunmoye (34) Ayo Ajifowowe (27) Alaba Oluwaseun (21) Akin Akinrinade (20) Adewale Akande (19) Adele Kehinde (10) Adekunle Adeniran (9) Adedoyin Sobiye (8) on Omitola’s List B are in reality are all qualified lawyers and who paid their correct dues.
All those names appeared in the afore-mentioned book of reference (NIGERIA LAWYERS DIRECTORY 2008) as duly qualified legal practitioners and in the years stated in Omitola’s List B.
It is clear that Omitola’s list B is certainly not credible, being so full of mistakes, which are clearly either deliberate or avoidable. In determining the true status of a legal practitioner and year of call, the best place for search and determination of these cannot be the website of the Nigerian Bar Association which talks only of membership of the association and which is only voluntary and there is no full and up to date record of Nigerian lawyers.
Therefore it is precipitate for any reasonable investigation to rely only on such a single and limited medium and come to any serious conclusion. From Omitola’s report only those who paid between 18th and 21st May 2010 were scrutinized.
According to Omitola, those were the set that excited his curiosity and suspicion. But how really credible is Omitola’s List A?
A single example shows that the list is far from being credible. On page 765 is one JONES KAYODE. This same Jones Kayode is a fake lawyer exposed by the Squib magazine in its Vol 10 Number 14 of 1st February 2010 edition.
Jones came to the Ikeja Bar in December 2009 to pay branch dues, even though not a legal practitioner. When it was detected that he was not a lawyer NBA Ikeja returned his money (#10,000 inclusive of insurance) to him and his name was over-ruled in the records.
Yet, Omitola still presented him to the world as a bona fide member of the Ikeja bar and eligible to vote.
However an even more curious fact is that there are some other lawyers and eligible to vote in the election that none of Omitola’s list featured. A good example is the name of Mr. Adindu Ugwuazor, (called 2001) the deputy head of the Gani Fawehinmi chambers. The lawyer paid his branch dues and was issued receipt for same yet he was not listed as a voter. The same fate befell Mercy Oseghale of the same Gani Fawehinmi Chambers.
From the chambers of Wemimi Ogunde and co, three counsel Miss Abisoye Ogunsipe, Miss Adaeze Nwachukwu and Mrs. Bowale Oshinowo did not feature on Omitola’s Lists. Yet they paid their branch dues and were issued receipts. Another victim is Abbas Similola. Yet another is Arith Essien of Tony Momoh & Co Chambers.
From all the above examples and which is not exhaustive, it is reasonable to contend that Leye Omitola’s list of qualified voters lacks substantial compliance with credibility.
Due to all the palpable errors in his lists those opposed to Leye Omitola and his group, the Niyi Akinmola Team, are accusing him of mischief and abusing his oath of office to give his side unfair electoral advantage by excluding known supporters of his opponents from casting their vote for the candidates of their choice.
However Omitola and his group are shouting that their opponents manly those of TEAM OMOLE, which boasts of mainstream Ikeja Bar men and women including Adebamigbe Omole, Dare Akande, Adesina Ogunlana, Adesina Adegbite, Carol Ibeh, Gloria Nweze, Abdullateef Abdulsalam have inserted names of fake lawyers into the membership of the Ikeja Bar.
At the meeting of the Electoral Committee with contestants which held on Friday 4th of June at the Bar Centre, Ikeja High Court, Omitola and his team aided by the leaders of the struggling-to-keep-awake DELE OLOKE TEAM, vociferously roared their opinions but with no proof that Team Omole or anybody else is involved in electoral list padding.
At the end of the day, the Electoral Committee directed that those on Omitola’s list B would be allowed to vote, if they show valid identification as legal practitioners.
But what of those that Mr. Omitola has refused to list at all as members of the Ikeja Bar or even as lawyers?

THE BATTLE OF TEAMS: WHO WILL WIN?

2010-06-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

The administration of the Dave Akinyemi Ajetomobi-led Executive Committee of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, which began 30th June 2008, will all other things being equal, wind up on June 7 2010.

The big question agitating the minds of members of the most dynamic and best known branch of the NBA is: who are those that will replace the out-going executives?

The Executive Committee of the Tiger Bar comprises 14 persons, including 3 ex-officio members. Presently three posts have been filled with qualified and unopposed candidates. These are Mrs. Gloria Nweze (2nd Vice –Chairman), Mr. S. Omodara (Publicity Secretary) and Mr. Oluwaseyi Olawunmi (Social Secretary). Nobody is vying for Auditor, while the sole candidate for the post of Assistant General Secretary Aladekomo Esq. has been disqualified from the race by the Electoral Committee and declared ineligible to contest.

The posts open for contest are Chairman, 1st Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, Welfare Secretary, Financial Secretary and Treasurer.
For the office of chairman, there are three contestants: Dele Oloke, Niyi Akinmola and Adegbamigbe Omole. For the 1st Vice-Chairman post, there are also three contestants: Biyi Oguntuga, Terry Badmus Adeniji and Yinka Farounbi.

The contest for General Secretary involves three persons: Titi Osagie, Emmanuel Otobo and Adesina Ogunlana. For the post of Welfare Secretary, there are two contestants, Abdulhamid Ahmed and Abdullateef Abdulsalam. For Financial Secretary, Adesina Adegbite will slug it out with Maimuna Esegine.

A proper understanding of the contests show that, it is less of individual duels and more of group conflict. It is an open secret that none of the contestants is seeking office on an independent or personal platform, rather they are in three groups.

The first group which is also the oldest has the highest number of eight candidates, to wit Adegbamigbe Omole (Chairman), Yinka Farounbi (1st Vice-Chairman), Gloria Nweze (2nd Vice-Chairman), Adesina Ogunlana (General Secretary), Adesina Adegbite (Financial Secretary), Abdulsalam Abdullateef (Welfare Secretary), Carol Ibeh (Treasurer), Seyi Olawunmi (Social Secretary).

The second group is the youngest and has the lowest number of candidates – Niyi Akinmola (Chairman), Terry Adeniyi (1st Vice-Chairman), Emmanuel Otobo (General Secretary), Leye Omitola (Treasurer).
The third group has the second highest number of candidates, to wit Dele Oloke (Chairman), Biyi Oguntuga (1st Vice-Chairman), Titi Osagie (General Secretary), Maimuna Esegine (Financial Secretary), and Samson Omodara (P.R.O).
Even before the formal opening of the campaign, members of each of the teams have been meeting and spreading the political gospel of their various groups.

TEAM DELE OLOKE
A reading of the political tussle so far shows that the Dele Oloke Team will be lucky to have more than one member in the new government.
The greatest weakness of this group appears to be the adoption of Dele Oloke as its front-runner candidate. The choice of Oloke as its ‘chairmanship’ candidate is ironic and even strange.
This is because Oloke has been a political victim and prey of Niyi Idowu, the actual leader of the group, twice in the past. In 2004, Idowu roundly defeated Oloke to become the 1st Vice-Chairman of the Ikeja Bar and in 2006, again thoroughly humiliated Oloke at the polls to become the Chairman of the branch.

When he was repeatedly flogged by his now new found political ally and by implication godfather, Oloke cried blue murder and alleged that he lost the elections due to rigging. Idowu then was one of those Oloke dismissed as unsuccessful legal practitioners given to infantile radicalism and who survive by feeding off the bar. It would appear that the Niyi Idowu forces turned to Oloke and adopted him as their chairmanship candidate as there was nobody original to the group to present. Pundits had thought that Asade Abioye Beckley whom the group presented in 2008 for the chairmanship post would be re-presented. However this was not to be because of the reasonable apprehension of the group that the Beckley candidature would not fly this year too.

Yet the Niyi Idowu Group did not want to yield the chairmanship race to their rivals without contest because such a surrender would lower the political status of the group.

It is yet to be seen how the adoption of Oloke as the chairmanship candidate by the Niyi Idowu group can be of much help to Oloke.
First the adoption deals a blow to the vaunted claim of Oloke that he is a principled and consistent Bar politician, since he is now in political wedlock with the very people, (Niyi Idowu, Biyi Oguntuga and Beckley Abioye) that he had asserted most strenuously in the past, were part of a gallery of rogues who routinely rig Ikeja Bar elections and “eat” NBA Ikeja funds.
The question now for Oloke to answer is why a self-professed and principled man of integrity like him is in partnership with devils and rogues in the quest for power?

Secondly, the pillar of his new found support, Niyi Idowu and his deputy Beckley Abioye do not appear to have the clout to dislodge the influence of the behemoths of Team Omole or even match the capacity of Team Akinmola. When the duo was in power, they could not win elections for their group, so where have they now found the power to do otherwise?
Equally troubling is that, there is no certain stalwart in Dele Oloke’s subordinate standard bearers.

Take Biyi Oguntuga his 1st Vice-Chairman candidate. He is probably the least known in his category. An amiable, quiet but politically dour fellow, Oguntuga’s fame, if any shivers on the steeds of near anonymity.
As for Oloke’s preferred choice for General Secretary, Titi Osagie, the lady is largely another unknown and her candidacy does not appear to have added any appreciable bounce to Oloke’s chances. Observers believe that Osagie’s case fits that of the proverbial seed sown on a rocky place or cast among thorns. It would appear that her political directors love casting her in the role of a modern David who will take on Goliaths and vanquish them.

In 2008 she a then first timer, was pitted against a pillar of the political establishment of the Ikeja Bar, Isa Buhari for the post of General Secretary and deservedly lost. Now in 2010 she is pitted against an even bigger behemoth, Adesina Ogunlana.

The rest of the Oloke team to wit Maimuna Esegine, Abdulhamid Ahmed and Samson Omodara can only contribute so much to Oloke’s fortune.
In fact for Maimuna Esegine and Ahmed, the strength of opposition to their bids to become Financial Secretary and Welfare Secretary respectively is reflected not only in the quality of their political adversaries, Adesina Adegbite and Abdullateef Abdulsalam respectively, but also in the fact that both are from the formidable Omole team which has the real capacity of ensuring band wagon effect on the voting pattern. Possible help however may come to the duo of Esegine and Ahmed from Team Akinmola which is not fielding candidates for Financial Secretary and Welfare Secretary positions.

Thirdly and probably the most important factor is the Dele Oloke personae itself. In 2002, the personae did not sell in the Ikeja polls when he contested against Osahon Ihenyen for 1st Vice-Chairman and lost by one vote.

In 2004, against Niyi Idowu for 1st Vice-Chairman it did not fly. In 2006, against Niyi Idowu again for Chairman, it sank under water. In 2008, it couldn’t get a spot unlike Archimedes to stand as he was disqualified from the race for chairman. In 2010, can it take muster and catch fire?

Most pundits answer this question largely in the negative because the known Oloke political personae is not attractive and has not changed in any significant way from the past, which is projected to the public as temperamental, proud (boastful of wealth, influence, exposure and alleged malevolent metaphysical powers) and being extremely uncharitable to political opponents whom he haughtily dismisses as “jobless boys,” “unsuccessful legal practitioners,” and “election riggers.”
However Dele Oloke and his co-travellers are hoping for a reversal of fortunes for him this time around. This year he has put in much more mileage in his campaign than ever before and his supporters believe that sympathy votes may give him the crown.

TEAM AKINMOLA
Another team in contention is the Niyi Akinmola group. This group shares some characteristics with the Dele Oloke group. One, it is led by a break-away member of the mainstream progressive-political caucus of the Tiger Bar, in the person of Niyi Akinmola himself.

Just like Niyi Idowu the leader of the Dele Oloke group, he broke away in February 2008, after unresolved disagreement in the mainstream caucus over who should be its chairmanship candidate in the June 2008 elections.
Secondly, just like Team Oloke himself, Team Akinmola sees nothing good in the outgoing Dave Ajetomobi administration which it condemns as corrupt and non-performing.

The major political strategy of the Niyi Akinmola group in seeking power is (a) waging a campaign of calumny against the outgoing Dave Ajetomobi administration, labeling it as corrupt and with no achievement (b) introducing an ethnic agenda and demonizing the political establishment of the Ikeja Bar as anti non-Yoruba people, particularly Igbos and Mid-Westerners.

In prosecuting the first agenda, Niyi Akinmola, Terry Adeniji and Emmanuel Otobo are very active. A vicious and widespread whispering propaganda, high on speculations and abysmally low in substance spearheaded by the trio, has it that fantastic amounts of money (sometimes said to be 20 million naira, sometimes 30 million naira) have accrued to the Ikeja Bar from various sources and have been “chopped” by the incumbent chairman, Dave Ajetomobi and his cronies, all who now allegedly have acquired expensive jeeps and wear bow-ties as a display of their new found wealth.

This incredulous story is a reflection of not only the low political sagacity of the group but a mark of its desperation. If sheer desperation is enough to win political office, this group will come out tops.

Fortunately, this is not the case, more so since the desperation is not matched with effective vote-winning machinery which includes presenting credible and strong candidates and formulating attractive and plausible political programmes.
One huge problem of the Akinmola group is that it is a hastily scrambled up group of strange bed-fellows.

It appears that it was the stark reality that he could not reasonably go it alone, the way he attempted in 2008 to become chairman of the Ikeja Bar that apparently forced Akinmola into his late evening alliance with the trio of Emmanuel Otobo, Terry Adeniji and Leye Omitola; the first two who are particular malcontents in the out-going regime of Dave Ajetomobi and specially blessed with the talent for inventing tales, spreading baseless rumours and marketing poisonous political gossip against opponents.-

The snag is that these practitioners of TENUBOLE (amebo) politics and their leader Niyi Akinmola have no concrete proofs to back their claims of corruption and non-performance against the Dave Ajetomobi administration. This failure has diluted the potency of their smear campaigns and lowered their prestige and appeal considerably since lawyers are swayed by proofs and not by statement of claims.
The second aspect of the political maneuver is to attack the sponsors of the Omole Team as a political caucus that does not care much for members of the Ikeja Bar who are non-Yoruba and and exclude them from leadership participation in the Ikeja Bar.

However the group has no effective proofs to back this. To start with, it was the caucus of the Omole team, that provided the political muscle which ensured that Emmanuel, Otobo (Igbo) himself in 2008 did not have to face Miss Biola Oketoki (Yoruba) at the polls for Social Secretary position by ensuring her proper disqualification from the race.

Two, the Dave Ajetomobi administration sponsored by the same mainstream caucus sponsoring team Omole does not discriminate against any ethnic group or person. It is on record that the incumbent Treasurer Mrs. Gloria Nweze,a n Easterner was appointed into that post by the mainstream caucus, likewise Mr. Monday Ubani (another Easterner) was appointed the chairman of the prestigious Law Week Committee, while Mr. Kingsley Essien, Easterner, became the co-chairman of the Disciplinary Committee. Same goes for Okey Ogbu, Chairman of the Sports Committee.

