COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION AT THE CLOSE OF HER 63rd ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE HELD FROM THE 25th of AUGUST TO 1st of SEPTEMBER 2023 AT THE M.K.O ABIOLA STADIUM, ABUJA

PREAMBLE

1/ The 63rd Annual General Conference with the theme “Getting it Right; Charting the Course for the Nigeria’s Nation Building” held at the M.K.O. Abiola Stadium, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, from the 25th of August to 1st of September 2023.

2/ There were 16,340 (sixteen thousand three hundred and forty) registered conferees. The Conference comprised of 6 plenary sessions, 21 breakout sessions, 26 speakers, 99 panelists and 23 moderators.

3/ The Conference was declared open by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. The Keynote Speaker at the opening ceremony was Mr. Tony Elumelu, CFR, Chairman, Board of Governing Council, Tony Elumelu Foundation.

4/ The President of the NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, OON, SAN delivered the opening address.

Goodwill messages were received from:
• The President, Court of Appeal
• The Chief Judge, Federal High Court
• The Honourable Attorney- General of the Federation & Minister of Justice

5/ The Working sessions of the Conference focused on three main themes: Economy, Administration of Justice, and Security. After exhaustive discussions on the papers and extensive deliberations on the themes of the conference, the conference rose with the following observations and recommendations.

ECONOMY
Observations
6/ Conference observed that Nigeria’s economic potential has been constrained by many structural issues, including inadequate infrastructure, tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, fundamental obstacles to investment, uncertain government policies and reluctance of previous governments to take the necessary bold steps required to achieve sustained economic growth.

7/ Conference expressed disappointment over Nigeria’s paradoxical situation of having natural resources that are not adequately utilised for Nigeria’s industrial development, one of which is clearly seen in the energy sector. Despite substantial gas reserves the nation is still unable to explore gas to achieve adequate electricity generation.

8/ Conference recognized Nigeria’s potential in terms of mineral wealth and human resources, emphasizing the enormous opportunities available. However, challenges like power shortages, oil theft, kidnapping, insecurity, and divisions among citizens have prompted the need for robust, long-term economic decisions to revive the economy.

Recommendations

9/ Conference resolved that sustained broad based economic growth and poverty reduction are critical to Nigeria’s economic growth and stability.

10/ Specifically Conference called on the Federal & State Governments to refocus efforts on infrastructure development, improve power generation, improve agricultural productivity, and expand jobs in rural areas. There should also be greater attention on youth employment through education and entrepreneurship skills training.

11/ Conference issued a cautionary message, highlighting the diminishing relevance of Nigeria’s current natural resources in the face of the imperative shift towards renewable energy solutions driven by climate change concerns. It stressed the urgency of embracing the new economic realities of the 21st century that will overshadow the significance of present natural resources.

12/ Beneficial policies for the revitalization of the Nigerian economy must be formulated and implemented for the sake of not just the current generation but for future generations as well. Some of these policies may have consequences that are not immediately comfortable but will be beneficial for the overall economy and in the long term. Citizens are therefore encouraged to be patient in the renewed hope for the development and growth of the economy of this great nation.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Observations

13/ The need to reform the justice sector has permanently been a subject of national discussion since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. Several high-level committees were set up by successive administrations to review specific institutions within the justice sector. In particular, the Judiciary, Police Force and Correctional Services have at several times been subjects of multiple reviews.

14/ Many of the problems identified include poor coordination among the different actors in the sector; long delays in hearing cases; a lack of effective legal aid to help the poor to access justice; overcrowded detention facilities; critical allegations of corruption within key institutions and poor conditions of service across the sector.

15/ While the reports of these committees have largely gone unimplemented there have been many interesting and useful initiatives to improve the justice system. The enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the Administration of Civil Justice Laws in Delta and Ekiti States. Correctional Services Act, The Police Act, the National Human Rights Commission Act, and the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria Act, are some of the important legislations in support of justice sector reform.

16/ Conference observed that in spite of these developments there are still formidable challenges ahead to achieve a justice system that works in the interest of Nigerians. Public confidence in the justice system remains at very low levels.

17/ Conference notes that every aspect of the infrastructure of our justice system requires fundamental rethinking including our approaches to policing, adjudication, bail, sentencing and imprisonment. There was also a call for adherence to judicial decisions, adoption, and integration of technological advancements for the judiciary, and fostering improved relationships between the different branches of government.

Recommendations
18/ Achieving the desired justice system will be a process, not an event. Nevertheless, change must be accelerated to keep up with the expectations of Nigerians, particularly those of the poorest and most vulnerable communities. Such change must be properly planned and carefully managed.

18/ The importance of a strong, independent judiciary was emphasized. Conference affirmed the need for an urgent upward review of judicial remuneration. Conference recommends the separation of Judicial Remuneration from public sector including the removal of the remuneration of judicial officers from the purview of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission {RMAFC}. Conference also recommended an independent salary scale for judicial officers. Conference recommends that urgent attention be paid to the plight of magistrates and other lower court judges.

19/ Conference recommends that the Federal and State governments extend financial support to pro bono schemes in Nigeria to bolster their effectiveness. That there must be collaborative efforts between the Nigerian Bar Association and other relevant stakeholders to enhance the provision of pro bono services and narrowing the gap in access to justice.

SECURITY

Observations

20/ Conference analysed the critical issue of national security and its intertwined relationship with economic prosperity and effective administration of justice.

21/ Conference acknowledged the severe impact of insecurity on the nation’s development and examined the various factors contributing to this challenge. Key observations included the devastating effects of terrorism, non-participation of communities in security efforts, unemployment’s link to unrest, and the need for regional cooperation and intelligence sharing.

