Monday, October 21, 2019
Monday, July 25, 2016
NBA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 2016: THE YEAR OF THE SARDAUNA?
Election years in
the Nigerian Bar Association are always interesting. Usually the period of the
election is filled with the tension of vigorous power plays, slippery
maneuvers, alignments, re-alignments and all manners of permutations all
towards the end of winning elections or gaining office.
*THE MANIFESTO OF A.B. MAHMOUD, SAN
See:
http://www.abmahmoud.com/manifesto/
2016 is an
election year, as general elections are billed to hold on July 31 2016. However
2016 has a unique and peculiar feature, it is the very first time in about
twenty-five years that feasibility of the elections holding at all comes into
question.
Underscoring this
point, is the suit filed in Abuja against the NBA, its leadership and the two
presidential candidates, Joe-Kyari Gadzama S.A.N and A. B. Mahmoud S.A.N by one
John Unachukwu a past national officer (assistant publicity secretary).
Unachukwu’s apparent grouse appears to be the on the system of the elections,
dubbed “Internet voting” as against the “electronic voting” provided in the
constitution.
As at press time
no one is sure which side, the judicial swing will go. Another significance of
the Unachukwu suit is that it reflects a discernment as well a credibility
question on the coming elections among the mass of the electorate.
The situation is
from the point of political policy a self induced challenge or “criticality.”
First, is that the out-going Alegeh administration is replacing the 18
year-old delegate system of voting with direct and universal sufferage while at
the same time routing the voting the electronic or internet way. That route, is
seen rightly or wrongly by a vast majority of voters as a contrivance to rig
the election in favour of A.B Mahmoud, the presidential candidate, seen again
rightly or wrongly, as the preferred choice of Augustine Alegeh, the NBA
president, organizer of the General elections.
The e-voting being
novel and not test run, carries a huge mystery can and the general impression is
that it is an unverifiable process, thus lacking credibility. The electoral
process as understood by the Squib is so tainted that the only way the election
if held, would be held credible is if Joe-Kyari Gadzama is declared the winner
of the presidential race.
It would be
recalled that the perceived partisanship of Austin Alegeh had inspired a
petition against him by Gadzama to the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria.
Gadzama in the petition called for the intervention of the Body, bitterly
complaining about the favouring of Mahmoud in the race by the out-going
president.
As things stand
today, it is difficult to predict an out-right win for either Mahmoud or
Gadzama. This is because both candidates are claiming majority support in all
the three geo-political zones of the association. Furthermore the universality
of the sufferage takes the game of influence more away from the political lords
of the delegate system thus making the determination of the success of the candidates
at the polls more at the mercies of the 'masses' who at best only know the
'shadows' 'echoes' and mere 'nuances' of the gladiators and nothing qualitative
enough to make informed choices - a major if rather silent but unsettling factor
which also affects the outcome of the voting process. Our
interactions with many potential voters reveal that they may not vote in the coming
elections largely due to apathy and ignorance. The fixture of the voting days
for the weekend (Saturday & Sunday) is perhaps an unwitting platform for
voters indolence and apathy.
Traditionally,
weekends are reserved for rest and socials in Nigeria, thus save for the
concerned, public spirited members of the Bar, most others are not likely to
take any special interest or pain to perform their civic duty of voting on
“days of relaxation.”
The situation will
be aggravated by the fact that no less than eighty percent of the voters, even in
cosmopolitan Branches like Lagos, Ikeja, Port-Harcourt, Abuja are not internet
savvy or inclined, being steeped still in the old analogue and manual methods.
Personality types
and traits and the political tendencies, in and out of the Bar, of the two
presidential candidates will influence the choice of informed voters, should
the election hold.
Called to the Bar
(outer) in 1980 A. B. Mahmoud is the older of the two contestants. Habitually
wearing a sober, reflective pose, he is being branded by his supporters as a
focused, disciplined and sound legal practitioner, who would bring “much
needed” sanity into the Bar.