Even now, it is the Omole Team that has more than one slot for non Yorubas in the Executive Committee. While Team Oloke only has Maimuna Esegine (Mid-Westerner) for Financial Secretary and Team Akinmola has Emmanuel Otobo (Igbo) for General Secretary. Team Omole is fielding the duo of Gloria Nweze (Igbo) (2nd Vice-Chairman and Carol Ibeh (Igbo) (Treasurer).

Another challenge for the Akinmola team is the credibility of their arrow-head. Akinmola professes to be a courageous and progressive bar man, with high level of integrity, but his past as an officer of the branch does not support this claim.

For example in 2005, whilst serving as the Financial Secretary, he was staunchly against the Ikeja Bar stand of boycotting and picketing the court of Magistrate Aje-Afunwa who had subjected Rotimi Komolafe, a legal practitioner, to the indignity of cutting grass because the lawyer’s phone rang out in court. When Akinmola’s secret lobby for “mercy” for his magistrate friend Aje-Afunwa failed, he prophesied loudly and wrongly too that “the Ikeja Bar would be disgraced at the end of the day for insisting on the discipline of this magistrate.”
Two years later when the Ikeja Bar sent a delegation led by Dare Akande to enquire from Chief Magistrate Adedayo why his honour was insisting that scores of ladies charged before her court for all sorts of simple offences should pay N20, 000.00 as bail bond security before the perfection of their bail, a panicky and troubled Niyi Akinmola called Akande aside to advise that “when we see the magistrate don’t let us raise the issue of payment of money o!”
The advice left Akande aghast. “But what were we sent to do then if we do not talk about the money?” was Akande’s query. As 2nd Vice-Chairman in the Niyi Idowu administration (2006 – 2008), Akinmola was given the responsibility of purchasing a functional generator for the branch. The eventual discharge of the task became a scandal since the supposedly brand new generator allegedly bought for the sum of one hundred and sixty thousand naira, started developing faults after barely two weeks of purchase.

At the end of the day, a probe panel was set up on Niyi Akinmola by the Executive Committee. The Committee found among other things from the dealer that Akinmola had insisted on having refurbished and re-assembled parts for the generator even when he was advised against it.
It may interest readers to know that the chairman of the panel that found Akinmola wanting was no other person than Mr. Terry Adeniji who is now running as Akinmola’s 1st Vice-Chairman and is fond of attacking other people’s integrity but who is now dumb and blind to Akinmola’s past transgression.
The generator in question packed up ingloriously and completely barely a year after installation, despite gulping a lot of money for fruitless repairs. This shameful situation earned Akinmola the sobriquet “Generator Officer” or “Mr. Generator.”
Akinmola’s preferred candidate for 1st Vice-Chairman Terry Adeniji may have agood showing but will find it hard to prevail over his rival in the Omole Team, to wit, Yinka Farounbi who is expected to benefit not only from his own influence but also the extensive network of his mainstream group.
As for Akinmola’s preferred choice for General Secretary, his chances of success at the polls appears even slimmer than that of his co-Goebbelist Terry Adeniji, since one of his two rivals is Adesina Ogunlana, whose electoral appeal seems very wide and appears to cut across all the three groups. In contrast, Otobo is so obscure that even Titi Osagie, the most junior of the trio at the Bar, is expected to do better than him.
If the Akinmola group will have any member in the new government, that luck could most probably go to Leye Omitola, the group’s preferred choice for Treasurer. The reason may lie in the fact that his singular opponent, Carol Ibeh is not too prominent, while he personally does not carry the general stain of his group of being mud rackers, bearers of false tales and touters of wild speculations against political opponents.
However the danger to his success at the polls are real. For one, his opponent is not Yoruba and so can benefit from the ethnic card politics, Omitola’s group is pushing.
Secondly Ibeh is a lady lawyer thus the Beijing Conference spirit may come to her aid at the polls – the “we should give women a chance to also lead” syndrome.
Thirdly, she is a proper Lagos girl and so is very much at home with the Yoruba whose language she fluently speaks unaccented and so can rake in votes from that ethnic majority.
Finally she is a member of the mainstream group, whose network influence will certainly provide succor for her.

TEAM OMOLE
From all indications, the team to beat in the 2010 election, is the Omole group, led by Oludare Akande, a.k.a Leader. Comprised of inveterate political thinkers, planners and fighters, the fulcrum of the group has produced in direct succession three administrations for the Ikeja Bar, the last being the outgoing Dave Ajetomobi administration (2008 – 2010).

The striking political sagacity of the group in winning elections is the careful choice and presentation of candidates to the electorate. The easy switch of Adebamigbe Omole as their eventual flag bearer for Chairman in place of the political supremo, Dare Akande their initial choice, while typical of the group’s sophistication and organizational discipline, caught the opposition unawares and left them floundering. The reason: Omole unlike his rivals, Niyi Akinmola and Oloke, is not in bed with any controversy and has a very clean political image. Yet Omole is not a green horn in Ikeja Bar politics. He was in year 2000, the Assistant General Secretary of the Ikeja Bar and between 2004 and 2006, he was the General Secretary in the acclaimed administration of Adekunle Ojo. Even his rivals concede that he is a gentleman and would have preferred to meet Dare Akande, the hardy political strongman in the field of engagement than the gentle, disarming Omole. So perplexed by the emergence of Omole as the chairmanship candidate of the Mainstream Group was the Akinmola’s “we-are-the-only-honest-joes-all-others-are-bad-coins” group that it resorted to claiming that Omole was brought up to do a cover-up job for the Dave Ajetomobi administration’s alleged embezzlement spree!

In deploying Adesina Ogunlana, perhaps its best known member to the influential but subordinate position of General Secretary, the mainstream group again showed class in political strategy. Many had expected Ogunlana to vie for Chairman, the most prime position in Tiger land but by going to the lower league of Secretaryship, his candidacy simply becomes overwhelming. He is there like a bull in a pen of goats and rams. The deployment of the publisher of the famous Squib magazine Secretaryship leaves the mainstream group in the best possible position to retain the crucial post in the family as their wont since 2004.

THE BATTLE OF TEAMS: WHO WILL WIN?

2010-06-02T06:04:00.001-07:00

MY TEAM AND I HAVE DONE OUR BEST FOR THE BAR...DAVE AJETOMOBI ESQ.

2010-06-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

Until he became the chairman of the most potent branch of the Nigerian Bar Association in 2008, Dave Ajetomobi Esq., a 1990 graduate of the Nigerian Law School, was not a very well known figure in the legal community. And there were doubts in some quarters about his capacity to creditably lead the great Ikeja Bar, that had shone like a million stars four years earlier under the chairmanship of Adekunle Ojo Esq.
Now two years later, only few critical observers of theBar would disagree on the point that Ajetomobi has provided such great leadership to the Tiger Bar that her present mark in the horizon had hitherto not been reached.
If the Adekunle Ojo years (2004-2006) in the life of the Ikeja Bar was a golden era, could the times of the Dave Ajetomobi leadership (2008-2010) not be hailed as the ‘diamond years?’
SQUIB: Your branch the NBA Ikeja is popularly known as the ‘Tiger Bar;’ why the appellation ‘Tiger?’ some say it is an unsavoury cognomen, what’s your view?
AJETOMOBI: We are called Tigers because of our forthrightness, dynamism and promptitude in reacting positively to issues. We are not called Tigers because of any unreasonable aggression or any destructive tendency but because you can count on us to be bold, intrepid and principled in our stands.
Our branch from the onset, is a natural habitat for Bar activism and national patriotism. Little wonder it was home to late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the one-man army against military dictatorship and oppression. It is home to the likes of Femi Falana, Bamidele Aturu, etc. and it is only in a branch like Ikeja, that a magazine like yours (the Squib) could have been born.
SQUIB: As the leaderof the bar in Lagos State, kindly appraise the judiciary in Nigeria and Lagos in particular?
AJETOMOBI: Our courts have intervened on some occasions at critical points to save the country from tragic consequences. However by and large the judiciary has performed below expectation. There have been strange judgements, contradictory judgementsw and the situation is now pathetic in the Court of Appeal. The various divisions of the court give conflicting decisions on the same issues of law.
Also none of the cases of corruption against high officials of state like governors, ministers, legislators, have taken off at all after arraignment n the Federal High Courts; except in few cases where charges are struck off like Ibori or where ridiculous plea bargains have been entered.
Cases against ex-governors Fayose, Orji Uzor Kalu and Nnamani have not taken off at all. On the other hand a court has given perpetual injunction against the EFCC not to move against Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers State.
The only possible exception is the Olabode George case, where the defendants received speedy trial and judgement and are currently serving their terms. Another disheartening development is what obtains at the Federal High Court when drug barons and couriers are given light sentences in the name of plea bargain. Everybody would remember the case of the actress caught with cocaine at the airport a few years ago and given a slap-on-the-wrist judgement.
The Lagos State Judiciary comparatively has done well. However there have been several complaints from members of the Bar that in Lagos courts, the phrase ‘definite hearing’ actually means ‘adjournment sine die’ due to the attitude of some of our judges of not diligently tackling cases.
For example there are some cases which have been at the pre-trial stage for 2, 3 even 4 years contrary to the provisions of the 2004 Civil Procedure Rules. One major issue that affects the judiciary in Nigeria is that of appointment. Many times, those appointed are those who ought not to be appointed at all. These are people appointed due to family connection.
How do you explain for example a situation where you file a FHR matter before a high court and at any hearing of the matter, the court treats the applicant like an accused person and orders him into the dock, because according to the judge, her court is of the criminal division and all who appear before her are accused persons!
If high court judges are like this you can imagine the caliber of many magistrates. Many of the magistrates appear to be against the ideas and ideals of freedom, thus giving harsh and virtually impossible conditions of bail to accused persons.
Many departments in the judiciary here in Lagos: Sherriff, Probate, Registries are manned by disgruntled staff prone to bribery and extortion, thus hampering the smooth running of the institution. As a Bar we have reported the situation to the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge has adopted an open door policy with us in Ikeja and we find it much easier than in the past to work with the leadership of the judiciary.
Yet a lot still has to be done. Even there is labour unrest in the judiciary. First it was judiciary workers, the non-lawyer cadres that have been going on strikes. Now the magistrates too are toeing that line. This is not good for the image of the judiciary for it portrays it as an unstable and consequently ineffective sector.
SQUIB: You became the chairman of NBA Ikeja two years ago and your term will end in three weeks time; please describe your experience in power.
AJETOMOBI: It has been a wonderful experience. I want to point out that our tenure is the shortest. We took over in the last week of June 2008 and we shall be relinquishing the position in the first week of June 2010. However, the achievements are not measured by how long but how well. I can say with the help of the almighty God and the support of our members, we have achieved unprecedented success. Firstly, we were able to put in place a group life insurance scheme for our members who are required to contribute only five thousand naira per year as premium. And in the case of death or permanent incapacitation, the insured or the next of kin is entitled to one million naira from the insurance company. In case of accident, the insured will be given one thousand naira for treatment. The scheme has been on since 2006, with less than five members participating. But under this administration we have 200 members, participating in this scheme.
Under my watch the Ikeja branch led other branches to bid for and host the 2009 Annual Bar Conference successfully. The Lagos Conference is the most successful in recent times. The last conference which was held in 2008 in Abuja under President Olisa Agbakoba S.A.N ended with fifty million naira debt. That conference was an unmitigated disaster while the Lagos Conference ended with 75 million naira profit and it was a huge success. The LOC was pioneered and peopled mainly by the Ikeja Branch. On employment of junior lawyers, we were able to create an employment bureau under the office of the Welfare Secretary who donated a page in the Squib magazine for the listing of unemployed junior lawyers thus creating a pool of willing employees for the attention of potential employers. Also the Fawehinmiism programme took a turn for the better under this administration in terms of the quality of personalities invited as guest speakers. In 2009, we had Professor Dora Akunyili as the guest speaker while in 2010 we had the governor of Edo State, the person of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
The quality of law week programmes and membership participation increase greatly in my regime. In the 2009 law week we enjoyed the participation of Governor Babatunde Fashola and Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji the Honourable Speaker Lagos House of Assembly and some slate commissioners. In 2010, the annual law dinner was attended by the governor of Rivers State, the representatives of Lagos and Kwara State governors, two former governors (Donald Duke and Orji Uzor Kalu) among other dignitaries. Also as part of 2010 law week, we introduce the Alao Aka Bashorun lecture series in honour of the late president of the NBA Mr. Alao Aka Bashorun who did so much for the Bar and the country. Another special feature of 2010 law week programme, is the book launch in honour of the governor of Lagos State. I must say that during my tenure, we enjoy excellent relationship with the Lagos State judiciary under the leadership of lion. Justice Inumidun Akande. We also enjoy a very cordial relationship with the executive under the leadership of Governor Fashola and also with the legislature under Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji. In the past two years, we have entrenched the NBA Ikeja in the consciousness of Nigerian lawyers as well as the government and people of this country. Thus, during the 2008 national election of the bar, my administration propelled the victory of Adekunle Ojo our former chairman, against all odds, as the 2nd vice president of National NBA, the highest position ever attained by any member of NBA Ikeja branch.
Also, we afforded members opportunity to serve the bar regardless of the part of the country they come from, as long as they have something to offer the Bar. Yet another of our achievements was the fact that the last strike of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria Lagos State chapter was called off in January 2009 as a result of the intervention of the NBA Ikeja branch. When we came to office, our secretariat was still half wood, half block bungalow which we have been using for more than twenty years, we quickly inaugurated the Kemi Pinhero (S.A.N) Building Committee with the mandate to build a befitting secretariat for the branch.
Though, there was some initial delay as a result of some unfulfilled promises from some commercial bank to assist in the project. As at today, work is progressing seriously on the site. And the Lagos State Government has signaled her interest in assisting. We have had meetings with officials of the state government to discuss the modalities. For this, we are grateful the Governor of Lagos State, the honourable Attorney General Mr. Supo Shasore S.A.N. as well as the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice Lagos State and Solicitor General Mr. Lawal Pedro S.A.N. In the past two years, we have been very vocal on sensitive national issues. This has made an authoritative voice in national affairs. We have also put in place, laptop acquisition scheme whereby our members will pick a laptop of their choice and pay over a period of twelve months. We have also ensured that we participate in the social functions of our members as much as possible, whether within or outside Lagos. Also, as a result of our cordial relationship with the judiciary, the Honourable Chief Judge obliged us the use of our present temporary secretariat within the Ikeja High Court Complex which has saved us the cost and inconvenience of renting a place for our meetings and other activites.
SQUIB: I must say that the list of the achievements of your administration appears quite intimidating but there are critics who are not impressed at all with your regime. Some of these critics say that your administration is tribalistic, discriminatory and even corrupt. There claims is that your regime has raised more than fifty million, which has been diverted into private pockets of some of your exco members. What is your reaction?
AJETOMOBI: My reaction is that it is natural for small minded people to be envious of great achievements and will say or do anything to rubbish it. Let me address the issue of tribalism. When we were elected, the cabinet was not full so we co opted six members into the executive committee. Out of these six, three were south westerners-Adesina Ogunlana, Tutu Adebayo and Akinjide Bakare. The other three are Mrs. Gloria Nweze, .Mrs Joy Nwadike and Shehu Gado. -Nweze and Nwadike are from the South eastern Nigeria while Gado is from the North.
Of course it is open knowledge that the chairman of the Law Week Committee for our two years, Mr. Monday Ubani is not Yoruba. Also the Co-chairman of the Disciplinary Committee Mr. Kingsley Essien is not Yoruba. What of Mr. Okey Ogbu chairman of the sports committee? Accusing me of tribalism is funny. My wife is a south easterner.
So those who are going about saying we are tribalists arc merely out for mischief. So there is no basis for the allegation of discrimination and tribalism. My administration encourages any of our members irrespective of tribe, sex or religion to serve. On the issue of allegation of corruption, I even heard that members of exco have bought new jeeps and we are now using bowties as a symbol of our new found affluence. What silly talk and blatant lies! The truth is that our funds are intact and nobody has tampered with it. My office in Ikeja got burnt in 2008 while I was on NBA assignment outside Lagos. I could not afford a new office in Ikeja, so I moved to Shomolu where I can afford an office because I have to replace everything that got burnt in the office so if I have been using NBA money for personal needs, I would have been able to secure an office in Ikeja. I am still using my old Mercedes Benz car which one of my co-contestants then in 2008 dismissed contemptuously as a jalopy that was worth nothing more than 150 thousand naira. These funny critics are fond of telling false stories so as to lead members astray.
When Adekunle Ojo finished his term in 2006 this same set of people started the false stories that he used NBA money to vehicles for himself and junior counsel. They are still the ones going about now saying that after the 2009 conference of the NBA that the national body gave Ikeja Bar twenty million naira!
The truth is that what the national body gave was 20% of the 75million naira profit of the 2009 conference to the three branches of the bar in Lagos State which co-hosted the very successful conference. Of course that meant 15 million naira for Ikorodu, Lagos and Ikeja Bars. So we here in Ikeja only got five million naira and this has been announced to the general house.
So where did our friends get their twenty million naira figure from. Even more ridiculous is their new claim that we have sunk thirty million naira into the new Bar center project. What a huge lie! They should please tell the world where this thirty million naira came from.
Happily 1 am not bothered about all the smear campaigns. Our detractors are simply envious of our achievements. However, envy and malice never take away the sweetness of honey. Say whatever they like, our people know that, by the grace of God, my administration has greatly lifted our Bar beyond the mark we met it.
In 2008, during the election their campaign was that we were mere boys suffering from infantile radicalism, if not outright juvenile delinquency. They claimed they were the mature ones, the ones with right ideas and exposure and that we could never lead the Bar well. But how wrong to the glory of God we have proved them.
SQUIB: When General Ibrahim Babangida was military president of Nigeria he said while he did not know who would succeed him, he knew those who would not. Regarding the June 7 2010 election in your branch, are you of the Babangida persuasion?
AJETOMOBI: I am not like that at all. Why should any man play God? Of course I am interested in having a successor who would keep the flag of the Ikeja Bar flying higher still, but it goes no further than that. It is only the electorate that can decide who my successor in office will be.
We have set up an Electoral Committee made-up of three credible members of the branch who arc already at work. Personally I have no concern at all that the election will be anything less than free and fair. I wish all the contestants the very best of luck. The world is a stage, I have done my part, to the best of my abilities and now is the time to go.