22/ The Conference recognised the detrimental role of porous borders, globalization’s influence on crime dissemination, inadequate security personnel training, contentious land allocation, indiscriminate release of suspects, government’s inaction against insecurity, and the presence of ungoverned spaces.

Recommendations

23/ Conference identified the need for greater investment in the Military including providing support for civil-military coordination framework as well as a comprehensive endowment framework for critical military facilities and equipment.

24/ Conference recommended practical strategies to address security concerns. These include community involvement in policing, youth engagement through job creation, enhanced regional cooperation, media sensitization, comprehensive police reforms, religious school regulation, strengthening the judiciary, and observance of human rights. The adoption of State security forces, proper land management, international resource acquisition, and meticulous implementation of approved plans were also suggested.

25/ Conference urged citizens to actively contribute to combating insecurity by being vigilant and speaking up. It called upon the legal community to explore ways of enhancing Nigeria’s access to finance to support the fight against insecurity. Overall, the Conference underscored the need for comprehensive, multi-faceted efforts to address the nation’s challenges.

26/ Conference recommended legislative intervention to address gaps in the Armed Forces Act and other legal frameworks, enhancing regulations and accountability for military personnel involved in low intensity conflicts.

27/ Conference recommended that military training and operations incorporate human rights studies so that the military observes human rights principles and gain international credibility and uphold its constitutional role in safeguarding citizens.

The Role of the Legal Practitioner (Members of the NBA)
Observations

28/ The attention of conference was drawn to the immortal words of Sir Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams, who said that “The legal practitioner lives for the direction of his people and the advancement of the cause of his country”. Conference also noted the words of Theodore Roosevelt, who said “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care”.
–
The above was what informed the medical outreach held in the sidelines of the Conference. The medical outreach which will continue until 7 September 2023, was organised in partnership with the Kebbi State Government, the Medicaid Cancer Foundation, Garki Hospital Abuja, with volunteers from the Moses Lake Medical Team (MLMT) from the United States of America and the South American Country of Chile; Doctors from the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan; volunteers from Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kebbi and other chapters from all over Nigeria; and doctors and nurses from the NYSC. The outreach has, so far, attended to the health needs of over 1,700 (One Thousand Seven Hundred) Nigerians, lawyers, and non-lawyers. About 44 surgeries have been successfully performed so far.

29/ Conference reviewed the Legal Practitioners’ Remuneration (For Business, Legal Service and Representation) Order, 2023 and Rules of Professional Conduct and NBA Rules and Guidelines on Anti- Money Laundering and Counter- Terrorism Financing

30/ Conference recommended that ethical charging practices that uphold the integrity and dignity of work of legal practitioners must be followed. The NBA must prioritize comprehensive training to strike a balance between fees and client service and establish minimum fees for junior lawyers to counter under-cutting and implement a robust reporting mechanism for compliance.

30/ Conference emphasised the need for advocacy, awareness campaigns, and value delivery for fees as well as educating the public on the provisions of the new Legal Practitioners Remuneration (for Business, Legal Service, and Representation) Order 2023 which provides a framework for ethical charging and transparency.

31/ Conference recommended that Legal Practitioners Familiarise themselves with the Money Laundering Rules

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

32/ In addition to reports from National Officers, Conference received reports of several statutory bodies. These are National Human Rights Commission, Council of Legal Education, Legal Aid Council, Law Reform Commission.

The following resolutions were reached:
Suspension of proposed Constitutional Amendment
33/ By a majority voice vote of members present at the AGM, it was resolved that the proposed amendment of the NBA constitution 2015 (as Amended in 2021) be and is hereby rejected in its totality while the subsisting constitution be retained.

Poor Funding of Statutory Bodies
34/ AGM decried the poor funding of statutory bodies such as the National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council and the Council of Legal Education and called for continuous engagements between the NBA and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to facilitate proper funding of statutory bodies for effectiveness and performance.

ANNUAL GENERAL CONFERENCE, 2024
35/ AGM resolved that the 2024 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association would hold from 23rd to 30th August 2024. Venue to be determined.

CONCLUSION
36/ The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the legal profession as a whole must remain unwavering in the pursuit of justice and effective governance. As the voice of the people, the legal community holds the responsibility of ensuring equitable treatment for all, irrespective of their status. Upholding the principle of equality before the law is paramount.

37/ The NBA’s influence should extend beyond the courtroom. It must actively contribute to economic growth and stability by advocating for policy adherence to the rule of law in policymaking and implementation. To bolster the economy, the legal community should focus on nurturing the judiciary and key regulatory bodies.

38/ The Conference emphasizes that the outcomes and recommendations from this gathering should be earnestly embraced and executed. The profession’s commitment to justice must remain unswerving. By doing so, the Nigerian legal sector will stand out globally, acknowledged for its exceptional administration of justice and adherence to legal principles.

39/ These recommendations reflect the collective commitment to strengthening legal institutions and promoting justice, human rights, and professional integrity with the ultimate goal of Getting It Right.

Dated this 2nd Day of September 2023

Yakubu C. Maikyau, OON, SAN
PRESIDENT

Adesina Adegbite, FICMC
GENERAL SECRETARY

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THE NEED TO AVOID FREE MEALS IN NBA

In the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, annual general conference, there were some troubling revelations which were not new, but which took a public show of what appears to be washing our dirty linens in the public.

Some of our national officers accused the President of NBA of not allowing them to perform their Statutory duties. In the most commendable matured approach the president allowed them to air their grievances publicly. He did not stop them. This is commendable I must say.

Then it was the turn of the president to react. He gave reasons for his actions. Some of these reasons bothered on financial profligacy. That these national officers wanted to share NBA money for nothing. He gave statistics.