Joe-Kyari Gadzama,
younger at 55 years and called to the outer Bar in 1986, is presented as a self
made man of action and ideas, a well travelled go-getter, capable of freeing
the N.B.A from the grasp of a particular cabal who have been running affairs of
the Association oppressively and selfishly, since the exit of Rotimi Akeredolu
S.A.N as NBA President in 2010.
Interestingly both
men have once tasted electoral defeat each in their quest for the NBA
presidency. In 2004, Mahmoud was beaten to the third place in a four-man race
involving Bayo Ojo S.A.N. (the winner) Joseph Daudu S.A.N (1st
runner-up) and Phillip Umeh.
In 2010, it was
Joe-Kyari Gadzama’s turn to fail at the polls, as Joseph Daudu defeated him by
a rather wide margin to become president.
Now it is 2016 and
both former losers are now slugging it out. Who wins? Who deserves to win?
As said earlier,
these are difficult questions to answer but one thing is clear; the popular
perception is that A.B. Mahmoud is the candidate of the ESTABLISHMENT,
whose present face is Austin Alegeh, a man who inherited a cohesive bar,
started well, even brilliantly but is leaving the Bar substantially in disarray
and in turmoil.
Gadzama, the Sardauna
of the Uba emirate, Borno seeming to be more likely candidate to reverse the
last minute mis-governance of President Alegeh, may just swing it but then the
old guards don’t die easy.
*THE MANIFESTO OF CHIEF JOE-KYARI GADZAMA, SAN FOR NBA PRESIDENT
See:
http://vote-gadzama-for-nba-president.blogspot.com.ng/
See:
http://www.abmahmoud.com/manifesto/
OGUNLANA VS NBA (The Retro Law Case)
For
some time now, the famous N.B.A Ikeja Branch has been embroiled in a peculiar
post election crisis. What is peculiar about the dispute is the active
involvement of the national leadership of the NBA in the state of affairs at
the Tiger Bar, an unprecedented act in the Bar.
As
the centre of the storm is Adesina Ogunlana, the clear cut winner of the 2016 chairmanship
of the Ikeja Branch election. While Ogunlana polled 94 votes, his opponents, Bartholomew Aguegbodo and Gloria Nweze,
polled 53 and 51 votes respectively.
Prior
to his election, the Election Monitoring Group of the Nigerian Bar Association holding
a retrospective view of Section 6(3) of the Uniform Bye-Law of Branches of the
NBA 2015 had instructed the disqualification of both Adesina Ogunlana and
Gloria Nweze from the chairmanship race on the ground that both had run foul of
the section which provides as follows: “No member of the Branch shall occupy the same
office for more than two (2) years (one term); and any member who has held
elective offices as a Branch officer for two (2) terms shall not be eligible to
contest for a Branch office until at least five(5) years after his/her last
term of office”.
However
the Electoral Committee of the Ikeja Branch holding prospective view of Section
6(3) and exclusively saddled with the determination of eligibility of
candidates in the election by virtue of Section 15(5) of the Uniform Bye-Law rejected
the instruction and cleared both Ogunlana and Nweze to run. Section 15(5)
provides as follows: “The Election Committee’s decision as to
eligibility of any candidate to stand for election shall be final”.
Ogunlana
won the election hands down on 13th June 2016, claiming 48%
percentage of the valid votes cast. On the 14th June 2016; he was
sworn in with other executives at the Annual General meeting of the Bar.
On
the 16th June 2016, the President of the N.B.A sitting as the
Chairman of the National Executive Committee, relying on the report of the Dafe
Akpedeye Committee report, declared Ogunlana’s election null and appointed
Nurudeen Ogbara former chairman of the NBA Ikorodu Branch to conduct election
into the office of the Chairman NBA Ikeja within a week from the time of
appointment.
Ogunlana
kicked against the president’s orders and approached the court on the 20th
June in suit no LD/1141GCM/16 Adesina
Ogunlana vs The Registered Trustees of Nigerian Bar Association and 4ors seeking
the nullification of the president’s directive as well as obtaining restrictive
injunction against the Defendants including Nurudeen Ogbara the president’s cats-paw.
Despite
being duly served with the various processes in Ogunlana’s suit, Nurudeen
Ogbara continued with his work, claiming he was yet to see any restraining
order of court against him.