TIGERS' GREAT WEEK OF FUN, LAW AND SERVICE

2010-06-02T06:02:00.002-07:00

From 23rd April 2010 to 2nd May 2010, the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association involved its members in a welter of stimulating and renewing activities, in the celebration of her Annual Law Week Programme.
The hugely successful programme which spanned eight days drew the participation of the heads of all the arms of government of Lagos State and eminent Nigerians.
The great promise of successs manifested from the very first day of the week, being Friday 23rd April 2010. The event of the day was the press conference about the Law Week which took place at the Temporary Bar Centre of the Tigers in the premises of the Ikeja High Court. The Bar Center was over-filled with legal practitioners and journalists at the occasion.
On Monday 26th April 2010, the turn-out of members of the branch for the prison visit was impressive and in actual fact, unprecedented. Those who participated in the visit to the Medium Security Prison Kirikiri, in companyof the Honourable Chief Judge of the state Inumidun Akande J. could not be less than eighty in number.
The Honourable Chief Judge, graciously released nineteen of theinmates, adjudged to be deserving of his lordship’s clemency in the course of the visit.
One of the lucky inmates moved the assembly of lawyers to tears, when upon hearing the pronouncement of his release, he showed his gratitude by an unabashed fulllenght prostration on the floor the honourable Chief Judge. The young man had been in detention for more than a year over a manslaughter case.
During the visit, the women lawyer group. Know as F.I.D.A donated some gift items, to the prison inmates.
On Tuesday 27th April 2010, the Tigers gathered in even greater numbers a the RENAISSANCE HOTEL, ALAUSA IKEJA for the launching of a book commissioned by their branch in honour of the Governor of Lagos State Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola S.A.N.
The event kicked off about seventy five minutes after schedule, even though government sources disclosed that the honouree, Governor Fashola S.A.N was ready to be at the venue for 10.00 am prompt as scheduled but had to tarry so as not to meet an empty hall.
Also the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Justice George Oguntade until recently of the Supreme Court of Nigeria did not turn up. However a good replacement was found in the person of Chief Omolade Okoya-Thomas, the well known business guru and who holds the important title of the Asoju Oba of Lagos.
Chief Omolade Okoya-Thomas so adroitly presided over the programme wihin minute of being saddled with the responsibility of being the chairman of the occasion that the Master of Ceremony wasted no time in promoting him from ‘Acting Chairman’ to ‘Chairman.’
Other dignitaries who came for the programme included Mrs. Aka-Bashorun, the widow of NBA’s most famous president, Alao Aka-Bashorun, some Lagos State commissioners like Mr. Muiz Banire, Mr. Supo Shasore SAN, honourble Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Lagos State, some chairmen of Local Government in the state and Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, former Solicitor-General, Lagos State and later Commissioner for Lands.
The review of the book edited by Dave Ajetomobi Esq., containing 40 papers was done by Mr. Arthur-Worrey. The cover price of the book is N10,000 per copy. Mid-way into the programme, His Excellency the Governor arrived and more excitement gripped the hall. His short, stimulating speech in which he described politics as a decent game, was well received.
The book launch was expertly handled by Chief Omolade Thomas and his exertions were not in vain as close to seven million naira in pledges and donations were realized by the Tigers at the occasion.

PROFESSOR OSIPITAN'S SHOES OF CONTROVERSY

2010-06-02T06:02:00.001-07:00

JUDGE FIGHTS JUDGE OVER CHAMBER USE

2010-06-02T06:01:00.002-07:00

The tranquility, if not the peace of a section of the Lagos High Court Igbosere was rattled recently, when two of the titans os the Administration of Justice in Lagos State clashed over space.
While the face-off lasted, hot, ,blinding sparks flew and lesser mortals dived for cover. It was a case of Egun k’egun,
Egun pade Igunnu (the clash of two well matched heavyweights).
The dramatis persona, were no less than two of our distinguished judges, M.O. Dada and Oke-Lawal J. Their quarrel was triggered off in the bid to comply with the directive of the Chief Judge of the state, Inumidun Akande J. that all judges must resume ;in their new offices (chambers & courts) latest by 12th April 2010.
As it happened, Honourable Justice Dada formerly of the Ikeja High Court, came on Friday 9th April prepared to occupy the chambers of his lordship’s learned brother, Oke-Lawal J. whom she was replacing.
However Justice Oke-Lawal was not around, but her court registrars were available. Dada J now enquired from the registrars about her brother’s chambers only to find out that the place was under lock and key and the keys were not in the possession of the registrars.
This situation according to our geckos, was not found palatable by Dada J. The honourable judge after wondering rhetorically whether the chamber in question was her brother’s private office, organized the services of offensive carpentary against thedoor of the chambers in question; much to the speechless shock and consternation of Justice Oke-Lawal’s registrars.
However a more gape-inducing event would take place. When the door of Justice Oke-Lawal’s chamber yielded to pressure and surrendered its horizontal integrity and lay humbled on the floor, a fast acting Justice Dada ordered the immediate evacuation of her brother’s office contents to the corridor.
The order was promptly obeyed. About then, Justice Oke-Lawal arrived the scene and with her very judicial eyes saw the assorted heap of her assorted office chattels in the corridor.
Feeling very embarrassed and humiliated, the displaced judge took up her displacer and that was when the guns almost literally started to boom from both sides.
The exchanges were so hot and rancorous that the invisible cover of one of our wall perching geckos was almost blown, as the gecko almost fell down in utter shock ,from seeing two gods slugging it out with the aid of weaponry on their buccal cavities.
We would not care to report the expletives that the two jurists flung at each other beyond observing that those expletives were the type that the ground squirrel heard in the olden days and went deaf.
While the combat lasted, registrars of the two judges formed a protective cordon round the theatre of confrontation to prevent innocent members of the public from stumbling upon the impressive encounter.

BEHOLD THE NEW EFCC JUDGES IN LAGOS STATE

2010-06-02T06:01:00.001-07:00

EARTHAKANDE HITS LAGOS JUDGES

2010-06-02T06:00:00.002-07:00

EARTHAKANDE HITS LAGOS JUDGES
A popular adage goes thus: change is the only permanent thing in life. Accordingly, last week, judges of the Lagos State High Court were given new postings by their chief. The transfers take effect from 12th April 2010.
Mass transfers of judges is not new. What distinguishes this particular exercise is the scrapping of the office of Administrative judge in each of the four judicial divisions of the state.
Hitherto Honourable Justice Ayo Philips was the administrative judge of the Ikeja High Court , while her sister judge – Funmilayo Atilade J. was the Administrative Judge of the Lagos High Court.
Now in the present order, Phillips J. is transferred to the Lagos High Court and is designated the “Head Judge.” On the other hand, Justice Atilade is brought from the Tafawa Balewa Square High Court, Onikan, Lagos to the Ikeja High Court, but is not designated as Head Judge. Interesting.
There is, the Squib can authoritatively reveal, wild jubilation amongst legal practitioners in Badagry at the news that Justice Adebajo the sole judicial officer there has been transferred from the division.
The judge, in the eyes of many of the lawyers practicing in Badagry and environs is not an asset to the division. Meanwhile in Ikorodu High Court, there is sadness in the hearts of many legal practitioners upon learning that their much beloved and respected Justice Habib Abiru is leaving for the Ikeja High Court.
Another notable shift is the transfer of Honourable Justice G.O.K Oyewole from the Criminal Division to the rather tame Family and Probate Division. Easily the most famous High Court judge in Nigeria on account of several big and explosive cases he had handled creditabl in the past, observers wonder whether good and full use of such a judicial hulk can be made in the soft and easy terrains of the F& P Division.
However embedded geckos have hinted to our Central Bureau that the Justice Oyewole transfer is a strategic move by the Chief Judge to tackle frontally the rot in the probate section of the High Court where there is, said a lot of illegal ‘licking’ going on.
We must appreciate our ever resourceful geckos that made sure, despite all obstacles that the document of the transfer of judges ‘flew’ to us. See Cover Story Exhibits.
NEW POSTINGS OF JUDGES AT A GLANCE (EFFECTIVE FROM 12/4/2010)
IKEJA JUDICIAL DIVISION LAGOS JUDICIAL DIVISION
GENERAL CIVIL DIVISION GENERAL CIVIL DIVISION
1. HON. JUSTICE I.E. AKANDE (MRS.) HON. C.J1. HON. JUSTICE A.A.PHILIPS(MRS) HEAD JUDGE
2. HON.JUSTICE O.O.OKE(MRS) HON. JUSTICE D.T.OKUWOBI(MRS)
3. HON.JUSTICE Y.O.IDOWU(MRS) HON.JUSTICE O. OLATERU-OLAGBEGI
4. HON.JUSTICE T.OJIKUTU-OSHODE(MRS) HON.JUSTICE S.O. ISHOLA
5. HON. I.O.KASALI(MRS) HON.JUSTICE A. OYEBANJI (MRS)
6. HON. JUSTICE A.O.OPESANWO(MRS) HON.JUSTICE S.O. NWAKA (MRS)
LANDS DIVISION LANDS DIVISION
1. HON.JUSTICE F.O. ATILADE(MRS) HON. JUSTICE K.O. ALOGBA
2. HON. JUSTICE B.O.SHITTA-BEY(MRS) HON. JUSTICE T.A.O. OYEKAN-ABDULLAI(MRS)
3. HON.JUSTICE O.O.KAYODE OGUNMEKAN(MRS) HON.JUSTICE O.A.IPAYE(MRS)
4. HON.JUSTICE R.I.B. ADEBIYI(MRS) HON.JUSTICE A.M. NICOL-CLAY(MRS)
5. HON.JUSTICE B.A. OKE-LAWAL(MRS) HON.JUSTICE M.A.DADA(MRS)
6. HON.JUSTICE O.A.TAIWO(MRS) HON.JUSTICE W.A.E.AYO(MRS)

SQUIB PROFESSOR OF LAW TACKLES SILKS

2010-06-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

Some months ago, the legal community was jolted by the news that a Lagos High Court judge had convicted and sentenced an “old lawyer,” Adebayo Jegede for contempt of court.
Further newspaper reports had it that Olusola Williams J., the honourable trial judge invited two Senior Advocates of Nigeria who were present in court to make some comments before the axe fell on Jegede, but that the silks, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan Esq., S.A.N and Chief Bayo Ayorinde Esq.,S.A.N declined any response.
The ‘say nothing’ posture of the silks immediately created ripples in the legal community as opinions differed sharply on whether the silks acted properly in the circumstances.
One of those who felt that the silks acted poorly in the circumstances is Ademola Adewale Esq., veteran columnist with the Squib, idolized in-house as ‘Squib Professor of Law.’ In his February 15 2010 Professor’s Podium column, Adewale criticized the silks in question in the Adebayo Jegede matter.
Only last week, both Professor Osipitan and Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, courtesy of a joint letter responded robustly to Ademola’s attack, and justified their refusal to make any plea for Adebayo Jegede on the ground that the accused/convict was not only properly convicted but that he, even in the dock showed no remorse for his wrong doing.
Interestingly, if only expectedly, the response of the ‘silky duo’ cut no ice with Adewale who, wait for it, this week has sent a ‘fire and pepper’ reaction to the letter of the silks to the Squib Editor-in-Chief, on the matter.
We are persuaded therefore to make the contention between the Squib ‘professor’ Ademola Adewale and the two silks as our cover story. So herein are
(a) “Professor’ Ademola Adewale’s article of 15th February 2010
(b) Professor Taiwo Osipitan S.A.N and Chief Bolaji Ayorinde’s (S.A.N) letter of 24th February 2010 to the Squib Editor.
(c) ‘Professor’ Adewale’s reaction to the response of the silk
We, must confess our doubt whether this is the end of the matter and exchanges!