Now these allegations and counter accusations are not new in NBA. I will not go into historical details. We all know. Some lawyers are experts in NBA elections. They graduate from one office to the other. There must be some reasons for always wanting to “serve” in perpetuity.

But I think time has come for more responsible and accountable leadership in NBA. We need to screen thoroughly those who want to lead the NBA. What are their capacities and professional intergrity. It appears to me that many lawyers who go into NBA offices either at National or Branches are doing so because of free meals in NBA offices.

When NBA was vibrant and a very responsible and a very respectful association, there were no free meals in the Association. Leaders and NEC members paid their ways to attend NEC meetings. There were no free accommodations for National officers and NEC members.

Everyone paid for his or her accommodations to attend NBA meetings. Some seniors members were willing and ready to assist some of their juniors to attend meetings. Senior lawyers were accorded due respect. These senior lawyers were guiding lights of the profession. Serious issues were discussed and enforced. Attending NEC meeting was for serious business. It was not for social jamborees.

But since we adopted the policy of payment for accommodations for branch chairmen and secretaries from National purse for those who put themselves forward to serve the association that our problems of jamborees started.Today there are open corruptions in NBA. Some Branches cannot account for branch dues and money.

Again, we started to monitize the elections of our colleagues to lead our Association. Those jostling to lead the Bar corrupt their ways to be elected. Those who are to votes demand for bribes in many forms to vote for candidates they extorted from. Leadership recruitment in NBA has become very faulty and has unprofessionally being monetized.

Now that we are going to have new national officers next year those who have their eyes on what they want to gain not the services they want to rendered to members of the legal profession and the Association, have started unsolicited morning salutations and have suddenly turned emergency humanists and human right crusaders.

Honestly the hypocrisy in NBA has lowered the reputation of the profession in grave geometrical proportions. We have closed our eyes to the rots in the profession and things are not well with NBA. We have stomach so many things that are wrong. The sores we keep tolerating in the profession is gradually leading to professional amputation of the credibility and nobility of the profession. We are no more taken serious by any right thinking members of the society. We have been grouped amongst the rogues in the society.

The free meal in NBA has turned the association to a laughing stock. Time for all of us to agree to return the Association to its past vibrant glory is now. The recruitment processes to national and branch leadership must be thoroughly reviewed. Those jostling to lead NBA at national and branch levels must be scrutinized. Today NBA has been divided. Senior members of the profession are endangered species now. The reverend rank of SAN is now a crime for leadership.

Yet this division was promoted for leadership positions. Even within the revered rank of silk, some encouraged some lawyers to disrespect elders just because of ambition to lead NBA. We cannot rubbish our best just for two years tenure in office. The traditional respect in the bar appears to have gone. Anyone can just wake up and want to be president of NBA.

There is a need to stop free meal in NBA. Let those who want to lead the Bar do so from their pockets. They should pay their ways to conferences. There is no need for sitting allowances. If you know you can’t foot your bills, don’t aspire to lead the Bar. NBA free meal must be stopped before it totally rubbished the noble profession. This is my thought. Correct me if am wrong.

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PORTABLE AND THE 2023 NBA UNBARRED CONCERT- A SHEER DISPLAY OF IMMATURITY

I was at the Unbarred concert of the NBA and I left the venue at 01:45am not because of the Musician known and called Portable , but because I was very tired and I also had a meeting to attend at 10am later that morning. I ,therefore, needed to have some rest, more so that reality is now dawned on me that i am no longer getting younger.

I didn’t register for this year NBA conference at all because I am still aggrieved and unhappy with the NBA leadership for their failure to give me not even a tag , talkless of a conference bag at the 2022 NBA conference in Lagos. I paid so much to register for that conference, yet I got nothing at all to show for it. In actual fact, my wife continues to doubt my true attendance of that conference till the second coming of Jesus Christ. I believe till date that I was robbed by the leadership of the Bar, hence my decision to boycott this year conference in Abuja.

All efforts made by the Chair of the Conference Planning Committee, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN and a very good colleague of mine who is also a member of the Committee, Barbara Omosun Esq to convince me to register fell on deaf ears. I was at the conference exhibition grounds only to buy some books and legal accessories.

Let me confess however before returning to the Portable issue that the 2023 conference was well organised. It was a world class conference. I am not a fan of Y. C. Maikyau, SAN who is the current President of the Bar. I parted ways with him and his led exco when he resorted to unwarranted and unjustified attacks on some prominent leading legal practitioners of Yoruba extraction in a proxy war that the President is prosecuting for the reasons best known to him alone.

However, when I saw the top notch organisation of this year Annual General Conference of the Bar co-chaired by the learned Silk, Mazi Afam Osigwe and the Amazon of the Bar, the charming and pretty Mrs. Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya, I needed nobody to convince me before I paid for 2 Presidential Bar Dinner tickets for myself and my colleague, Oluwaseun Adeola Adedipe Esq. We attended the Presidential Dinner and I can attest to the fact that, save for starting well behind the scheduled time( African time, of course), it was also a first class dinner by any standard that one may use to assess or rate it.

Back to the Portable issue at the Unbarred Concert, I was at the event as stated above and it was fun-filled. I have heard a lot about the young musician, but I don’t even know him and I can’t even recognise him even if I see him tommorrow.