At
the hearing of the first application for interim injunction on 22nd
June, 2016, the learned trial Judge, A. M. Lawal J of the Lagos High Court,
declined the grant, ordering instead that the Claimant put the Defendants on
notice. All arguments to persuade the impressively circumspect Judge to grant
the interim injunction failed, with the Judge expressing strong disbelief that
legal practitioners having notice of pending suit against them would proceed
with actions that would offend the Judicial position in cases like Ojukwu and
Governor of Lagos State.
The
Judge’s position hardened when his Lordship noticed that there was no evidence
before the court that Ogbara the pronounced executor of the NBA president’s
order had taken any steps at that point in time towards the achievement of his
brief. Little wonder then that the Judge in his ruling stated that there was no
urgency in the reliefs sought before the court.
On
Thursday 23rd June 2016 Ogbara who styled himself 'Election
Facilitator into the office of The Chairman of N.B.A Ikeja Branch' rolled out
his programme of action. According to the one-man Electoral Committee,
nominations would open Friday 24th June 2016 and would close on Monday
27th June 2016. On the same 27th June 2016, screening of
candidates would be done and the Elections would subsequently hold on Wednesday
29th June 2016.
On
the 27th June 2016, as directed by the honourable court, Ogunlana
caused to be served on the defendants, Ogbara (4th Defendants)
inclusive, his fresh application for interim injunction upon the failure of the
earlier one filed on the 20th. Ogbara was served by Sheriff of court
at the Ikeja Bar centre in the midst of screening candidates for the proposed
election of 29th June, 2016.
After
the service of the latest processes of Ogunlana (now having exhibits evidencing
clear evidence that Ogbara would hold his election on the 29th June,
2016 two days ahead the 1st July return date of the case), on Ogbara
as well as the Hearing Notice, pure magic on the side of the “Election
Facilitator” took place.
At
about 6.30 on the 27th June 2016, the very interesting news via SMS came to members of the Ikeja Bar that one Prince Dele Oloke, a member known
for persistent unsuccessful electoral runs in the Branch, since 2002 had been
returned unopposed. According to the broadcast authored by Nurudeen Ogbara,
seven (unnamed) candidates were screened, while one was disqualified, five of
the remaining six, stepped down for Dele Oloke, who Ogbara on the Screening day
and not Election Day, declared “returned
unopposed.” The announcement ended with the news that Oloke would be sworn
in as Chairman on Wednesday 29th June 2016.
The
announcement was a clear political move and calculated to be a sucker punch to
the solar plexus of the Ogunlana camp; for it meant that the Ogunlana
application for interim injunction to restrain the Defendants from conducting
elections had been over-taken by events and as such neutralised. If the deadly
Ogbara shot had been directed at a lesser camp, it would have served the
purpose of a knock-out. However the Ogunlana camp, comprising of bonded
intellectual activists and veterans of Bar politics handled the danger smoothly
and with aplomb.
Within
an hour of the Ogbara news 'bomb,' the progressives fired back and repeatedly on the
air-waves denying any Ogunlana complicity or participation in the Kangaroo
schemes that produced Oloke as “Chairman elect.”
They
also used the Ogbara SMS message as the meat of a further affidavit in support
of the Claimant’s application. Composed, sure-footed and graceful under fire,
the Ogunlana camp presented a formidable legal team which finally at the
eleventh hour on June 28, 2016 persuaded the Judge to grant an order
specifically restraining the Defendant from swearing or causing to be sworn in Prince
Dele Oloke or any other person. The honourable court also ordered that status
quo between the parties be maintained as 20th June 2016 when the
claimant filed his Originating Summons.
Despite
the clear orders of Court, it soon became well known that the Dele Oloke would
very much like to be sworn in on the 29th June, just a few hours
away then.