INFAMY AND DISTINCTION AT THE BAR
Infamy and distinction at the Bar, vice and virtue alike are no exclusive of any group at the Bar, whether silk or non silk, young or old at the Bar. While a silk presumed to have achieved distinction at the Bar can so easily display infamy at an unguarded moment, a non silk can so easily display such remarkable brilliance and candour worthy of commendation.
There is a true life narrative of a court room incident that occurred more than 22 years ago at a court in the defunct Ondo State which included the present Ekiti State. Here is the story as narrated by a now senior lawyer.
On a fateful day before a now retired Judge of former Ondo State, the court room was filled to the brim with counsel, both young and old. As so normally happens, there was an Ibadan based silk in court who in the usual manner of members of the inner Bar coveted for himself the front row, leaving many lawyers young and old to jostle for the remaining few rows at the Bar. An attempt by a very senior lawyer, senior to Chief the silk to sit in the inner Bar was rudely rebuffed, leaving the crestfallen old man to cram himself in with many other lawyers on the limited seats at the Bar.
Soon came in a Lagos based Silk, unusually late for his case, his car having developed some fault whilst driving from his homestead in Ikenne in Ogun State to the court. Lagos Based Silk upon his entry to the Bar, promptly apologized for his unusual lateness to the court then proceeded to seek leave of the court to invite his colleagues many of whom were standing at the even outside the court, to share the inner Bar with him. This was too much for the Ibadan based silk to take; he immediately stood up to register his objection to this demeaning of the inner Bar by this open invitation of non SAN to sit in the inner Bar. After the outburst by his learned brother in the inner Bar, the Lagos based silk stood up and politely and cool as a cucumber replied his colleague ifn the Inner Bar famously: “By the grace of God, I am today, the leader of the Bar in this court having been elevated to the Inner Bar in 1983, a number of years before my learned brother and it is in that privileged position that I seek your Lordship’s leave to be joined in the Inner Bar by my learned friends, many of whom are standing uncomfortably in this court.” The court promptly granted learned silk’s request which saw many lawyers moving to share the Inner Bar with the two silks, much to the discomfiture of te Ibadan based silk who had earlier rebuffed the appeal of the elderly lawyer to share the Inner Bar with him. The Hero of this true life story is Mr. Abayomi Sogbesan SAN of blessed memory. As for the other silk in this story, please ask Mr. Adekunle Oyesanya for his true identity…
On the side of absolute distinction is the commendation of Mr. Johnson Esezobor. The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal complimented Mr. Esezobor for canvassing a fine point of law that the court was sure that most of Mr. Esezobor’s learned friends would have overlooked. This was on a day when the court sat from 9.00 am to 4.00pm with many SANs appearing, both old and young but with none of their learned silk’s receiving any such judicial approval that fateful day. If that does not amount to distinction, I do not know what does.
On a personal note, at the expense of being immodest, I now enjoy a privileged status and complimentary remarks in Justice Tijani Abubakar’s court at the Federal High Court Lagos for merely taking up the offer of the court to take up an indigent accused person’s case in line with the old tradition of the Bar that the most senior counsel in court takes up the defence of a poor accused person.
Ever since, at every of my appearance in his Lordship’s court, I get judicial commendation and recognition. While, this may not itself amount to professional distinction, it at least accords with the best traditions of our noble profession.
Finally, the Editor-in-Chief of the Squib magazine has gradually but steadily become the toast of the legal community not only in his immediate community Lagos State Judiciary but also even at the national level. The fear of the SQUIB and its ubiquitous influence is fast becoming the beginning of wisdom in Lagos State. Judges openly praise Ogunlana (by the same token others rabidly, hate his guts). Judicial technocrats dread him; even middle-level and junior judicial workers notorious for frustrating the wheels of justice where their palms are not greased, restrain themselves where his matters and interests are involved. Everywhere he is sighted, he is out of malice, mischief or genuine affection, hailed: ‘awaiting SAN, SAN-to-be, SAN of the future.’ He has also established a reputation for competence in criminal law trial – an area in which there were few competent hands until the advent of the EFCC cases and high profile accused persons. Yes, not all these praises are heartfelt and sincere. But the fact remains, with the abrasive crusade against corruption and injustice championed in the last 9 years by Mr. Adesina Ogunlana through the medium of the hard hitting and fire spitting SQUIB magazine, Mr. Ogunlana has achieved uncommon distinction at the Bar.

WHY NIGERIAN LAWYERS SHOULD EMBRACE THE CLA

2010-06-02T05:59:00.004-07:00

SQUIB COVER STORY
WHY NIGERIAN LAWYERS SHOULD EMBRACE THE CBA
DATELINE: 18/2/2010
It was evening and she had come dressed, prepared to enjoy an open air dinner sponsored by Ricky Tarfa S.A.N for all the attendees of the NBA’s National Executive Committee meeting, Yola, Adamawa State.
As she walked gingerly on the field, apparently looking for a place to sit, the Squib watched with interest. Earlier in the afternoon, during the NEC meeting, she had spoken about the forthcoming event of the international association of which she is deputy leader.
From a distance, Boma Ozobia, the Vice-President of the Commonwealth Law Association impresses as a cool and organized personality. Up close, her gentleness reveals an easygoing yet astute personality, blessed with a telling mental acuity.
To cut a long story short, Boma came for dinner but the Squib landed an interview with her. Don’t mind our manners please; do enjoy the dinner, sorry, the interview.
SQUIB: Good evening Madam, our readers will like to know a little about you.
OZOBIA: Obviously I am a legal practitioner. I qualified in England (Birmingham University) and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1988. I am a commercial law practitioner. My firm STERLING PARTNERS is a partnership.
SQUIB: I never knew until this afternoon that you are the Vice-President of the Commonwealth Law Association. Please tell me more about the CLA.
OZOBIA: The name CLA speaks for itself – it is an association of lawyers practicing in the British Commonwealth countries. The CLA comprises individual and institution memberships. That is individuals like me and you can join and our Nigerian Bar Association can also be a member.
In my view, the CLA is one international Bar Association that Nigerian Lawyers should belong to. It is not only that it is a large association but also that it has the special distinction of dealing in values, traditions, experiences and issues relevant to our practice in Nigeria because our country shares legal, political and economic heritage with the member states of the British commonwealth.
So it is not just a matter of getting international exposure, by attending international conferences but CLA conferences are the ones that can benefit Nigerian lawyers the most because you can easily relate with and identify the issues of discourse because of the common background of the members.
Of course as is well known, the Commonwealth countries have similar legal systems and as trade expands, legal practice expands and interacts, thereby creating huge networking opportunities among practitioners who are members of the CLA. Say for example a business in Kenya is seeking trade space in Nigeria, and I am a Nigerian lawyer who through the CLA, knows the Kenyan lawyers servicing the business in Kenya, it becomes easier for them to recommend my services in Nigeria to that Kenyan business than a Nigerian lawyer they do not know.
SQUIB: So how does the individual lawyer become a member of CLA?
OZOBIA: You can register via the internet. Or you can become an automatic member for a year by registering for the Conference of the CLA. Nigeria is hosting the conference this year from 8th – 11th April 2010 at the Hilton Abuja and the theme is “21st Century Lawyer, Present Challenges, Future Skills.” The registration cost is 84,000 naira.
SQUIB: What professional credo do you work with?
OZOBIA: It is this: “Nothing but the best.” I believe in giving the best of my services to clients and charge what I consider is fair and not what I think the client can afford. I believe so much in practical legal solutions to client’s problems and the joy is having my client coming back, because we have been fair to them and have given them quality service. I believe that I am only as good as my client thinks I am.
SQUIB: And what do you think of the legal profession in Nigeria?
OZOBIA: Nigerian lawyers are good people. We are concerned about the progress of our country and do give much help to our people. It is a common thing for lawyers to give pro-bono services. Btu which other professional group does that? Doctors, Engineers, etc., don’t. People don’t give credit for our good heart.

A SAD DAY FOR THE BAR: LAWYER HISSES ON HIGH COURT JUDGE

2010-06-02T05:59:00.003-07:00

“Please come over quick to Justice Candide-Johnson’s court. Come and witness how a lawyer is seriously misbehaving in that court. It is so bad that one of the lawyers there has declared that in all of his 24 years of practice, he has never seen such shameful conduct from any counsel. They are still at it. Come now.”
Dateline – February 15 2010. The time was 11.50 a.m, when this call from a gecko, a regular litigant in the court of Honourable Justice Jide Candide-Johnson of the Ikeja High Court, Ikeja Lagos.
The importance of the call was underscored when yet another gecko sent a message that the Squib should come and cover a development in Justice Candide-Johnson’s court, that had already warranted the presence of Dave Ajetomobi Esq. the chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
When the Squib got to the ‘scene of the crime,’ the whole court was in a hub-hub. The judge had repaired to his chambers, working as it turned out to be on the “form and content” of formal contempt proceedings of a gentleman whom the Squib found standing embattled in the criminal dock of the court.
The Squib noticed no less than 30 litigants, who sat quietly in their seats. The lawyers numbered about 20 but only one or two were not in an agitated and upset mood.
The lawyers in different groups were expressing shock and disappointment at the conduct of their colleague in the dock, a lawyer who rejoiced in the name of Oluwatoyin Oluwafemi Uko and who was called to the Bar in December 1991.
According to various sources, trouble started when Barrister Uko suddenly stood up in the bar and in a rather peremptory manner asked the court for the indulgence of having his case called out of turn stating that he had become uncomfortable with the heat in the court room.
The honourable judge in response pointed out that Uko had not cared to beg the permission of senior counsel at the bar to ask for the special treatment, caring to note that the proper way for a junior counsel in Uko’s shoes was to first consult individually with identified seniors in the bar before approaching the bench.
Nonetheless the judge granted the request but a conflict arose when the judge observed that Uko had not filed a counter motion to his opponent’s pending application and yet wanted to join issues on the application.
When Uko would not take the hint of court or listen to the suggestions of some of his colleagues to seek for an adjournment to get time to do the needful, the court ruled that the counsel for the adverse party should move his application.
That was when the real drama began. Oluwatoyin Uko’s reaction to the order of the court was to explode a loud hiss indeed and fling his left arm in the direction of the face of the judge in a clear un-mistakable non verbal gesture of “And so bloody what!”
Shock and bewilderment ran through the bar at Uko’s display but worse was to come. A clearly dismayed Justice Candide-Johnson blurted out, “Are you mad?”
Recovering his composure, the now embattled judge ordered Uko to leave the bar and enter the civilian dock. The lawyer flung down his wig and gown and proceeded to the dock and horror of horrors, unbuckled his wristwatch and attemped to remove his lawyer’s jacket.
Seeing this, the judge ordered him to the criminal dock. The lawyer marched there with the bellicosity of a man prepared for the worst.
The judge, thoroughly embarrassed and scandalized, invited selected counsel, Mr. Babatunde Osilaja, Mr. Ephraim Sam, Mr. Debo Oduguwa and Mr. Dave Ajetomobi to make some comments on the ugly development.
All the four counsel pleaded with the judge to forgive Uko whose behavior all collectively abjured. Meanwhile, Uko was still his defiant, insolent self, disagreeing with all those who found his actions and utterances disagreeable. At this point, the judge rose to retire to his chambers and invited the four counsel who had earlier on addressed him, to join him in chambers.
When The counsel went in and continued pleading with the judge. After about an hour, the honourable judge came out of his chamber and reconvened the court.
The moment of truth came for the hissing lawyer, Oluwatoyin Uko when the registrar of the court read the one count charge of contempt of court prepared by the judge to him and asked him: “Are you guilty or not?”
At this point, the hissing lawyer was sweating profusely even as he peered out of his horn-rimmed glasses. He looked to the right. There was no salvation. He looked to the left. There was no deliverance. He looked up at the ceiling but the face of the Lord was not near. He looked down but the earth refused to swallow him.
For a whole minute, the barrister could not talk. When the judge became impatient with this new found dumbness of Uko and readied himself to record a plea of ” not guilty” and then proceed to sentencing. Uko quickly found his voice.
He was now a transformed man. The cockiness, the brashness, the insolent air, the combativeness with which he had assailed the judge and defied the good counsel of his colleagues earlier on had deserted him.
Between him and the yawning jaws of the ‘government lodge at the Kirikiri prisons, Lagos was but just a step away.
In a broken and cracked voice, the hissing barrister - now whimpering, ate crow and begged in a most pitiable way for the mercy of the court. So abject did he become that he expressed his readiness to salute the court by prostrating right there in the open court to the judge in front of everyone.
The judge at this point called for allocutus for the defendant. Messers Osilaja, Oduguwa, Ephraim Sam and Dave Ajetomobi stood up and joined Uko to plead for mercy.
The honourable judge heard their pleas and struck out the contempt charge against the hissing lawyer who had thoroughly made a public fool of himself and causing his colleagues and indeed litigants in court to seriously question his mental balance.