I asked Mr. Adedipe when I read online the viral report that some participants staged a walkout in protest against Portable. Mr. Adedipe told me that Portable had indeed commenced his performance for about 15 minutes before I asked that we should leave, not in any protest but just because I was very tired. Those who are now spreading the fake news of the walkout protest might as well counted me among those who walked out on Portable which in any event was not true. The event was well-attended and it was great fun all through. Those who are denigrating the Bar because of Portable’s engagement and or performance are just being mischievous and also throwing up mere primordial sentiments to run down their perceived enemies at the Bar which is neither Y. C. Maikyau, SAN nor Portable himself. The baseless attacks on Portable’s engagement is rooted in both the Bar politics and the national politics!!!

Am a Fuji music enthusiast and a die-hard fan of Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Balogun, MFR( Barrister) who was the Creator of that genre of music. I also love and admire the good fuji music of Alhaji Isiaka Iyanda Sawaba of blessed memory, also that of the Cappo Di Tutti, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal( KWAM 1) , the Corporate Fuji exponent, Adewale Ayuba and my own brother, Alhaji Abass Akande Obesere.

The nature of the appealing and matured music of Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister or the funkified music of Mayegun KWAM 1 or the corporate oriented music and impeccable dress sense of Mr. Adewale Ayuba should not be a license for anyone to throw caution to the winds to denigrate or condemn in any manner whatsoever the sleaze styles in nature songs Alhaji Wasiu Alabi Pasuma or that of Mr. Muri Thunder and or indeed the music of the Great Alhaji Abass Akande Obsere ( omo arapala and the king of saje/asakasa(sleaze fuji) or that of Mr. Lateef Ilori ( Kukuye) of blessed memory and our Kamoru Ishola (Gbejo )of Agbede Adodo, Ibadan of blessed memory who were in actual fact the first and the second persons to introduce sleaze, raw, ghetto and tarmac languages lexicon into Fuji music in Nigeria. Yet, they had their own cultic followers and fans.

Why so much fuss about Portable performing at the NBA conference? During my Student’s days at the Universities of Lagos and later Ibadan, the legendary Fela Anikulapo was always engaged by all the great clubs and associations on our campuses then for live performances. Anybody who had attended Fela’s live concert before will agree with me that the person was then a secondary Indian hemp or marijuana smoker and that included my good self. How will you be at Fela’s concert and will not inhale enough smoke of marijuana which almost every other person beside you was smoking with all latitude. Or do we talk of Fela’s habitual almost naked dress sense? But that was the great Fela for you. It was for the organisers to take him as he was or leave him if they couldn’t cope with his unique identities. After all, they could have as well invited and engaged some Islamic or Christian Gospel Musicians and there were truly many of them out there at that time and even till now.

I also listened with delight and full satisfaction as I am a fanatical fan of Tiwa Savage’s Afro music as well as the Afro music of Asa. The dress senses of the duo are unique and are in contrast to each other. It would therefore be preposterous for anybody to use the habit of either of them to condemn or ridicule the other. Varieties are indeed what make this world of ours tick. Even among lawyers and also all professionals , we all have our nuances and different brands that are unique to each practitioner and also law firms.

I don’t see anything untoward in the NBA inviting Portable to feature and perform at the concert organised during the just concluded and well-organised NBA conference. The unfounded and mischievous criticisms being touted all over now is akin to those who are fond of condemning the Big Brother Africa/Big Brother Naija on any ground.

I have asked those hypocrites and pretenders of the Big Brother’ show why they must tune in their own television set to the channel airing the show when in actual fact DSTV or Multi-choice has over 200 channels? Were they forced or hypnotised to do so? Enough of mischief and hypocrisy please.

It is therefore my considered opinion that members of the Bar (if any) who truly staged walkout on Portable who was a Guest Artist at this year Unbarred Concert are, to say the least, very immature. Such members of the Bar would at anytime walk out on Judges whenever court’s proceedings become hostile or unfavourable to them or when it failed to meet their own expectations.

Dated this 2nd day of September, 2023
JCI Senator Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN
Asiwaju of Ita-Ege and Idi-Aro,
Ward 5,
Ibadan South-East Local Government Area,
Oyo State of Nigeria.

2348033275495
+2348181585848
E-mail- adebayoojo90@gmail.com

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The Third Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mandy Demechi-Asagba has urged today’s Annual General Meeting to “condemn the act of carrying out courtesy visits by the Nigerian Bar Association with non elected officers of the Bar.”

This may be a veiled indictment of NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau SAN.

In her report to the AGM obtained by CITY LAWYER, the Third Vice President also raised other concerns, urging the AGM as follows:
● To condemn Non inclusion of National Officers in their relevant Committees.
● To condemn the act of using non National Officers to carry out the duties and responsibilities of National Officers thus rendering Elected National Officers mere figureheads
● To condemn the act of not allowing National Officers to carry out their constitutionally assigned responsibilities and relegating National Officers at NBA Events and treated as subservient.

To view the full report, click here.

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) will tomorrow at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) vote to pass or reject proposals towards amending the NBA Constitution.

While the amendment of NBA Constitution has often been embroiled in suspicions, an effort by the Olumide Akpata Administration ran into hot water due to a face-off with erstwhile NBA General Secretary Joyce Oduah.

CITY LAWYER investigation strongly indicates that the current amendment process may be as feisty as the previous effort due to strong opposition from some blocs against the proposed amendments.

While a notice of amendment of the constitution sighted by CITY LAWYER showed that the proposals are wide-ranging, some lawyers and NBA branches have vowed to truncate the planned amendment. It is noteworthy that some branches have passed resolutions urging their members to vigorously oppose and vote against the proposed amendment.

In a statement by the eight branches in Anambra State, they contended “that the Proposed Amendments especially the controversial areas will not bring progress but controversy and more division to the Bar. Amending our Constitution should not be for fun or self-serving.” In a similar vein, NBA Aba Branch resolved “to reject and vote against the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the NBA, 2015 (As Amended in 2021) in their entirety except the amendment proposed in Section 23(8) of the Constitution for not being in the interest of the NBA and the advancement of the aims and objectives of the Association.”