True
to type, Oloke and his supporters actually came to the Bar Secretariat for the
swearing in at about 10.30am in the morning of 29th June 2016. However
that activity did not take place for two major reasons. The first was that
Ogbara the “Election Facilitator” upon having notice of Justice Lawal’s orders,
stayed away. Second, was that Oloke and his crowd suddenly discovered the
secretariat unserviceable that morning. It was not opened on the orders of
Ogunlana who later explained the compelling reason for the manouever which was to
avoid or minimize violence or physical confrontation amongst members of the
Branch and also prevent damage to the Branch properties, a situation most
likely to happen should Oloke’s proposed violation of the Court Order happened
at the Secretariat and in the public glare.
However
there are faint rumors making the rounds of Oloke being dragged to a roadside
kiosk ipebi not too far from the Ikeja High Court by a few ardent
supporters and sworn-in secretly by a person whose identity is shrouded in mystery
till date. At about 1.00pm when it appeared that heat had died down, Ogunlana
upon consultation which certain elders of the Branch present caused the
secretariat opened.
On
Friday 1st July 2016, 1st – 4th Defendants
were represented in court “on protest” by some counsel led by Afolabi Fashanu
S.A.N. Interestingly enough, the 4th Defendant’s Preliminary
Objection to the Claimant’s suit was filed and signed by Dele Oloke! It was on
the strength of this P.O that Afolabi Fashanu S.A.N. urged the court to
temporize on the matter until his Lordship determined the issue of
Jurisdiction. Ademola Adewale for the claimant urged the court not to fold its
hands and watch the subject matter of the litigation erode because of the
defendants objection to the jurisdiction of court.
In
its ruling, the Court agreed with Adewale and renewed its earlier orders
directing maintenance of status quo as at 20th June, 2016 and
restraining the Defendant from swearing in Dele Oloke, pending the
determination of the Preliminary Objection. The matter was adjourned to 21st
July 2016.
Away
from the court room wars, Adesina Ogunlana the new chief Tiger has been
contending with a largely rebellious cabinet comprised mainly of gentlemen in
skirts. Notable opposition bordering on hatred against the chairman is
exhibited openly by Muna Esegine the Secretary, a devotee of Dele Oloke.
Five days after the purported nullification of Ogunlana’s election, Esegine
obviously believing that Ogunlana has met his irredeemable Waterloo sharply
told the chairman on phone “see Mr. Ogunlana, you are not my chairman.
Before we left for Benin you were the chairman and I obeyed your instructions
but all of us were present at Benin and we all knew what happened. If you tell
me you now have a case in court, do you have an injunction? You are not my
chairman.” Another open resenter of the chairman is the Treasurer,
Thelma Coco-Bassey who ironicaly enough was encouraged into participation in
the leadership cadre of the Tiger Bar two years ago in part by Ogunlana.
From
all indications, the man in the eye of the storm is unfazed by the hostile
environment surrounding his leadership, digging deep into his reservoir of
political experience to cope and even excel in the situation. In a meeting he
had with the other members of his executive on Wednesday 29th June,
2016 at about 4.00pm, he counselled thus “I am your chairman. Gentlemen we
need to accommodate ourselves because we all have to work together for the next
two years. I am sure that not all of you voted for me during the election and
it is not all of you too that I voted for but here we are together and we need
to work together for the good of our people, irrespective of feelings.”
GBAJABIAMILA J. (RETIRED?)
David took up this lament concerning Saul
and his son Jonathan, and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament
of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar)
'Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your
heights.
How the mighty have fallen!,
TELL IT NOT IN GATH,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised
rejoice.'
2 Samuel 1: 17-20
Since last week, the Lagos State Judiciary
as well as the Bar in Lagos State have been in a mourning mood. The cause was
the sudden news of the compulsory retirement of Honourable Justice Oluyinka
Gbajabiamila from the High Bench of Lagos State by his employer, the National
Judicial Council.
The sack of Justice Gbajabiamila threw the
Lagos legal community into mourning because the affected Judge enjoys an all
round reputation as an INCORRUPTIBLE Judge. Quiet, gentle soft- spoken, polite
and patient in person and in court, Gbajabiamila J. is considered a “nice and decent Judge.” Nevertheless
the National Judicial Council after considering and determining a strongly
worded petition authored by a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, C.A Candide Johnson who in the main alleged:
(a) that judge Gbajabiamila J. persisted
in hearing a matter before his court dispute having done and proper notice to a
pending application for story of execution and that an appeal has been lodge.