THE MAROONING OF A CHIEF JUDGE

2010-06-02T05:59:00.001-07:00

False imprisonment: the unlawful arrest or detention of a person without warrant, or by an illegal warrant, or a warrant illegally executed, and either in a prison or a place used temporarily for that purpose, or by force and constraint without confinement. False imprisonment consists in the unlawful detention of the person of another, for any length of time, whereby he is deprived of his personal liberty. Dupler v Seubert, 68 W is.2d 626, 230 N.W.2d 626, 631. The unlawful detention of occupant of an automobile may be accomplished by driving so rapidly that he cannot alight.
A person commits a misdemeanor if he knowingly restrains another unlawfully so as to interfere substantially with his liberty. Model Penal Code 212.3
The tort of “false imprisonment” is the nonconsensual, intentional confinement of a person, without lawful privilege, for an appreciable length of time, however short. City of Newport Beach v Sasse, 9 Cal.App.3d 803, 88 Cal. Rptr. 476, 480. Restatement, Torts 35. (BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY SIXTH EDITION PAGE 757).
On 8th September 2009, Honourable Justice Inumidun Akande, the erstwhile administrative judge of the Lagos High Court was sworn in as the new Chief Judge of Lagos State.
She was replacing Honourable Justice Augustine Adetula Alabi. Like all her predecessors, who ruled the Lagos Judiciary from the Ikeja High Court headquarters, the natural public expectation was that the new Chief Judge would move over to Ikeja High Court and take up the Chief Judge’s office.
When this expectation did not materialize in the first few days of the new Chief Judge’s ascension to power nobody was perturbed. In fact two to three weeks later, the matter took on a hilarious dimension as common lore had it that the new Chief Judge was ‘sanitising’ and ‘sanctifying’ the Chief Judge’s office to avoid contamination from the after effect of the exploits of her former boss in the exalted office.
It was widely alleged that the new Chief Judge was in no hurry to step into an office where raincoats and dry molten lava could be nestling behind rugs and couches.
Some others alleged that the new Chief Judge was assembling a ‘conk’ team of alfas and pastors with a sprinkle of ‘erivos’ to ensure a spiritual mine sweep of the former office of Chief Judge Alabi who was not favourably disposed to the emergence of Akande as his successor.
However after more than six weeks of coming to power and Akande C.J still remained in her old office in the Lagos High Court, tongues now began to wag against her.
Some were of the view that the new chief was just acting out her ‘normal peculiar character’ in ‘refusing’ to leave Lagos for Ikeja. Others opined that the new Chief Judge was determined to have an ornate and expensive office as Chief Judge to satisfy her personal taste and ego and as such does not care which ever length of time that goal is achieved.
The necessary implication of the presence of the Chief Judge in Lagos High Court is that all the important subordinates of hers, particularly the Chief Registrar and her three deputies – Administrative, Legal and Special Duties have had to have offices equally in Lagos High Court and maintain constant shuttles between Ikeja and Lagos at no small expense, exertion and inconvenience.
The inconsistent presence of these key officials in Ikeja is, taking its toll on operations of the Judiciary. Lawyers, litigants, other Lagos judiciary staff and other members of the public who need to meet with these officials for official reasons have had quite a hectic time making contacts with them in Ikeja as they are not regular there like before.
Now it is five months and one week since Akande .J was sworn in as the Chief Judge of Lagos State. Nonetheless the Chief Judge is still operating from Lagos High Court, a situation many stakeholders in the judiciary are not pleased with and appear baffled at the existence of the anomalous situation.
By sheer serendipity however, the Squib recently stumbled on hard evidence that indicates that Akande .J is not responsible for her continued stay in Lagos and rather is the victim of the situation.
According to a highly perched gecko on the rungs of power in the new administration of the Lagos State Judiciary, it is by extension, the Ministry of Justice Lagos State that has prevented the Chief Judge even if only unwittingly, from using her Ikeja office.
Said our source: “The Chief Judge is very much interested in moving her office to the headquarters in Ikeja but the place has been undergoing renovation for several weeks now. Of course you don’t expect the C.J to move into the office when the work in still in progress.
Now what most people don’t know or have forgotten is that the renovation of the Chief Judge’s office if not being handled by the Lagos State Judiciary.
The contract for the renovation was awarded by the Ministry of Justice and the contractor doing it is engaged by the Ministry of Justice. As usual with contractors from the Ministry of Justice, they work so slowly that you may fairly accuse them of nonchalance, incompetence or downright sabotage. Look at the court repairs, for several years now at the same Ikeja High Court they have been doing repairs of the court but it has never ended.
In short, what is holding back the C.J in Lagos is simply because she has no Ikeja office to go to.
Yes it it true that she is insisting that the office of the Chief Judge should look great – there is nothing bad about that request.
Remember that the Chief Judge is the head of one of the three arms of government. If the offices of the other two heads of government: the Governor and the Speaker are good and first class, why should the office of the head of the judiciary be ordinary and unimpressive?
As things stand, it is not clear when the renovating contractor will finish her job.
However judging from the rather slow pace of work, and the notorious reputation of contractors from the Ministry of Justice to execute their briefs in the Lagos Judiciary at the pace of a bride walking down the aisle, it may well be in the next legal year, that the renovation would finally end.”

SILKS IN SOUP

2010-06-02T05:58:00.001-07:00

THE STRANGE CASE OF A FAKE BAR MAN

2010-02-11T00:51:00.000-08:00

This is a story, that seems too unreal to be true. But, the simple truth is that it is true.
Once upon a time, no distant past, for that matter, just December 2009, a man confidently and calmly arrived the portals of the Secretariat of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Quietly and politely, in a soft voice the man a 60 year old, Victor Kayode Jones asked the desk officer of the Tigers, a lady called Queen Ebohon how he could become a member of the famous branch. He explained briefly that before then he was a member of the NBA, Lagos branch and showed Miss Ebohon some receipts of his membership fees of the Lagos Bar.
Not mindful that any thing could be amiss, Miss Ebohon listed out the financial implications of the membership of the Tiger Bar (#10,000.00) and gave out membership forms to Mr. Jones to fill.
Straightaway, the applicant paid the #10,000.00 registration fee and peaceably made his exit, after collecting the necessary form from Ebohon.
A few days later, the prospective Tiger Bar member came back and promptly submitted the membership forms he had collected from Miss Ebohon.
Miss Ebohon noticed some interesting omissions and ‘additions’ in the membership forms she gave to Mr. Jones. She decided to notify the branch chairman, Dave Ajetomobi Esq.
For example, in filling the form, Jones stated his office/chamber’s address as “c/o The Library, 196A Awolowo Road Ikoyi. (You wonder?) He did not state his residential address and left blank the portion requesting information about his educational career. Also left blank was the portion demanding to know the year of Jones’s call. Please see cover story ‘exhibit.’
However the man attached quite a bundle of papers to the membership form.
In some parts of his attachment, Jones boldly stated that he did not “go” to the Nigerian Law School yet he went on to claim that he did his “pupilage” with Ikoghode Yakubu Sambo & Co. from 1994.
Then he went on to list the number of cases he had participated in as a party and the judges (Owobiyi, Sotuminu, Olorun-nimbe, Nicol-clay, Olateru-Olagbegi), he stated further that he had been a financial member of the NBA at local (Lagos Bar) and National level since 1994 and attached some photocopies in proof of his contention!
The man also attached some photocopies of rulings and orders of court in some of his cases.
It did not take the Tiger Bar chairman, Ajetomobi Esq and some of his officers who went through Jones’ bundles of papers to know that his application to become a member of the Ikeja bar must fail irrevocably.
It was obvious to everybody that Jones, a mousy, quiet soft talking “I-can't-finish-a-wrap-of-pap-character"- was not a legal practitioner and so could by any stretch of imagination be absorbed into the Nigerian Bar Association.
So the order came that the application be rejected and Jones (born 14th April 1950, Ile-Ife Osun state indigene) money (ten thousand naira) be returned to him.
A short debate now arose on what to do with the man. While some Tiger chiefs thought he was just a smart, simpering fraudster who should be handed over to the police, others thought the man was somewhat mentally unhinged and was on the borderline of criminal conduct and as such should be allowed to go free but with strict warning to stop trying to be a member of the NBA without first being called to the bar. The latter opinion prevailed.

HON. CHIEF JUDGE, IS SOMEBODY ‘CHOPPING’ THE MONEY?

2010-01-30T15:41:00.000-08:00

Mr. Boniface Ajaja (no real names) a barrister at law was on his way to a Magistrate Court in Apapa in November 2009, when he ran into a grid-lock of a traffic Jam.
The time, 8.20a.m. In twenty minutes his car had inched forward only a hundred-meters. Yet the court-house was no les than three kilometers away.
Muttering and cursing at the same, the now sweaty barrister decided on a radical course of action - he would abandon his vehicle for a bike-ride to the court.
And that's exactly what he did. He got to the court just in the nick of time as his case was being called.
However a damper was thrown his way. The presiding magistrate, in open court made this declaration:
“Sorry Mr. Ajaja but I am afraid your matter would not be going on . The ……..” Ajaja Esq quickly cut in “Mi lord, I beg the court to consider us. This matter is now two years old in this court. We have only one more witness to call in this case and he is here sir. We are ready sir”
Then the magistrate replied-“Yes you may be ready but the court is not ready. The Registrar has told me there is no paper for me write on. If there is no paper, how will I work?"
Diverse impeccable sources have confirmed to the Squib that the dearth or non-availability of stationeries in the form of files, writing sheets, envelopes, biros etc is a perennial occurrence. A source asserted “but that’s the norm”.
We learnt that magistrates have different attitudes and reactions to the situation. While some do nothing about the situation and only work when there is official supply of the needed items, some others ask counsel to litigants’ to provide the stationeries while a few others spend their personal funds to buy the stationeries.
That the dearth of stationeries is prevalent in the magistrate courts is under scored by this revealing statement of a concerned magistrate.
It is common knowledge that the authorities do regularly and adequately supply stationeries to the magistrate courts.
Even in the few courts where it seems stationeries never run down, the situation is created by the enterprise of the registrars of such courts who devise means and strategies to ensure that their magistrates have materials to work with since.
If there is no stoppage of work, they (the registrars) would have no opportunity to cadge or extort money from counsel and litigants alike.
A source in the corridor of power of the Lagos State Judiciary told the Squib that the Chief Judge of the State Inumidun Akande J is in the dark about the terrible situation.
This is because “every month the judiciary actually spends close to two million naira-to buy stationeries, every month."
And the items are supposed to be distributed to all the magistrate courts every month too.
In the light of this information the Squib, infact all the stakeholder in the Lagos State Judiciary, whether indeed such huge amount of money monthly is spent on stationeries for Magistrate courts.
Two, are these items actually bought by those saddled with its procurement, and if bought are they supplied to the prescribed quarters or are they diverted somewhere else?

FAWEHINMIISM 2010: “WHY THE COURTS CAN NOT SAVE NIGERIA” Adams Oshiomhole

2010-01-23T01:25:00.000-08:00

On September 15 2009, the mortal remains of Chief AbdulGaniyu Oyesola Fawehinmi S.A.N, Nigeria’s only Senior Advocate of the Masses, were interred in mother earth, in his home town of Ondo.

Exactly four months later, the spirit of the internationally recognized human rights activist came alive at the Oranmiyan Hall of the Lagos Airport Hotel Ikeja, the traditional venue of the NBA Ikeja branch organized lecture since 2005 in honour of the fiery activist and legal luminary who had succumbed to an early demise at the age of 71 on September 5 2009 courtesy of a devastating and unrelenting lung cancer.

The Ikeja bar ably supported by the Gani Fawehinmi chambers now under the leadership of the scion of the family, Mohammed Fawehinmi was assiduous in planning and advertising the event.
The result of this industry was that as, like of old, the crowd started coming for the event as early as 3.00am in the morning of 15th January 2010, which marked the 45th year of the call to the Nigerian Bar of the late fighter.

By 5.30am, more than two hundred persons had arrived and they were the only ones qualified to receive a set of six books each (costing no less than three million naira in all).

By 10.00am when the programme was scheduled to start, the hall was already filled to capacity, yet more attendees (mostly lawyers, journalists, students, activists, writers, artisans) kept streaming in.
The programme was delayed for over an hour, to allow for the arrival of the chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, former Governor of Kaduna State, who however never showed up at all.

Thus it was about 11.20 am, that the programme commenced with the Guest Speaker Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole the Governor of Edo State, being made to double as the Chairman of the occasion.
The Governor came to the occasion with quite a large and powerful delegation of six commissioners including his Chief of Staff and some Special Assistants.

All of them were ushered straight-away to the high table. Other dignitaries at the High Table were-Mrs. Ganiat Fawehinmi, the 1st wife of Chief Fawehinmi, chief Tayo Akpata, the Ima of Benin and the representative of the Oba of Benin, Mr. Lance Elakama, Deputy Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Mr. Kayode Komolafe, the Deputy Managing Director of THISDAY Newspaper, Mr. Saheed Fawehinmi, Gani’s second son, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Director of the International Press Center, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin President of Women Arise, Mr. Adetunji Biobaku, consultant to the Governor of Ogun State on Citizens’ Rights and husband to Basirat, Chief Fawehinmi’s first daughter.

Also on the high table were Mr. Jawondo, chairman of the Ilorin branch of the NBA, Mr. Odumosu chairman of the Ijebu Ode bar, Mr. Anthony Ebeh, chairman of the Ikorodu bar and Mr. Adekunle Ojo, 2nd Vice President NBA and representative of Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu S.A.N, president of the NBA.
The opening prayer was said by Mr. Adebamigbe Omole and Mr. Dave Ajetomobi, the chairman of the Ikeja bar-soon delivered his welcome Address. (click on following link to access) http://squibcoverstoryexhibit.blogspot.com/2010/01/fawehinmiism-2010-nba-ikeja-chairmans.html

After him came the representative of the Governor of Lagos, Mr. Baba-Alokolaro.
After Mr. Alokolaro, the guest lecturer took the podium and delivered his near one hour lecture in the blistering and blasting fashion typical of him.
While doing justice to the topic “Nigeria-a nation in search of credible leadership” Oshiomhole took time to lambast and lampoon a well known political opponent of his in Edo State whom he dismissed as the worst type of political leader, a failure and a criminal character.
The central message of his address - constant citizenry vigilance and mass protests against corrupt and deficient leadership strongly indicated the guest lecturer was not a believer in the fawehinmist approach to political engagement.

In his life-time, Gani Fawehinmi made his name fighting his battles against military dictatorship and misgovernment mostly in the hallowed temples of the courst of law. Thus inherent in fawehinmist approach is an enduring belief in the capacity and capability of reforming or even changing the polity through legal/judicial machinery.
This was not the same thing with the Oshiomhole’s perspective. According to the comrade, since the political sovereignty always rests the citizenry, they should by themselves by way of protests dislodge bad and corrupt leadership.
According to the Comrade-Governor, the people cannot afford to throw all the burden of correcting political anomalies on the head of the nation’s judiciary.
Said Oshiomhole: “we cannot treat the case of Nigeria full of political riggers like a case of football where the referee is supreme, even when he declares a ball over the net as a goal and where you have to wait after the match, to do post match review and say that though the referee’s decision is wrong, it is final.”
The Governor urged the Nigerian people to march on Abuja, the nation’s capital and stay there for more than a day and tell the whole world that they were prepared to ensure that rigging of the 2011 Elections would not be tolerated by the people.

At the end of his captivating address, the hall rose to give comrade Oshiomhole deafening applause. Speech at: http://www.coverstoryexhibit.blogspot.com
The constraints of time (as the Governor was set to depart the hall in less than half hour) did not permit, the obviously well prepared discussants of the lecture, Mr. L.M Elakama and Kayode Komolafe to deal adequately with the subject matter. Each spent just about twelve minutes.
After them, Mr. Dele Awokoya a seasoned barrister took upon the task of reviewing of the Book: USING LAW TO FIGHT INJUSTICE, PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE- THE GANI FAWEHINMI LANDMARK CASES) authored by Basirat Biobaku and Charles Ochem.
Unfortunately, the Master of Ceremony Adesina Ogunlana gave the reviewer only four minutes and so he had to rush through his prepared address.

In taking charge of the presentation and launching of the book, Governor Oshiomhole started with his Attorney General Mr. Obayuwana who bought five copies for his chambers and ten copies for the Ministry of Justice, Edo State. Mr. Abdul Oroh bought twenty-three copies for the Edo State House of Assembly. Mr. Festus Keyamo bought five copies. The Chief launcher himself Comrade Oshiomhole declined to make public his own donation since as he jocularly put it “our budget is still before the house of Assembly and at least one honourable member of the house is also here.”