Similarly, NBA Ikeja Branch has also vowed to oppose the proposed amendments. In a communique issued after its Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM), the branch stated as follows: “That the proposed amendment did not comply with Section 25 of the extant law (which requires at least 60 days notice of the proposed amendment to be brought before the General Secretary). The procedure of carrying out the amendment was not adhered to.”

It stated that “Scrapping the office of the Treasurer and placing all financial matters in the Secretariat under the control of the President is to subject the finances of the association into the whims and caprice of one man thereby jeopardising the principle of transparency and accountability. The ultimate question is – To whom is the Secretariat answerable to? Is it to the Electorate/members or the President?”

According to the branch, “It is obvious that the appointees will be answerable to the “appointor” and not the Bar. Such arrangements suffer from Acquired Integrity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

“The Nigerian factor has caught up with the NBA, consequently can NBA tackle politicians for lack of transparency in governance when itself is suffering from AIDS? The answer is obvious.”

On the other hand, some stakeholders have argued in favour of the proposed amendments, saying that that is the direction the Bar should be headed in modern times. CITY LAWYER gathered that NBA President Yakubu Maikyau SAN is especially concerned about the high cost of running NBA affairs.

THE CONTROVERSIES

VICE PRESIDENT AS PRESIDENT-IN-WAITING
CITY LAWYER investigation shows that perhaps the most controversial proposal is that which seeks to enable the Vice President to ascend the post of NBA President without going through the fire of an election. Section 9(3) of the proposed amendments state that “A member of the Association shall be qualified to hold a National Office if he/she (c) With respect to the office of the President, is the immediate past Vice President of the Association. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, ascension to the office of President of the Association shall be by succession, save for the circumstances listed in paragraph 4, part III of the Second Schedule to this Constitution. Provided that where the office of the Vice President is vacant at the time of succession, election may be held for the office of the President. This provision shall become operative after the 2024 elections of the Association.”

If passed, the amendment would ensure that the incumbent Vice President takes over automatically as the next NBA President. The proponents of the amendment argue that the cost of vying for NBA Presidency is unsustainable while the acrimony generated by the electioneering campaigns is unhealthy. It is also argued that the model is “best practice” among many professional associations.

Many lawyers however contend that NBA is a pressure group unlike other associations like the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) or Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). They also assert that NBA is fundamentally built on democratic ethos, adding that it would be unthinkable that an NBA President would emerge through a “monarchical” process. It is also contended that the stature of aspirants for the post of NBA Vice President is not the same as that for NBA Presidency, moreso as scarcely has any NBA Vice President gone ahead to contest and win NBA Presidency. Proponents of the amendment however counter this, saying that with the amendment, the calibre of aspirants would begin to improve, given that the Vice President is deemed as the President-in-Waiting.

DOWNSIZING OF NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Section 9 of the proposed amendments has shaved off six substantive national offices from the National Executive Committee. These include the posts of First Vice President, Second Vice President, Third Vice President, Treasurer, Welfare Secretary, and Assistant Publicity Secretary. The only posts to be retained are those of President, Vice President, General Secretary, Assistant General Secretary and Publicity Secretary. It is noteworthy that previous amendments have deleted the posts of Legal Adviser and Financial Secretary from the list of NBA National Officers.

CITY LAWYER gathered that the proposal is targeted at cost saving and professionalization of the association. It is suggested that a sleuth of professionals including an Executive Director, a Head of Finance as well as a Fund Manager would be recruited by the association to pilot its financial affairs, arguing that the post of Treasurer has become increasingly redundant due to financial automation. Additionally, Section 23(2) of the proposed amendments provide that “There shall be three (3) principal signatories to the Association’s accounts namely, the President, the Vice President, and General Secretary; any two (2) of whom may sign.” Section 24 of the proposed amendments make provisions on sundry financial reports and accounts to be submitted to the National Executive Council by the Executive Director. These include quarterly Management Report and Accounts, audited accounts and balance sheet for the preceding Financial Year, and Annual Report to the Annual General Meeting to which shall be attached the audited accounts and balance sheet for the preceding Financial Year.

For an Election Year, in addition to the audited financial statements for the preceding year, the Executive Director shall also present to the Annual General Meeting through the General Secretary the following financial statements and reports: Half-Year (January-June) Audited Financial Statements and Unaudited Management Report for the period ended one week to the date of the Annual General Meeting. The establishment of a “Stabilization Fund Committee” is also proposed. The committee will invest the association’s funds alongside a National Executive Council-appointed “Fund Manager.”

The Executive Director is also mandated to “present a monthly management report on the activities of the National Secretariat of the Association to the meeting of the National Executive Committee, or at such time as the President may direct.” The Executive Director takes charge of the day-to-day running of the newly created “National Secretariat” (described as “an essential organ” of the association) while reporting to the NBA President via the General Secretary. Section 11 (10) of the proposed amendments establish the “Secretariat Employment Relations Committee” which shall be responsible for the appointment and recruitment of the Executive Director, Heads of the departments, and such other staff for the Association.

Critics however contend that shaving off the posts and hiring other professionals to do the same job is like taking with one hand and giving back with another hand. In fact, the Anambra Branches contend that what is needed is the creation of more posts to ensure that the NBA leadership feels the pulse of the members.

10-YEAR BAR TWAEKED
Section 9 (4)(c) of the proposed amendments provide that “Any member who has held an elective office as a national officer for two (2) terms shall not be eligible to contest for a national office until at least Eight (8) years after his/her last term of office. For the avoidance of doubt, this provision shall have retrospective effect.” While proponents of the amendment argue that the current 10-year bar is onerous, CITY LAWYER gathered that the amendment may clear a major hurdle for a top presidential aspirant who is caught by the 10-year bar.