(b) that Judge Gbajabiamila J. delivered judgement
in a matter before him, twenty-two months after counsel had adopted their
written addresses.
(c) that the court registrar of Justice Gbajabiamila, under the direction of
the Judge, misrepresented to the Deputy sheriff by way of memo, that there was
no appeal in the matter, whereas two notices
of appeal and two summons to settle records in the Courts file exist;
decided against the judge.
The National Judicial Council in finding
merit in the allegations levelled against the Judge recommended his compulsory
retirement to the Lagos State Governor and pending when the Governor will act
on the recommendation, she ordered the immediate suspension of the judge from
duty.
Majority of legal practitioners who
interacted with SQUIB over the Justice Gbajabiamila case expressed shock at the
fate which had befallen the judex, and wished that the sanctions would be lifted
or reduced. Such practitioners were moved by the fact that Gbajabiamila J had
zero reputation for corruption or being otherwise compromised in the discharge
of his duties-only few other judges in
the state enjoy such a high level of pristine reputation
Lamented one sympathising counsel: “Alas,
what a strange world we are! Dry and dead trees survive storms while the wet
and the living ones fall down or are uprooted. Why should it be a judge like Gbajabiamila
who will be forced from service? He is such a honest, upright Judge. Yes he may
have made mistakes but which Judges don’t? They say he did not deliver judgment
within three months, in that case almost all judges are guilty of that, at least
in Lagos State, since they are over worked generally”
Another sympathizer accused the NJC of
partiality and inconsistency in the treatment meted to Gbagabiamila J. Said the
lawyer (names with held):
'So it is Gbajabiamila that can be
compulsory retired by the NJC? That’s not fair, was it not the same NJC that
allowed a much worse case: Ofili Ajumogobia to remain on the bench just a few
weeks ago? Or was the accusation against Ofili-Ajumogobia not that she failed
to determine a case challenging the holding of a seat by an elected lawmaker in
the legislature of Ogun state until the expiration of the life of that assembly?'
On the other hand, there were a few legal
practitioners who contended that the NJC acted well in compulsorily retiring
Justice Gbajabiamila. According to such lawyers, the Judge though inversally
acknowledged as honest and a judge of integrity is however slow, indolent and
guilty of colouring Judicial duties with his religions sentiments and
perspectives.
Said one of such lawyers - “People
should stop defending the indefensible. What was wrong in the retirement of a
Judge who sits only two or three times a week and behave more like a pastor
then a Judge? He is even too slow in adjudication and you hardly get your cases
completed in his court in good time. Those supporting him should remember that
this is not a case of witch hunting. Is it true or not that twenty-two months
passed after written addresses had been adopted before he delivered ruling or
judgement?”
Hon Justice Oluyinka Gbajabiamila
formerly a Muslim, now a Christian cleric with the Redeemed Christian Church of
God was called to the Bench in 2001 and was one of a set of Judges known as the
'Millennium Judges' in the Lagos State Judiciary, on account of the significance
of the year of their appointment.
NBA IKEJA BRANCH ELECTIONS 2016: THE TIGERS ARE PREGNANT AGAIN
It is election
time again in the Nigerian Bar Association Ikeja Branch as the two year term of
the incumbent Yinka Farounbi administration draws to an end in June 2016.
Ordinarily, going
by the now out-dated bye-laws of the Branch, the general elections into the
Executive Committee of the Branch will hold in May and not in June as is the
case now under the new Uniform Bye-Laws of the Nigerian Bar Association which
has now grown into one hundred and eight branches.
The uniform Bye-Laws
which was passed in August 2015 at the Annual General Meeting of the
Association during the 2015 conference imposes certain conditions on
prospective voters in the coming elections.
Unlike in the past,
when all what qualified a voter to participate in the elections was financial
membership of the Branch and payment of practicing fees in the election year
the eligible voter in the new dispensation would have in addition the record of
attending general meetings of the Branch for no less than five times in the
election year.