After the launching, Governor Oshiomhole, his entourage, Chief Tayo Akpata, Mr and Mrs Femi Falana and a few others on the high table took their leave. But before his departure, the Governor in a very brief ceremony received an award from the Ikeja bar for the courageous and successful defence of his electoral mandate as Governor of Edo State. Later an award jointly won by Justices H. Abiru and J.O.K Oyewle of the Lagos State Judiciary was presented to them through selected representatives, Anthony Ebeh Esq and Leye Omitola respectively.

The departure created opportunity for two comedians MC Ajele (a professional) and Andrew, a lawyer (amateur) to entertain the crowd.
After the comedians’ acts, people came from the floor to make various contributions. While some proposed socio-political recommendations to solve the nation’s problems, other speakers advised spiritual solutions.
After the comments and suggestions, Mr. Mohammed Fawehinmi made a brief response on behalf of the Gani Fawehinmi family. He thanked the organizers and the attendees and urged all to work towards achieving his father’s goal of a better and more progressive Nigeria.

After his short speech, the president of the Law Society of the Faculty of Law, University of Ado-Ekiti, presented to him on behalf of his society a portrait of Chief Gani Fawehinmi.

The curtain was drawn on the first part of the programme with the rendering of a closing prayer by Mr. Abdullateef Abdulsalam, the publicity Secretary of the Ikeja Bar.

The second part of the programme which lasted about ninety minutes, was the giving of gift books to the first two hundred attendees by Mrs. Ganiat Fawehinmi who was on her feet all through.
Once again, the Gani Fawehinmi Annual lecture succeeded brilliantly. Kudos to the Ikeja Bar. Long live Fawehinmiism!

‘MAFIA’ TAKES OVER NBA?

2010-01-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

The recently concluded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association at Enugu, Enugu State (10th – 11th December 2009) held out a special attraction to many members of the council which compelled their attendance no matter how distant their locations.
The special attraction was the intense desire in the hearts of many to witness as well as participate in the resolution of the crisis occasioned by the crisis of confidence that had pitted the president and the General Secretary two most prominent members of the 14-man National Executive Committee leadership of the NBA against themselves.
Since about six weeks ago, the simmering row between the President Rotimi Akeredolu S.A.N and Ibrahim Eddy Mark boiled over into the public domain courtesy of the newspapers.
The two officers were unsparing in their attacks on each other and naturally split the – ‘EXCO’ into two. Ranged between the president were two of the vice-presidents Ikeazor Akaraiwe (1st V.P) and Adekunle Ojo (2nd V.P) as well as the Publicity Secretary conspicuous behind the General Secretary were Barth Anichie-Okoye (3rd V.P) Ganiyu Ajape welfare Secretary and Steve Ononye (Assistant Financial Secretary. Less conspicuous member of this faction include Linda Bala the Legal Secretary.
By the 1st of December 2009, the rift had opened so much that members of the NEC had received two motions for impeachment of both the president and the General Secretary.
The first motion was sponsored by the top lists of the General Secretary to wit:- Barth Okoye-Aniche, Ganiyu Ajape and Steve Ononye. They alleged that (a) the president had awarded a contract of the Association worth three million naira to a company owned by himself and members of his family.
(b) that the president had collected from two state governors, a total sum of 8 million naira as donations to the NBA and pocketed same curiously the said motion left out an earlier accusation against the president, that he exceeded his authority as president and over reached the NEC by intimating the Chief Justice of Nigeria Legbo Kutigi of the strident calls from some quarters in the NBA for the abolition of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria award.
The second motion for impeachment was from the President’s Camp. Signed by the Publicity Secretary of the Association Abdulrasheed Oladimeji Esq, the motion asked for the head of the General Secretary of litany of offences to wit (i) accompanying the attorney General and Minister of Justice, of the Federation in the name of thee NBA without lawful authority. (ii) countermanding the president as chief spokesman of the Association (iii) unauthorised letter of Apology to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (iv) illegal collection of imprest/monthly salary from the NBA by the General Secretary (v) Conversion of 20,000 dollars collected from the NBA by the General Secretary for personal use (vi) conversion of #500,000.00 from Sokoto State Government to NBA.
In the light of these two motions keen observers of the NBA knew that the December 10 2009 NEC meeting would prove decisive as regards the determination or resolution of the allegations and counter allegations:
A very careful and perspicacious perusal and evaluation of the materials and other information pertaining to the scandalous off between Rotimi Akeredolu SAN the NBA president and Ibrahim Eddy Mark, the General Secretary painted the picture of the NBA as an organization in the grip of self-willed, ill-disciplined capricious and self-promoting Executive leaders, with little or feeble institutional or system c control and checks
An indications that this assessment may not be wide off the mark was how the NEC meeting of the NBA on Thursday played out vis a vis the two afore-said motions calling for the impeachment of both the president and the General Secretary.
What happened right in the open was a blatant and indeed tragic usurpation and rape of the powers of the National Executive Council to properly and constitutionally determine the fate of the two motions for impeachment.
Rather what is being presented to the whole world as a resolution of the crisis was nothing more than the full adoption and parcticalisation of the infamous “Family Affair” method of the nation’s ruling party the PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY GOVERNMENT, whose various government and the very party, the NBA ironically likes to take on issues of probity and all other vital aspects of the RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT.
As is well known, when the “family affair” method of dealing with issues of probity in government and in public, unvariable the issues at stakes are sidelined and steps interests are taken and nobody, no matter the grievous extent of guilt gets punished or sanctioned in the name of “peace and progress”.
This inglorious, indeed despicable path was the one chosen by the mutually indicted leadership of the NBA at the ENUGU NEC of 10th December 2009, this magazine reports.
This was how everything pertaining to the matter was handled.
STAGE 1- Oluwarotimi Akeredolu at about 11.00am read his 11 pages address-entitled “WE MUST REMAIN STEAD FAST”, wherein he touched on the leadership crisis in his executive.
The usual bold thundering voice of presentation, the muscular emphatic delivery was also present but there was an ill-fitting cap of restraint typing the man, from the logical crushing finish of the opposition.
The performance was a kin to watching a well oiled soccer team, repeatedly building scintillating moves perfectly from the rear only to deliberately shoot amiss in front of goal. (see cover story Exhibit)

STAGE 2: After fnishing his address, the President asked for discussions of the address, the president asked for discussions of the address, but then, asked for the NEC indulgence to allow T.J. Okpoko S.A.N, a past president of the association (1998-2000) revealed what some NEC members had already known, that he and other past president of the association whom he did not name being elders and leaders of the association anxious to avoid the break-up of the association, just as it happened in 1992 at Port-Harcourt had come together to wade into the dispute between the president and the General Secretary.
Okpoko SAN was quick in disclosing that the speech of the president which holds barbed condeminations in the direction of the General Secretary was out of time with the agreement, the Okpoko body had reached with the fending National leader of the officers.
Okpoko then went on to say his self-appointed body of peace-makers had investigated and found out that the president did not act improperly in his communications with the Chief Justice of Nigeria on the abolition of SAN issue, likewise, the peace-makers had also found out that as regarding the award of contract to AKT ventures to address NEC on certain issues in the address.

STAGE 3: (It was, as events shortly proved, a shy tactical maneuver to attain an objective already predicted as highly possible by this magazine in its 7th December 2009 edition a compromise squelching of the public determination of the motions for impeachments). Chief T.J. Okpoko came on to podium (instead of remaining on the floor) to make his speech.
The chief hunted, Akeredoolu’s company, the president did not act fraudulently and that indeed “the president had no contract to award anyway”.
However Okpoko kept quiet over the findings of his Body of Peace makers as regards the allegation that the President had pocketed the whopping sum of 8 million naira donation meant for the NBA! It was even a much worse situation for Ibrahim Eddy mark as the spokesman of the ‘Peace Makers’ failed, neglected or otherwise refused to say anything at all about the findings of his body vis a vis the allegations against Mark. Rounding up T.J. Okpoko appealed to NEC members to allow the settlement of his body and put the crisis behind them.

STAGE 4: This appeal was obviously part of a rehearsed strategy for hardly was it said that the president of the NBA after taking over from Okpoko now enquired from the attendees of the NEC meetings, members and observers alike, whether they were in support of Okpoko’s “let by gone be bygone” appeal.
Immediately a loud acclaim from the left of the centre of the hall came the president very hurriedly declared it as the position of the NEC on the matter!
Even before Okpoko finished his almost thirty minutes long speech this reporter a NEC member himself and one or two other fellows-waved their hands frantically for recognition, but it was all in vain as it appeared that the harder they tried, the more invisible they appeared to the president!
And so “just like that” a shame and ignoble determination of the deep-seated disputes was foisted. This false and indeed artificial settlement went the whole nauseating farcical log when the General Secretary to the immediate left of the president sidled very closely to the president for a mirthful “we-are-friends-once-again shots”.
The hollowness of this “Okpokoised” settlement which was hailed by its proponets as “mature intervention necessary to prevent another break-up of the bar” was rudely exposed barely an hour after it was ‘contrapted’
This happened when reacting to the speech of the president who was emphasizing that he, not the Attorney General of the Federation, is the leader of the Nigerian Bar, and that his office would not be sub servant to the A.G’s office, the General Secretary rose to remark that “this is not what er are told by the elders (referring to the meeting of the Executive with the peace makers group of Okpoko). What they told us is that where there is disagreement with the Attorney-General, we should go to him and sort out our differences”!
In our last edition, this magazine in its cover posed a question WHOSE HEAD WILL ROLL? With regards to the impeachment motions against President Akeredolu and General Secretary Ibrahim Eddy Mark?
As it turned out neither of the two men got impeached. For the discerining, this reality is not necessarily a healthy one for the two men or even the NBA itself.
For the NBA, the ENUGU NEC meeting was a mile-stone. One it demonstrates the weakness of the NEC, the vainted parliament and the supreme congress of the association, for being so vulnerable cheaply to incredible usurpation of role and reduction to mere rubber stamp by a small group of elders working in concert with the Executive.
Two the meeting has set a precedent of shying away from an honest, open popular and robust investigation and determination of allegations of corruption and sundry abuse of office against its leaders.
Any thieving or unscrupulous leader at any level of authority in the NBA can always learn from the recent event and copy the modus operandi of escape of indictment to wit,
(a) steal as much as possible or grossly misconduct himself or her-self otherwise
(b) heat up the bar-polity by attacking and blackmailing opponents on the pages of newspapers
(c) trump up charges for the impeachment or suspension of rivals from office
(d) then draw in a few so called “leaders of thought” and “elders and leaders of the bar” to effect a hastily settlement in order to prevent “a break-up of our noble association”
(e) cite the December 10 2009 NEC meeting as authority and precedent for seeking an amicable settlement of the impasse”!
Of course it should be realized that by the December 10 2009 NEC meeting, the NBA has lost the moral pedestal to demand for accountability and probity from government and public officials. And thus is true, if the NBA an association of professionals, would in the interest of so called “harmony and unity” shy away from conducting probes into allegations Okpoko-ised solutions is an indication that he is not in good, firm and natural control of his administration but needs the help of god-fathers not only to put his regime as one but even for him to retain his primacy.
At any rate the unfortunate impression was given that the god-fathers and not the proper legal body, the NEC that vindicated him and saved his job.
Furthermore the partial nature of the vindication, which did not extend to of massive corruption and abuse of office against its two top-most officers, why should the governments or government bodies, with much more at stake lauch into such perilous probes?
As for the men in the Centre of the supposedly donsed storm, it is the considered view of this magazine that the manner mid ways they have chosen to resolve their differences, has not heightened their reputation, but rather however it.
For the president, the embezzlement of alleged 8 million naira donation to the NBA, and the fact that the partial vindication was as a result of a secret and authorized investigation, gave only an exoneration of dubious and unsatisfactory character in the minds of right thinking and well informed members of the association.
The question to ask is what is the main reason why a main such as Akeredolu would keep quiet and not thoroughly and adequately challenge libelous accusations that he embezzled 8 million naira funds of the NBA?
If the answer is “for the sake of the peace and progress of the NBA? Then one can reasonably ask “but what type of peace is that”? and then further ask “or could it be that the allegation is after all not as specious as it seems?
Ibrahim Edward Mark, is equally a loser courtesy of the Okpoko-ised solution and this magazine suspects that the main knows it himself.
Prior to the December 10 2009 NEC meeting, the General Secretary had lost out in the press war between him and the president, as he had been made to look like a thieving rapacious, insolent, self serving General Secretary who in addition was a traitor who is bent on selling the association for a mess of porridge to the Attorney General of the Federation.
Thus if any officer needed a public and open investigations of the charges against him for a proper vindication that would be the General Secretary.
But like his boss, the president, he embraced the Okpoko-ised solution. In the event he was made to look like a small errant and misguided boy.
Whereas the president had a chance of at least partially stating his case, he the secretary could only look on. And to make matters much worse, the Body of Peace Makers which openly vindicated the president at least partially, kept completely mum about the General Secretary’s side of the case, thus witting or unwittingly giving the impression that the scribe’s matter had no merit at all and was so messy as to be unspeakable.
The consequence of this is that General Secretary Mark has been so badly tarred that he is more or less permantly branded in the negative light of a greedy official and a quisling. His years in office would certainly be remembered for this crisis and the lingering public perception of him.
As for Chief T.J. Okpoko and his co-travelers in the boat of the Elders Peace Makers Body, this magazine rates their role low for offering a false healing balm (as time will sooner or later show) and having the temerity to usurp the roles of the National Executive Committee.
I offer them this song
Cover up, Cover up,
was what you just did,
in Enugu, in Enugu,
was what you did!
Okpoko!
Okocha!
Olanipekun!
Odogiyon!
Agbakoba!
was what you did
singing peace! Singing peace!
you bury Justice
singing peace! singing peace!
you shun probity
oh what a shame!
N:B In case these elders are unhappy about this song and wants to take me up, they should realise that their reaction and my counter-reaction would heat up the NBA polity and put the association to a the grave danger of a break-up.
And, pray who wants that? Certainly not Okopoko S.A.N., et al.

SQUIB COVERSTORY EXHIBIT
SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT, NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION TO THE NEC MEETING AT ENUGU ON 9TH DECEMBER 2009

WE MUST REMAIN STEADFAST
Distinguished colleagues, I welcome you all to this NEC meeting which appears to have attracted extensive interest among our members and the generality of Nigerians. The choice of the venue for this gathering, in this historically significant city of Enugu, although fortuitous, has its own socio-political merit. Here was the seat of government of the defunct Eastern Region. The city was also reputed as bearing in its bowels large deposits of the finest coal which compared favourably with other types found in other parts of the world. Above all, the people of this great land are widely known for their unique sense of hospitality. It should, therefore, not be construed as merely coincidental that this haven of peace is playing host to the greatest assemblage of the best material any profession can offer. No time can be more auspicious than now when our association faces dire challenges in its quest to ensure that the rule of law reigns supreme in the affairs of the nation.