CREATION OF NEW BRANCHES
NBA members aspiring to set up new branches now have a higher hurdle to cross, given that Section 16(2) of the proposed amendments now direct that “An application for the creation of a new Branch of the Association shall be signed by not less than One Hundred and Fifty (150) members in good financial standing and submitted to the General Secretary.” This is as against the current threshold of 50 signatories.

ELECTION OF NATIONAL OFFICERS/ELECTORAL COMMITTEE OF THE NBA (ECNBA)
The proposed amendments make copious provisions on the election of National Officers. The proposals seem to be targeted at strengthening the ECNBA and curtailing election financing and the longstanding clamour to checkmate the huge spending that has attended NBA Elections over the years. For example, the proposed amendment provides that “All Branches, Sections, and Fora are prohibited from soliciting contributions, donations or sponsorship from candidates seeking election into any national office during the election year. Any officer or member of a Branch, Section or Forum who engages in solicitation for funds or inducement of funds from candidates and/or prospective aspirants in any election in the Association shall be deemed to be guilty of professional misconduct and shall be referred to the Disciplinary Committee for appropriate sanctions.”

Aside from banning aspirants or candidates from organizing, hosting, participating in, or supporting the organisation and/or hosting of shows, hangouts, parties or similar events in relation to any election in the association or engaging in any form of financial inducement including paying annual practicing fees or branch dues for lawyers except those in their employment, the proposals warn that “No Branch, Section or Forum of the Association shall invite prospective aspirants or candidates to sponsor their event or programmes except such an aspirant or candidate is a member of that Branch, Section or Forum.” Branches are also barred from endorsing aspirants or candidates. The ECNBA is also mandated to “prescribe limits for electoral expenses for candidates in any election. Any candidate who violates the prescribed electoral expenses spending limit shall be disqualified from participating in the election.”

While these proposed amendments may seem salutary and aimed at cleaning the Augean stable that NBA electioneering has become, they are bound to be unpopular with many branch leaderships which see such avenues as conduits to fleece aspirants and candidates.

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT PROCEDURE
Apparently to obviate the quagmire that marred the effort by the Olumide Akpata Administration to amend the NBA Constitution, it is proposed that “the National Executive Committee through the General Secretary and the (Assistant) General Secretary or any other National Officer as may be directed by the President of the Association shall have circulated same to members of the Association at least thirty (30) days before the proposed amendment is tabled for discussion at the Annual General Meeting of the Association.”

20% BAR PRACTISING FEE
Section 23(8) of the proposed amended constitution plans to jerk up branch share of the Bar Practising Fee from 10 per cent to 20 percent. It provides that “A total of Twenty percent (20%) of the annual Bar Practicing Fees paid by members of each Branch of the Association shall be remitted to the Branch in the months of April and December respectively of each year.” This proposal seems to have thrown the branches into a serious dilemma.

While it is unclear whether the proposal is a bait for branches to enable them align with the other proposed amendments, it has set some branches against others. While some branches have opted to reject the entire proposed amendments, others have urged their members to vote in favour of only that provision while rejecting the others.

It is to be seen how the Yakubu Maikyau Administration will navigate the strong opposition and minefields that litter the current constitution amendment process.

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CITY LAWYER AGENDA FOR JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM SERIES

Nigeria’s justice sector is beset by a myriad of challenges ranging from delay in administration of justice to heavy dockets that confront increasingly overworked judicial officers.

Other issues include lack of judicial autonomy and inadequate resources, poor investigation, overhang in the awaiting trial population and low level of adoption of technology and innovation, to name a few.

Against the backdrop of these longstanding challenges and the swearing-in of a new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, CITY LAWYER asked eminent Bar Leaders and justice sector stakeholders to plot a blueprint on the priorities to be tackled by the new Chief Law Officer.

F. BOMA AYOMIDE ALABI (SAN, OON) was the pioneer woman to hold sway as President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA). She was the chairperson of the Association of Women Solicitors England and Wales (2005/2006) and Chair of the NBA Section on Legal Practice Professional Development Committee. Among other proposals, she states that financial independence for the Judiciary must be a priority for the new Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN.

THE ROADMAP

Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN has been in practice his entire working life and is no doubt conversant with the myriad of challenges facing our justice system and undermining the rule of law.

Financial independence for the Judiciary is still a mirage in many respects and should certainly be a priority for him in this role.

Also, separating the role of the Attorney General from the Minister for Justice is an important step in enhancing the rule of law in our democracy.

Finally and equally crucial is modernizing the criminal justice system to provide better protection for vulnerable witnesses and expedited trials.

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Former President of the former President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), Mrs. Boma Alabi, has led a team of technology experts to develop a lawyer-specific App that will enhance the productivity and improve the revenue of Nigerian lawyers.

Speaking at a pre-launch briefing, Mrs. Alabi said that the development of the App took a number of years to become a reality because the team of high-tech experts wanted to ensure that Nigerian lawyers got the best from the initiative.

According to Mrs. Alabi who was the first woman President in the history of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, “After 26 years of my legal practice in London, I returned to Nigeria and discovered we had several challenges and limitations in access to potential clients, real time. The application, AptResponse, is therefore a must have for Lawyers.

“Through the App, Lawyers can be reached quickly by those in urgent need of legal services, including those whose rights are being violated by security agencies. The App will link such persons immediately to the nearest lawyer, who will come to their aid”.