One rule in the
uniform Bye-Laws which may spark controversy is section 6(3) which reads as
follows “No member of the Branch shall occupy the same office for more than two
(2) years (one term); and any member who has held elective offices as a Branch
officer for two (2) terms shall not be eligible to contest for a Branch office
until at least five (5) years his/her last term of office” This
provision was a major topic for discussion at the last National Executive
Committee (NEC) meeting of the Association in February at Jos, Plateau State.
Robust debate on the issue was however uncharacteristically squelched by Austin
Alegeh S.A.N the president, who presided over the meeting even as he expressed
an unpopular preference for an interpretation of the section 6(3) accommodating
a retro-active effect.
It is widely
believed that at the April monthly meeting of Ikeja Bar popularly cognomened
the ‘Tiger Bar’, the executive committee will officially declare campaigns open.
Another
interesting aspect of this year’s election is the severe clamp on campaign modes
for candidates. By virtue of Section 15(8) of the new constitution candidates
are forbidden to make publications of their campaign materials and distribute
same, outside the allowance of submitting them to the Electoral Committee to
the Electoral Committee for broadcast.
Aimed obviously to
curb the excessive monetization of campaigns, this new rule may adversely
affect proper dissemination of the ideas, values of candidates. While the
number of offices open for contest in the Ikeja Bar remains eleven, two of the
traditional offices; to wit 2ND VICE-CHAIRMAN and AUDITOR have been
abrogated while two new ones LEGAL ADVISER and PROVOST have been introduced.
Squib
investigations indicate that so far, the office of the Chairman has attracted
the highest number of aspirants-four; the office of the Secretary (General)
only two while the other offices do not seem to attract so much competition.
One of the General
Secretary contestants is Memunat Esegine, former Publicity Secretary of the
Branch 2012-2014. She had contested the office of General Secretary before in
2014 but lost to the incumbent office holder Seyi Olawumi. A dogged and visible
campaigner, she hopes for the best this time around.
Another aspirant
to the knowledge of this magazine is Folorunso Ilori. A quiet, self-effacing
personality devoid of glamour but well known in his circles as a committed and
tire-less worker,
From all
indications, in the first two week of April 2016 the office of the Secretary
may attract one or two other more contestants.
In the Chairman
category the contest promises to be interesting. The four contestants are
easily categorized into two class. The first class is that of contestants who
have held offices in the Tiger bar while the second class of contestants who
are green horns.
In the first class
are Adesina Ogunlana (former Welfare Officer, former General Secretary and
former 1st Vice-Chairman) and Gloria Nweze (former Treasurer, former
2nd Vice-Chairman and incumbent 1st Vice-Chairman)
In the second
class are Wale Ogunade and Bartholomew Aguegbodo.
Bartholomew
Aguegbodo
An oak of a man,
Aguegbodo was called to the Bar in January 2001 However inspite of his imposing
bulk, he perhaps appears the least prominent of all the contestants.
A genial
personality but a forceful speaker, Aguegbodo hopes to create upsets in the
elections.
Wale
Ogunade
Called to the Bar
in May 2001, Ogunade is the youngest at the Bar of all the contestants. He is lively
and extroverted. A television commentator, Ogunade sprouts populist preachments
and is the founder of the VOTERS AWARE,
a private organization set up to promote the ideas of holding valid and proper
elections through the sensitization of the electorate. He is however seen as
not being actively involved in the affairs of the Ikeja Bar yet but may turn
out a force to reckon with being an early bird campaigner in the race.
Gloria
Nweze
The only lady in
the contest, Nweze, called to the Bar in 1988, is the oldest at the Bar. She has
a record of service in the Bar starting from 2008, when she was appointed the
Treasurer of the Branch by the Dave Ajetomobi administration. She later became
the 2nd Vice-Chairman 2010-2012 and is the incumbent 1st
Vice-Chairman. She and her supporters have brought a sexist angle to the
contest contending that after about thirty five years in existence, it was high
time a gentleman in skirt becomes the leader of the great Ikeja Bar.
As the incumbent
the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee, she has energized her committee to
hold seminars and clinics on its assignment.