As a body of legal practitioners, our common values have been brought to test in the last few months and the challenge to us as a body is to reinvent and re-establish these common values that makes the role of a lawyer critical in our current socio-political experience, and our ethical values our distinctive mark as men of honour. Values like courage, integrity, selflessness, commitment, objectivity of intent, and sacrifice are not optional for us as lawyers, nor as leaders of the Bar, but these are essential attributes deserving of leadership anywhere. In the last few months, our individual and collective beliefs in these values have been tested.

You are all aware of the unfortunate developments in the last few months which appeared to have polarized our ranks within the leadership of the NBA, notably acts and statements seeking to divert us from our noble and constructive courses, into fruitless controversies and petty strife. I call it unfortunate because when I was elected into office in August 2007, my oath of office was to defend the independence and integrity of the Bar at whatever cost. This I captured with my pledge to "prosecute our convictions with courage”. It was not an idle slogan for campaign purposes, it was a commitment I made to God, to myself and to you, my colleagues, and this I have strived to do with all my ability and resources since assuming office.

As you all know I have always fought for what I believe regardless of consequences to myself. I have rendered such selfless service to our great association in the past 15months which Bar historians, coming generation of lawyers and nay, Nigerians generally will certainly regard as Landmark achievements. In the course of serving, I have expectedly attracted to myself a sizeable crop of detractors and adversaries in the main because I have committed myself to courageous leadership of the Bar, and perhaps additionally in my quest to reverse the accountability deficit from which we suffer as an Association.

I must observe at this point that. It was my resolve to demand a high powered committee of this NEC to be set up to investigate the claims made against me alongside allegations made against other officers to find out the truth or spuriousness of these claims. However, as President of the NBA, It is my responsibility in my role of a leader to consider the larger interest of the NBA. This is because of the intervention of leaders at the Bar, Past Presidents and NEC members who recently met with me and the executive with the objective of a wholesome resolution of the issues that have plagued our association in the last few months. Following this intervention, I have accepted to take what has happened with equanimity, but with the hope that this experience will further strengthen our resolve to uphold our own constitution of the NBA and advise us all as to the quality of leadership the NBA deserves at all levels.

While I have endeavoured to ensure this executive follows strictly the constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association without fear or favour, it had always been my opinion that as officers of the NBA, we are merely privileged to lead the bar and our role is not to bring it to a state of ridicule, nor engage in acts that question our independence as a Bar association, and our role as custodians of the people's hopes. Certainly my position as President is not to plunder the resources of the Bar, and I will be failing in my responsibilities and my oath of office if I should allow any other person, officer or member to do the same.

Nevertheless, after the meetings of the last few weeks with Bar Leaders, it is my belief that the issues that generated the simmering crisis that sought to engulf the NBA have hopefully been put to rest. Now that we are gathered to ruminate on the problems facing our dear country and, more importantly, to consider the issues which threaten to tear us apart, we must cast aside bitter recriminations and destructive anger. This will afford us the opportunity of deliberating in an atmosphere devoid of rancour. The immediate result will be found in the reasoned decisions emanating from robust and frank discussions. The end result will be a message that will issue forth to all and sundry that we are united in confronting bad governance in whatever shade. I use this opportunity to express my appreciation to all the past Presidents, Bar leaders and colleagues who played a role in the resolution of the simmering crisis that sought to engulf our association.

As you know, it is not easy to resist the temptation of being dragged into a press war, especially when your hard earned and built reputation is being deliberately disparaged with untruths. Restrain as we tried to, we have fallen into this temptation on a few occasions admittedly to the discomfiture of most of our members. I also take responsibility for this and on behalf of members of the executive, apologize.

As lawyers, our disagreements must be based on issues affecting the welfare of our members primarily and the country in general. We must resist the temptation of permitting considerations extraneous to the association's interests to dictate our cause of action, or derail us in the pursuit of the noble cause which our forbears bequeathed to us. For me and members of this Executive, the interest of our members will continue to be paramount in our minds to encourage professional excellence as lawyers and ensure we remain accountable to you as members of the NBA.

ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE 2009
It is with delight I wish to congratulate members of the Nigerian Bar Association on the overwhelming success of the last Annual General Conference tagged Lagos 2009. Hosting a successful conference was one of my commitments, made to the Bar upon assumption of office as President and I am particularly delighted at the overwhelming positive reports I have received from a wide spectrum of persons, of a very successful conference in terms of organization, content, quality and participation. We have the 2009 Conference Planning Committee to thank for putting together a wonderful event. Indeed it is now touted not just as the conference to beat, but the conference to match. My charge to the CPC on their inauguration was to actualize my vision for a truly successful conference and establish such a standard for the NBA for its future conferences. I commend the purposeful leadership of Funke Adekoya SAN and all the members of the CPC in this regard and challenge them to exceed their best as they plan the 2010 conference. While there might be grey areas requiring some attention in our planning, I am assured that with the caliber of persons on the CPC the next conference should be even better. May I take this opportunity to encourage branches who are interested in hosting the annual conference to urgently respond to the request for expression of interest already forwarded to branches since the conclusion of the last conference. It is my intention to ensure the NBA creates a culture of excellence for its programmes for which early preparation is essential.

STATE OF THE NATION
Our nation continues to trudge on slowly but surely. We have witnessed unconstitutional practices, abuse of office, human right violations, and unabating degrees of corruption in public and private service, which has contributed to our growing disparaging in the international community. Our position on the transparency index continues to slide while relevant public officers responsible for the enforcement of our anti-corruption laws attempt to cast the blame for this international dent on the private sector rather than at the feet of those who have failed in their public duty to arrest this scourge either in public or private life.

We must rise in unison to support the people of this country in whatever legitimate way possible to free them from the shackles of oppression. Their muffled voices must be strengthened by knowledgeable inputs from us. Our training places us in good stead to provide the necessary leadership for the country. Our professional ancestors laboured for the development of this country. We have received the baton of responsibility from them. Let it not be said of us that we are miserable clones, imperfect and pitiable caricatures incapable of rising to the occasion to provide leadership for the country mired in corruption and ineptitude.

Corruption continues to thrive in high places despite the tenuous gestures which proclaim the contrary. No country survives with the attitude of impunity encouraged by functionaries of the government. Until we are able to confront this problem headlong, the citizens of this country will never earn the respect they deserve from the international community.

Gentlemen of the Bar, we cannot shirk from our responsibility as experts in the knowledge of the law, to comment on the current happenings in our polity. We have bluntly refused to join those who choose to play politics with anything, including the lives of their fellow beings. We reject the temptation to reduce events of serious national import to primordial politics. We are not unaware of the permutation of political jobbers waiting in the wings to see where the pendulum of state affairs swings. We must not, however, fail to add our reasoned voice to the current national discourse on the health of the president of the country. Those who derive immense benefits from the current state of things can elect to prevaricate while pontificating on when it is appropriate to comment on the health of the Commander -in- Chief of the armed forces when no one appears to be in charge in any manner. We cannot afford such hedonistic indulgence at this crucial moment of our national life.

While we join other well-meaning Nigerians to wish the President a speedy recovery, we should enjoin the Vice President of the country to take full charge of the country until the president returns. May we also hasten to add that should the president consider his condition serious enough as to warrant his stepping aside to attend to his health, he should disregard those who urge him to stay against all increasingly evident reasons which support his stepping down. These super patriots, holders of mendacious mandates, are not interested in the well-being of the president or the country. Our Constitution, as imperfect as the document may be, possesses sufficient provisions on the issue of succession in case of voluntary abdication of office or vacancy engendered by natural causes. Let no one pretend to understand the health of a patient more than the doctor. Our people cannot hang their hopes on happenstance.

Talking about the socio-economic problems bedeviling the country is superfluous when the people are not sure of who is in charge. Our country and people deserve a better deal from its leaders.

AMNESTY
I have made observations on behalf of the NBA on the on-going amnesty offered 'repentant militants' in the Niger Delta to the effect that while the intent may be laudable, its generalized application to all manner of criminal gangs may not have been well thought out. I was therefore surprised to read various seemingly deliberate misinterpretations and innuendoes to my remarks now claiming that the NBA does not support the amnesty. If there was any doubt as to the reasoning behind my cautionary words on the Subject, current events on the hijack of the program by the political machinery of government has indeed proved that the Amnesty programme was clearly not thoroughly appraised, neither has government demonstrated its sincerity to the program. Admittedly, one of the repentant militants, Henry Okar publicly acknowledged not all so called repentant militants are freedom fighters. If 'repentant militants' can unleash an orgy of rape and violence on innocent students in the University of Port Harcourt, then we should ask ourselves if amnesty ought to be a blanket for all. More disturbing is the fact that neither the Police, nor the Joint Task Force has charged anybody to court for the despicable acts committed during this assault.

The offer of amnesty must not only be seen to be sincere, but must be matched with corresponding developmental action in the region. We again call on all parties that a proper and sincere appraisal of the Amnesty programme be conducted and implemented.

APPOINTMENT OF SENIOR ADVOCATES OF NIGERIA
Perhaps more than any other singular issue among lawyers, the elevation of Lawyers to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has generated a great deal of interest among us and indeed among members of the public. It is in my opinion a result of our playing the ostrich over the years in spite of continuous complaints about the transparency of such appointments.

The leadership of the association, prompted by the sustained agitation by a sizeable portion of our distinguished membership, wrote to the office of the CJN on the raging controversy on the award of the highest honour to our members who have excelled in practice and in the academia. The complaints of these members presented at the last Annual Bar Conference require an urgent attention. Regrettably, my well intended efforts at creating a platform for appropriately articulating our views on the observed imperfections by my letter to His Lordship, the Chief Justice of Nigeria was perhaps not brought to his attention by those who received it, but clearly deliberately misinterpreted with some of our members ignorant of its intent jumping into the fray. The uncultured response of the Secretary of the LPPC to my letter in the now characteristic tone of choosing to avoid the uncomfortable comments of the NBA by referring to well intended observations as the personal views of Akeredolu clearly confirms a need to remove our heads from the sand for a better view and objective review of the process.

We cannot continue to pretend that the issue can be wished away by any other means other than a realistic appraisal of the extant rules guiding the award of the rank of Senior Advocate. This matter was adjourned till the meeting of this august gathering. We must allow the overall interest of the association, dictated by our undying passion for merit and the sustenance of the best traditions of the Bar, to guide our deliberations in regard to this issue. We must rise from this meeting with one voice and be resolute to see our decisions on the matter implemented.

The minute details can be worked out easily. What we are to address is the propriety of having quality representation in the body which selects our members for the distinguished award. We have reiterated our position at every relevant forum of the need for the Bar to have elected representatives in the screening committee. The Bar knows its members. The current process whereby lawyers are just appointed into the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee without an input from the NBA is, to say the least, not acceptable. Those who seek to represent us must have our clear mandate for that purpose. They must be answerable to us and it is from us they ought to be briefed on the decision of our association on the award. Practitioners who merit the award must not be denied because they have no godfathers. Those who deserve the coveted elevation must not suffer any disabilities on account of ethnic, gender and political affiliations. The criteria, once set, must be objective to such an extent that barring all other extenuating circumstances, practitioners will reasonably determine those who merit the award, prima facie. This is the only path of honour. Should we decide to cling to the old method from which majority of our members feel alienated, they in turn will be left with no option than to withdraw their respect to it.

Let me however say at this point that the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria is not alien in the commonwealth, neither should controversies about the choice of the Privileges committee divide us so brazenly. I urge this NEC meeting and all our members to approach this matter with maturity and objectivity during discussions on it.

STATE OF THE BAR
In spite of the devious machinations from various quarters to silence the Bar and misrepresent its views to the public, the NBA will under my watch as president continue to be in the forefront as one of the few institutions in this country that has refused to be soiled with the spirit of destructive compromise and two faced politicking. Lawyers are the bastion of the people's constitutional rights and the voice for many abused citizens of this country. This executive will therefore remain forthright, focused and courageous in the face of these challenges.

The NBA has had to make necessary pronouncements, in respect of several issues that have arisen in our polity, social and professional spheres. We have commended genuine visionary and laudable efforts of Government, criticized without mincing words acts of abuse, unconstitutionality and disreputable actions of government and/or its appointees, and made observations on matters relating to our professional calling. May I say at this point that at each time I have made any statement, I did so as President of the Nigerian Bar Association and never in my personal capacity. I am not unaware of regrettably discordant tunes that have emanated from ill advised actions in the heat of our recent crisis. Nevertheless our constitution remains sacrosanct on this matter and should not be flouted flagrantly in a manner that clearly taints our collective image as a body of lawyers. This NEC meeting should therefore take a position on this unfortunate development.

Equally disturbing are the deliberate acts of misrepresentation, and misinterpretation of official statements of the NBA, by persons who we should ordinarily assume to be better informed. This appears to be calculated to malign the office of the President of the NBA and prejudice the objectivity of such statements in respect of the relevant subject matters to which I directed those comments as President. The official texts of every NBA Release are available at the secretariat for our members to see and understand the true intent of our comments and interventions.

It is unfortunate that the unauthorized countermanding comments that emanated from the executive has now become the fuel for strangers to the Constitution of the Nigerian Bar Association to now begin to publish in newspapers what 'comfortable comments' of the NBA President should be treated as official, and what 'uncomfortable comments' about them should be regarded as the personal opinion of Akeredolu. Again, I urge this NEC meeting to address this matter objectively and dispassionately. The leadership of the NBA, and indeed the Bar in any other politically challenged environment is not for the timid, nor for compromisers, or opportunists. It is for forthright and courageous leadership, and this was my pledge to you in my quest for presidency. I therefore assure all our members that I will not fail in your mandate to me as President, to confront the injustice, corrupt leadership, abuse of office and other forms of threats to our constitutional liberties in this country.

OUR URGENT GOALS
I would like to mention that recent events although most unfortunate did not distract us from taking forward several initiatives which we are convinced will further enhance the status of the legal profession. I did mention at the Bar Conference that there is a need for the NBA to recognise members who continue to dedicate themselves selflessly to the upliftment of the Bar. Quite apart from the professional recognition, there is no other avenue to recognize members who have contributed to the development of the Association. I therefore want to propose a recognition scheme which I have aptly titled NBA HONORS LIST. This list will be compiled yearly and no more than 5 members will be identified from this list. To ensure transparency and openness, an Honors List Committee will be established to oversee nominations, propose criteria and ensure that only deserving members make the list.