Applauding the initiative, Nigerian Bar Association President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN said: “I am really excited that this App is coming during my tenure as NBA President. As lawyers, we have responsibilities which must be discharged with integrity.

“AI has made it possible to work from anywhere. The App should also be able to track the billing system of lawyers, because under the new Act, a lawyer must not charge less than the prescribed fees; it amounts to professional misconduct for any lawyer to do so.

“I am delighted to be part of this, and the NBA will definitely collaborate with your team to support this initiative.”

The NBA President said: “Our work environment has changed post-Covid, and we have to change our traditional approach to work; this App promotes the tech platform for this change.

“Lawyers share greater responsibilities in the society because apart from ensuring the maintenance of law and order, we equally have the responsibility to direct the affairs of society. This App brings the connect between the lawyer, the client and the society for good, because if there is a disconnect between what I call the sheep and the shepherd, there will be problems.

“In this digital age, our offices are everywhere, and this is what the App is promoting. We are everywhere, and we need to up platforms that will assist us to discharge our responsibilities everywhere in the society. This will also enable us to enhance the billing system of lawyers, in compliance with the new Legal Practitioners Remuneration Act.

“I love this App, and will involve others to love it and benefit from its application. Over 14,000 lawyers have so far registered for the forthcoming Conference, we must deliver it without compromising the integrity of the Bar. This is a very laudable and revolutionary project, and will definitely add value to our profession.”

Mrs. Alabi, who envisioned the initiative, started a mentoring programme for students of the Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus with about 1, 600 students per session over 10 years ago. She is highly involved in the Duty Solicitors Scheme and mentorship especially for young lawyers.

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NEWS RELEASE

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Dear Colleagues,

As we all know, the Annual General Conference is yet to start “unofficially” until you have a massive welcome party.

Join us for an unforgettable night of camaraderie, great conversations, and an opportunity to unwind .

Date: Monday 28th, August, 2023
Time: 7pm
Venue: Friendship Centre, MKO Abiola Stadium.

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NEWS RELEASE

Dear Learned Silks, Seniors & Colleagues,

Kindly be the guest of Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN at;

Venue: Space & Function Event Centre City Park Behind Diamond Access Bank, Wuse 2, Abuja.

Date- Monday 28 August 2023.

Time- 7pm

Music by: DJ Funkee Bee.

It promises to be the best AGC treat as we party with the quintessential Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN.

Don’t miss it !!!

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The immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Technical Committee on Conference planning (TCCP), Mr. Tobenna Erojikwe has stated that the Annual Conference “stands as a cornerstone event in our legal calendar, offering us a pivotal opportunity to exchange insights and collectively steer the direction of our beloved profession and country.”

He urged the conferees “to actively engage in the diverse sessions that promise intellectual enrichment and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.”

The statement reads:

Dear colleagues,

As we convene in the FCT for the 63rd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, I am honoured to extend my warmest greetings to all our delegates.

The AGC stands as a cornerstone event in our legal calendar, offering us a pivotal opportunity to exchange insights and collectively steer the direction of our beloved profession and country. I encourage each of you to actively engage in the diverse sessions that promise intellectual enrichment and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.

Whilst doing so, let’s not forget to relish the camaraderie and festivities planned for the AGC. Networking and socialising amidst like-minded peers will undoubtedly yield new perspectives, possibilities, and opportunities.

I look forward to engaging with you all and propelling our shared aspirations to greater heights.

Warm regards,

Tobenna Erojikwe
Partner, The LawCrest LLP and Chairman, NBA Institute of Continuing Legal Education

Below are details of a sideline event by “Friends of Tobenna Erojikwe”

FRIENDS OF TOBENNA EROJIKWE INVITE YOU TO:

BUILDING ON A SOLID FOUNDATION: A conversation on the NBA-ICLE past, present and future.

Date: 28/8/2033
Time: 6pm
Venue: Abuja International Conference Centre (ICC)

AFTER PARTY: 7 pm

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NBA-AGC NEWS RELEASE

Dear NBA AGC 2023 CONFEREES,

The CRECHE Support Initiative is here again.

The Annual General Conference Creche Support for babies/Toddlers of female Nigerian legal practitioners is open.

Are you a Female Lawyer?

Are you nursing your baby/toddler/young children?

Does your hope of attending the 2023 AGC seem blurry?

RELAX!! the NBA AGC 2023 CRECHE Support Initiative has got you covered

Bring your Children to Creche at the AGC
Venue : VIP wing of the National Stadium
Time : 10am daily

It is clean, comfy and in a security conscious setting.

Contact : 08031113135 -Blessing
08137715123- Imo

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President Bola Tinubu has vowed to address the lingering issue of remuneration of judicial officers and legal practitioners, saying that is the bedrock for true justice.

The President made the statement yesterday in Abuja while declaring open the 2023 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA-AGC) held at the Velodrome of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.

Against the backdrop of the judicial reforms he undertook as Lagos State Governor, Tinubu renewed his commitment to deal conclusively with the pressing issue of remuneration for judicial officers and legal practitioners, noting that true justice reform must begin with world-class salaries and benefits for legal professionals in Nigeria.

“You are learned. I want to learn. Why are we so blessed and we are still lacking? We must have a change of attitude and a change of our mindset. We accuse our nation and its previous leaders. We complain a lot of the past. Is that the solution? No! Let us look forward and be determined! God has given us what we need. We must work hard with determination to make our country great and it begins with you who are seated here with me,” said the President.

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Getting it Right: Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation-Building”, the President said hard decisions must be made to set the country on a growth trajectory despite the initial pains which meaningful reforms would usually bring.

He warned that Nigeria cannot sustain a failed economic framework that deploys 90% of its scarce revenue towards external debt service amid many development challenges facing the country.