Adesina
Ogunlana
The last but not
the least in the race for the Chairmanship post is Adesina Ogunlana the widely
respected publisher of the resilient and fiery anti-corruption legal magazine, The Squib. Certainly the best known of
the contestants both at the local and national Bars, Ogunlana was called to the
Bar 1996, after bagging a first degree in English studies at the University of
Ife, eleven years earlier in 1985. An articulate progressive activist and
politically ambidextrous, Ogunlana a former General Secretary and former 1st
Vice Chairman of the Branch, is also the National Coordinator of a key
organizational participant in the 2015 General Elections, the Lawyers4Change.
Investigations indicate
that as today, Ogunlana, a main-streamer in Ikeja Bar since 2002 he is the
candidate, all other contestants consider the biggest obstacle in their path of
electoral success
STAMP & SEAL 'WAHALA'
Mr. Chris Owolabi
is a legal practitioner and was called to the Nigerian Bar is 1990. So he has
seen no less than a quarter of a century in the profession. But today he is not
a happy man courtesy of the new policy in the practice of law in the country
compelling the affixure of the seal of the Nigerian Bar Association to all
documents and processes to make it acceptable for purpose of use in court
registries and elsewhere.
As part of our
Cover Story, we add the less polemical views of our long-time columnist, on the
subject to serve curiously as both a compliment and moderation of the position
of Chris Owolabi Esq.
Last Friday the
Squib ran into the veteran advocate at the secretariat of the Ikeja Branch of
the N.B.A where he granted this explosive and thought provoking interview,
counting the essentials of his angst about the STAMP & SEAL POLICY.
SQUIB: Can we
meet you sir?
OWOLABI:
I
am a legal practitioner called to the Bar in 1990. I own my
practice.
SQUIB: I can
see you standing there displeasing, while processing forms in respect for
obtaining the stamps for practice
OWOLABI: You
are right, but I am more than displeased, I am shocked and disgusted at the
whole exercise. It is a disgrace and clearly illegal and unconstitutional and
from the way the exercise is being carried you begin to suspect the integrity
of the stated purpose of the whole exercise.
SQUIB: What do
you mean sir?
OWOLABI:
Let's
start with the legality of the exercise. The policy states that your
processes, papers and letters must carry the stamps before they can be accepted
at the registeries or be considered valid for use otherwise.
People have cited
one or two Supreme Court judgments to back this position. I have asked for
these cases but nobody has been able to help out in that regard. But even if
that’s the Supreme Court position, that position is wrong. Don’t forget that
the Supreme is only final, not infallible!
My question is
this, who is the issuing authority of the almighty stamp without which a lawyer
can no longer practice his trade? The issuing authority is the Nigerian Bar
Association. How can that be normal, reasonable and right, when the NBA has
nothing to do with my qualification as a legal practitioner?
As we all know, it
is the Body of Benchers that call successful students of the Nigerian Law
School into the Bar of the Supreme Court, qualifying them as legal
practitioners.
Then why should it
be that it is not the Supreme Court or the Body of Benchers, the qualifier of
legal practitioners that will issue stamps empowering their candidate so to say
to practice but the Nigerian Bar Association, which is merely an association of
people who are already in the Bar.
When a legal
practitioner has run foul of the laws of his profession is it the NBA that
sanctions him? No. The warning, suspension or disbarment is done by the Body
which qualified him in the first instance into the profession.
So if it is the
Body of Benchers who can qualify and disqualify a legal practitioner, how is it
that it is another body - an association for that matter that now has the
capacity to effectively rusticate him or reduce him to a lawyer only in name?
Yes, that is the
effect of the stamp and seal policy. If you don’t have the N.B.A stamp, you
can’t practice and that means you can’t earn your livelihood.
Don’t you think it
is funny that somebody can be a member of the Inner Bar and yet he cannot
function as a legal practitioner despite his office and preferment if he
doesn’t have the stamp of the Nigerian Bar Association.
Also is the stamp,
my practicing license? I have paid my practicing fees, why can’t I then
practice except I have the stamp?
Is the N.B.A stamp
now a practicing stamp? And why should it be that my fees for practicing
license is not used to cover the stamp assuming the necessity of the stamp
exists.