Another initiative that I wish to place before you is the NBA Telephone Directory project. The idea behind this project is to enable and publish a telephone directory of lawyers in Nigeria. To achieve this in concrete terms we have initiated preliminary talks with a GSM service provider. We have been offered an initial 10,000 easily identifiable lines. Under a closed user group solution scheme members who subscribe for a minimal fee will be able to benefit from unlimited free calls within the group. Relatedly, we are working on the modalities for the establishment of communication desks in high courts across Nigeria. We propose to start in six pilot states. The benefit of this is that lawyers and court registrars will be able to interact specifically as regards the state of cases in court. We envisage that this initiative will greatly reduce instances of lawyers traveling long distances for cases only to be told on arrival in Court that the matter will not go on.

With respect to other specific activities, you may be aware of the tremendous work that the legislative advocacy Committee of the Bar has done specifically with respect to issues of constitutional and electoral reform. I wish to propose that we go further. The view of the Bar on the constitutional and electoral matters needs to be properly articulated. We should not be caught in the circle of responding to proposals by politicians. The NBA should as a matter of urgency develop a model constitution for the Nigeria. It is my humble view that the business of drafting a constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria is too serious an endeavor to be left exclusively to politicians. It is my view that we need to create an opportunity for the 88 branches of the Bar to participate in the national discuss on constitutional reform. If you agree, I propose we further empower the legislative Advocacy Committee to urgently work out modalities for the implementation of this activity.

In the New Year, and in addition to other activities, I will be proposing a retreat for the staff of the secretariat. It is my considered view that there is need for added professionalism of the NBA secretariat. In 2010 and beyond, our vision must be that of a secretariat that is able to compete favorably with those of the American Bar Association or the Law society of England. Following from this is a need to develop a human resources policy that ensures high professionalism and competence in the recruitment of staff.

Further, following from the very successful Conference of the Human Rights Institute, it is obvious to me that the Legal Profession needs to be more active in its advocacy for reforms in our criminal justice system. Issues of bail, state of our prisons, state of police and in general the administration of criminal justice requires leadership by the NBA. We must not allow ourselves to be led. It is for this reason that I hope to convene an NBA Consultative Forum on Criminal Justice reform. While we will be making demands of other structures within the criminal justice regime, it is also important that we agree on what is expected of the legal profession. We must strive to be seen to be part of the solution.

CONCLUSION
Our people look up to us for leadership. This assertion should not be misconstrued as an expression of arrogant pride. Our training beckons that we speak straight to power when it is necessary. Our reputation demands that we must be seen to abhor the growing culture of impunity in the land. We must be resolute until our people are set free from the shackles of oppression and bad governance.

Ladies and gentlemen, the time to act is now.
Thank you.

OLUWAROTIMI O. AKEREDOLU ESQ. SAN
President, Nigerian Bar Association

WAR IN THE BAR: WHOSE HEAD WILL ROLL IN ENUGU-AKEREDOLU OR IBRAHIM MARK?

2009-12-23T01:01:00.000-08:00

Is there fire on the mountain of the Nigerian Bar Association?
The correct answer is an emphatic 'Yes'
For quite sometime now, a crisis of confidence has been brewing between the president of the Association, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu S.A.N and the next most prominent officer of the association, Ibrahim Eddy Mark, the General Secretary.
The conflict between the two officers, has polarized the 14 man Executive Committee into two groups. It is doubtful where there is any neutral-minded officer.
Those officers perceived to be prominent in the camp of the president are IkeAkaraiwe 1st Vice-president, Adekunle Ojo 2nd Vice-President, Oladimeji Abdul-Rasheed Publicity Secretary and Tess Morris Okeke Treasurer.
In the camp of the General Secretary are the following:- Barth Okoye-Aniche 3rd Vice-President, Ganny Ajape Welfare Officer and Steve Onyechi Ononye Assistant Financial Secretary.
Interestingly the captains of these warring campus are products of political allied forces, the trio of ossified conservative and tribal/regional irredentist bar political groups, the Egbe Amofin Yoruba, the Eastern Caucus and the Northern Caucus.
How Akeredolu became the President of the NBA without electoral contest is an open secret. Suffice to say that once the champions of rotational presidency in the forms of the three afore mentioned groups, had their way and had the presidency zoned to the west between 2008 and 2010, the Egbe Amofin, noisily touting the advantages of having a 'consensus' candidate initimidated all possible opponents to Akeredolu in the region out of the race.
As for Ibrahim Mark a last minute horse-trading amongst the Egbe Amofin Yoruba, the Northern Caucus (sponsor of Ibrahim Mark) and top leaders of the Eastern Caucus (sponsor of Okey Ohwonda) saw the Egbe Amofin which had seemed to be in support of the Okey Ohwonda's candidacy suddenly switched to the support of Ibrahim, on the sole ground (now ironic) that he would a better team player with Akeredolu then Ohwonda who was termed a strong-willed too independent-minded personality.
Why did the two men fall out with themselves then? Informed observers give about three strong reasons.
The first is partisan politics. The ruling party (Peoples Democratic Party) considers wrongly or rightly that the critical attitude of the NBA under Akeredolu to the government of the day is because the president of the bar, Akeredolu is either an Action Congress Party member or an unabashed sympathizer and friend of the leading opposition party.
On the other hand, the General Secretary is believed to be a Peoples Democratic Party member being used by his party particularly through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to checkmate or otherwise neutralize the perceived moves of the NBA president to use the association as an attack dog on the government.
The second and insiders say the most crucial reason for the dispute, border on money-the use and allocation of the funds of the association.
While the president's camp accuses the Secretary of demanding and collecting #500,000:00 monthly imprest and allowance until same was stopped by the president, and holding on to some donations to the association and a particular 20,000 dollars given to him by the President in Madrid (during the IBA conference) to organize a party for Nigerian lawyers, the secretary's camp has accused the president of awarding a multi-million contract to his family company AKT VENTURES LTD as well as pocketing a total of 8 million naira donated to the NBA from both the Akwa-Ibom and Niger State Government (please see cover story exhibits).
Expectedly no side in the dispute has admitted any guilt or liability, each dismissing the allegation of the other side as baseless and malicious.
Another view of the dispute is that the major combatants are bound to clash in the long run because while the president is reportedly and arbitrary, domineering, prudent-bordering-on-tight-fistedness personality the secretary is reportedly a happy-go-lucky free-spending and entertainment prone personality.
As things stand, there are notions on the ground for the impeachment of the two leaders of the bar from their offices.
It is now a matter of general discussions and debates in the bar on how the dispute would end.
However it would appear that there is more sympathy for the case of the president's camp than that of the General Secretary's in the bar.
For example, observers believe that the General Secretary is on thin grounds as regarding proving the accusation that the president converted an 8 million naira donation to the NBA, while the otherwise strong allegation that the president awarded contract to his own company lost its potent sting upon the revelation that the company that got the contract participated in a competitive bid and presented the most attractive changes and had been working for the NBA since 1993.
On the other hand, the charge against the secretary and three other officers of the ‘exco’ of rendering an “unauthorized” apology to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (on a communication between the NBA president and the C.J.N on the controversial call by some lawyers for the scrapping of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria title) and denouncing the president, who from all intent and purposes appear to act in good faith, is not washing away.
The action of the G.4 on this specific issue appears not to go down well with the majority of active bar men, as it appears to be done in bad faith and capable of undermining the integrity of the entire bar.
However if history is any thing to by, it is doubtful whether any of those accused of misdeeds would get any punishment or sanctions, beyond admonitions and preachments, if any.
The tradition in the bar, at least at the national level, when acrimonious disputes and struggles arise, is for “well meaning” elders and senior counsel to intervene in such a way that sanctifying purges are avoided and “sinners” are given soft-landing and exit routes away from sanctions all in the name of “protecting the camaraderie of the bar”.
In the event, the few individuals demanding for probity and sanctions are isolated and demonized as extremists and trouble-makers.
The Squib has learnt that a body of peace-makers (past presidents and elders of the bar) has been scrambled up to mediate between the warring parties and that the mediation is not doing too badly.
If the NBA keeps to its tradition of treating scandals like the proverbial “pindipi” family affair, it is doubtful then that the December 10 2009 NEC meeting of the bar coming up in Enugu will record any causality.
But then, one never knows with politicians, so let's wait and see. And, for those who care, watch and pray!

NEW SALARY STRUCTURE FOR JUDICIARY STAFF: OGUN BEATS LAGOS TO IT

2009-12-02T04:21:00.001-08:00

AGREEMENT REACHED AT THE MEETING WITH THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE JUDICIARY STAFF UNION OF NIGERIA (JUSUN). OGUN STATE BRANCH ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONSOLIDATED JUDICIARY SALARY STRUCTURE (CONJUSS) ON TUESDAY 3RD NOVEMBER, 2009

Following the meeting held with the representatives of Judiciary Staff Union, Ogun State Chapter by the representatives of the Ogun State Government let by the Head of Service, held on Tuesday, 3rd November, 2009 at the Conference Room of the Head of Service, it was unanimously agreed that in order to create a harmonious re
lationship between the State Government and the entire staff of the State Judiciary, the State Government has agreed that the implementation of the Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure (CONJUSS) will take effect from 1st January, 2010.

2. Accordingly, all staff of the High Court of Justice and the Judicial Service Commission should suspend their strike action and return to work immediately.

3. The State Government assures that no workers in the Judicial Service of the State will be penalised for his or her participation in the current strike action.

THE BODE GEORGE CONVICTION: TRIAL JUDGE TO SUFFER FOR IT?

2009-11-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

The Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Chief Olabode George & Ors decided recently by an Ikeja High Court, Lagos presided over by Honourable Justice Olubunmi Oyewole, has become a cause celebre.

For some weeks, the case has been a focal point of discussion in the public domain, especially now so, that the learned judge not only convicted the accused persons, but equally firmly rejected their application for bail pending appeal.

A striking feature of the case is the special attention to Chief Olabode George, the first accused person, by the press and members of the public.
So special is thus attention that one may be forgiven to think that it was only one person (Olabode George) that was the prosecuted party. However there were four other persons, all otherwise respectable Nigerians who have at one time or the other, held high public office..
Nobody however talks about any of the other five accused, excepting perhaps as a foot-note or a way laconic after-thought.
These other five are Aminu Dabo, an architect, Captain O. Abidoye, Alhaji Abdullahi Aminu Tafida, Alhaji Zama Maidaribe and Mr. Sule Aliyu, an engineer.

Together with Olabode George, a retired Navy commodore and a past Governor of old Ondo state the six men were arraigned on a 68 count charge on conduct splitting, abuse of abuse and disobedience to lawful orders.
On judgement day (26 October 2009) Oyewole J. presiding, convicted the defendants on 35 counts of the charge.
The judgement to say the least caught the defendants and their counsel napping. All through the trial, the defence team seemed to shine like a million stars while the prosecution were shored off as yokels, whose moves were easily punctured by the agile defence.

Thus on judgment day, the defendants, having as it were waltzed through trial, expected to receive a discharge and acquittal.
Confident in that hope, the clear leader of the group, Olabode George, a big talking, swash-buckling political conquistador practitioner of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) extraction and who had brought colourful controversy to attend the trial in the form of scores of gainly dressed and uniformly attired (mostly female) supporters ostensibly present to give moral support to George and the gang, simply tripled his effort.

Thus on judgment day it was in their hundreds that the “Georgitas” turned up at the court-house. However it was all in vain as Justice Oyewole waded through a 110 page judgement to send the accused on an admission to the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri having found them guilty on about half of the charges against them.
The accused persons simply could not believe their ears when the judge broke the news of their admission into the special 'guest house of the government' at Kirikiri Lagos.

The most devastated convict understandably was Mr. Bode George. His natural optimist and gang-to proclivity, as well as strong belief in the competence of his decorated counsel had driven the thoughts of possible imprisonment far away from his mind.
Turning to his lead counsel in utter bewilderment indeed stupefaction he beseeched that worthy, Mr. Tunji Ayanlaja S.A.N of the “Apoti Aje” fame in those words.
“Chief, Tunji please do everything in your powers to see that I do not go to that place (Maximum Security Prison).
Ayanlaja being merely a lawyer and no magician knew that there was no legal resource in his vast arsenal to stop his client’s passage to prison, was left with no option than to tell the devastated politician, the stark truth.
And so to 'college,' George and the gang went. Willy-nilly.
As the gang clambered into the School bus, the shame, nay ignominy of it all (and which was just nascent) stung the mobilized supporters of George to cursing, weeping and issuance of threats against the trial judge.

In their new 'homes,' the MSP, the new inmates continued to be in shock, particularly Olabode George.
A gecko, who had become a head-boy in the new school of Bode George sent information through the usual intelligence channels to the Squib that on the second day in prison a visitor to the Tsunami Exponent of political take-over of Lagos state could not help soliloquizing, this with cheeks resting on a pelion.
“Ah, Oyewole, Oyewole, that boy? He was agreeing with us. When we said this, he agreed, when we said that, he agreed. Then at the last day, he looked us in the face and sent our leader here. Oyewole, Oyewole, Oyewole, that boy, we’ll see how he’ll get to that Court of Appeal which he wants to go.
We’ll see. He’ll get there only if it is a place where ghosts and not human beings preside as judges.”
To the supporters of Bode George, some who are clearly violent and rough, the trial judge had a golden opportunity of “redeeming” himself when application for bail pending appeal was brought on behalf of George and the other convicts in the case.
A lot of media hoopla attended this routine application amidst speculations that huge pressure had come upon the judge to relent and grant the application.

However the judge remained convinced that George and his co-horts should remain in school to squarely face their studies, and so firmly and promptly denied the prayers for bail, on 9th November 2009.
In many quarters of well meaning Nigerians, there are concerns for the safety and progress of the man who prescribed a spell in prison for a political big-wig like Olabode George. Said a commentator-

“Although before the Olabode George case, Justice Oyewole had already became famous. After all he was the one who sent the big time fraudster Chief Emmanule Nwude to prison and was also responsible for putting Reverend King behind bars, sentenced to death, among so many other cases.
But Olabode George is a different kettle of fish. George is, unlike Nwude or King a politician, a very big one for that matter, and in the ruling party.
Politicians are dangerous people to offend - they are well connected and are deep-rooted. Governments go, governments come, but they are always there.
Another observer said “my fear for the judge (Oyewole J) is that he may have been caught unwittingly in a political war between the PDP and the Action Congress (A.C).
Some P.D.P. people are saying his judgement was the dictate of Bola Tinubu the god-father of politics in Lagos state and who appointed Oyewole as judge in 2001. Tinubu is a well known political adversary of Bode George and so meanings are read into the judgement mosre so as Lagos State belongs politically to the Action Congress and not the P.D.P. You know our politicians being bad losers, are always looking for scape-goats to blame their woes on.”

As far as the Squib is concerned, judges handling special and sensitive assignments such as presiding over anti-corruption case and high electoral matters should have a strong security support round them. This, is not the case presently. A clean conscience and a patriotic are not enough shields where security is concerned. Remember General Muritala Mohammed?