I am not sure that
the authorities took time to think through the project before implementing and
enforcing.
Look my brother,
the imposition of this stamp is worse than double taxation, it is the worst
possible form of restraint of trade.
They have by this
stamp policy restrained most unfairly a duly qualified lawyer from practice
RONKE GOES TO COLLEGE
Rosulu Oluronke, a
mother of four and a staff of the Lagos State Judiciary, where she had put in
no less that thirty four years, spent her 2015 Christmas in prison. And she is
still there. And, infact will still be there for the next ten years, courtesy
of the judgement of a Lagos State High Court, per Hon. Justice Lawal Akapo who
convicted her of conspiracy to commit obtaining money (three hundred thousand
U.S. dollars) except where the said judgement is successfully quashed at
Appeal.
The learned trial
judge, just four days to Christmas Day last year sent Ronke to the gallows
having found her enmeshed in a web of deceit involving Fred Ajudua (a lawyer
and businessman made famously infamous over the years with unproven serial
allegations of stupendous scams) to the end of obtaining money from Major
General Ishaya Bamaiyi while both men were in detention for various reasons at
the Maximum Security Prison, Kirikiri Lagos in 2004.
However Ronke
Rosulu has not resigned to fate, still strongly affirming her innocence despite
her conviction which has so ingloriously terminated her career, has appealed
against Justice Akapo’s judgement which rocked the workers’ cadre of the Lagos
State Judiciary. A date for the hearing f the Appeal has not been fixed.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
SHOCKER: IKEJA HIGH COURT REGISTRAR TURNS EMERGENCY JUDGE
COURT REGISTRAR FREES DANGEROUS CRIMINAL SUSPECTS: ON THE RUN
Femi Ogundare, said to be in his late thirties and an employee of the Lagos State Judiciary is on the run. Well known in the Ikeja High Court as one of the Court Registrars of Honourable Justice Onigbanjo.
Femi Ogundare disappeared from work since august 2015 and from his known residential address when his fraudulent escapades as a Court Registrar blew open inadvertently.
Our
investigations reveal that Femi Ogundare has for a long time now, perfected
the terrible act of working with yet unknown prison officials to effect the
illegal release of accused persons awaiting trial on prison remand.
The shenanigans of the rogue registrar was exposed accidentally on a certain occasion, when prison officials came to make enquiries about the next adjourned date of the case. They met the wrong person in person of the Senior Registrar of Justice Onigbanjo’s court (name withheld) who searched in vain for the case file of the matter so as to ascertain which dates to give. In the event, the poor senior registrar gave a date in the hope that the “missing file” would be found, before the said date arrived.
From what we
further gathered, it was in the while of searching for the “missing file” that
a letter of enquiry arrived from the Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad to
Justice Onigbanjo’s court about one Emeka Okeke, alleged to have committed
serious crimes including attempted murder and armed robbery but who had been
purportedly released on bail on the orders of the honourable judge as far back
as May 2015.
When Ogundare
learnt about this letter, he immediately decided to obey the diction of his
fathers which states that “Ko ju maribi gbogbo ara logun e” (To avoid doom, you
flee the scene).
But it was not
immediately clear to Ogudare’s co-workers that he was implicated in the scam.
Nobody was unduly suspicious of his absence from work in the first twenty fours
because the High Court was already in the annual vacation period that time.
However when his phone lines were no longer going through, alarm bells began to
ring. Later when the police visited his home, he had packed out with his family
leaving no forwarding address.
Squib
surface-to-air geckos reported that the ugly development was a huge shock and
embarrassment to Justice Onigbanjo who had been taken on by Ogundare’s
perceived industry, confidence and smartness. The judge was said to have
lamented that he did not know who to trust again in this world.
Always sharply
dressed, the clean shaven Ogundare in his hey days walked with quite some
swagger and looked more like an up and coming director of a blue chip company
than a civil servant. To account for his “success story” of power dressing and
collection of sleek cars, Ogundare’s fib to any who cared to listen is that he
was trading in some fast moving commodities, on the side.
There are
unverified reports that Ogundare has absconded to Texas, in the United States
of America.
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