His words: “Can we continue to service external debts with 90% of our revenue? It is a path to destruction. It is not sustainable. We must make the very difficult changes that are necessary for our country to get up from slumber and be respected among the great nations of the world.”

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Getting it Right: Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation-Building,” the President stated that hard decisions must be made to set the country on a growth trajectory, despite the initial pains which meaningful reforms usually bring.

“We cannot have the country we desire without the reforms we have initiated. It is painful at the beginning, in the short and medium term, but we must do what we have to do to take this nation to its great destiny. It is not about you and it is not about me. It is about our generations yet unborn, for whom we must bequeath a great and prosperous country,” he affirmed.

Referring to the Keynote Address by the Chairman of UBA Plc and Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, President Tinubu bemoaned the inability of the country to eradicate poverty and tackle poor electricity supply despite Nigeria’s abundance of gas.

While praising Elumelu for setting an agenda for economic growth and development, Tinubu vowed that his administration will ensure that Nigeria generates and distributes the electricity the economy requires to thrive.

He said: “Yes, it is a shame not to have adequate electricity for the mass majority of homes in Nigeria and to power our industries. How can we address poverty without electricity? We can take many people out of poverty with uninterrupted electricity supply. Poverty is not acceptable, and we must banish it.”

The Keynote Speaker, Elumelu noted that the central theme of this year’s conference was nation-building.

He decried the fact that Nigeria’s accomplishments are few compared to its population and potential, and went on to set an agenda for all stakeholders towards making the most of the nation’s human capital especially.

Elumelu, who is also the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, referenced the need for investments in the nation’s power sector as well as social infrastructure such as hospitals and schools among others. He urged investments on young people, noting that by empowering them the country would set the tone for social advancement.

Quoting late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Elumelu said, “Poverty anywhere is a treat to our prosperity and safety everywhere.” He urged robust investment in women, noting that when a woman succeeds, the community succeeds.

On his part, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN stated that the rule of law and democracy remain the bedrock for ‘Getting it Right’ in nation building.
He assured that the rule of law will be strictly enforced by the Tinubu Administration, stating that President Tinubu is a democrat who needs moral support to succeed.

In his Welcome Address, NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, expressed the confidence of the NBA in the ability of President Bola Tinubu to deliver good governance to Nigeria because of his pedigree and track record of performance in Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.

Noting that about 17,000 lawyers registered for this year’s conference, Maikyau said: “President Tinubu got it right in Lagos, and it is our considered expectation that as President of Nigeria, you will not only replicate your achievements in Lagos, but surpass them for our country.”

The conference was also attended by many key stakeholders in the justice sector including the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike; Minister of Sports, Senator John Enoh, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha.

This year’s Annual General Conference Planning Committee is chaired by former NBA General Secretary, Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN.

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CITY LAWYER AGENDA FOR JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM SERIES

Nigeria’s justice sector is beset by a myriad of challenges ranging from delay in administration of justice to heavy dockets that confront increasingly overworked judicial officers.

Other issues include lack of judicial autonomy and inadequate resources, poor investigation, overhang in the awaiting trial population and low level of adoption of technology and innovation, to name a few.

Against the backdrop of these longstanding challenges and the swearing-in of a new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, CITY LAWYER asked eminent Bar Leaders and justice sector stakeholders to plot a blueprint on the priorities to be tackled by the new Chief Law Officer.

Dr. Garba Tetengi SAN is a member of the Independent Investigative Panel (IIP) set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate allegations of human rights violations levelled against operatives of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other units of the Nigeria Police Force. He is also Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) General Purposes Committee.

He states that the Federal Government should make obedience to court orders a priority “in order to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.”

AGF SHOULD HIRE A TEAM OF SENIOR ADVOCATES OF NIGERIA TO PROSECUTE CORRUPTION CASES

The AGF should spearhead the sponsoring of a Bill by the Executive to the National Assembly for a merger of EFCC and ICPC and any other Investigative Agency and further delete the provision that makes them a prosecuting agency. All they should do is to investigate and allow the Ministry of Justice or designated private lawyers to undertake prosecution of potential culprits. Specialization will enhance efficiency. To me that should be a priority

He should create a special team in the Ministry for prosecution of all financial and corruption cases including hiring private senior lawyers – or to be specific Senior Advocates of Nigeria – to handle these matters. Fighting corruption should be a priority. He should compliment the effort of the past administration by prioritizing the fight against corruption. The judiciary has been doing same with the existence of COTRIMCO (Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee).

As a matter of priority he should impress it on the president that complying with court orders must be a priority of the administration in order to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

He should create or encourage synergy between the private bar and the official bar for smooth administration of Justice.

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The Chairman of the 2023 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference Planning Committee (TCCP), Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN has visited the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja in preparation for the upcoming conference.

The visit is aimed to assess the venue’s readiness, review logistics, and ensure that all arrangements are on track for a hitch-free conference.

Upon arriving at the National Stadium, the TCCP Chairman embarked on a thorough assessment of the facilities. He was accompanied by key members of the planning committee and some stakeholders. The stadium’s capacity to accommodate the expected number of participants was examined to ensure adequate seating arrangements and provision for various sessions.

He assessed the audio-visual equipment, stage setup, and lighting systems. The technical team demonstrated the capabilities of the equipment and assured the TCCP Chairman that they would be able to meet the conference’s technological requirements such as live streaming, virtual participation, and interactive sessions.

Osigwe’s visit to the AGC is viewed as a demonstration of a painstaking approach to conference planning. His interactions with the technical teams, venue staff, and committee members ensured that all aspects of the conference were thoughtfully considered.

With his hands-on approach and attention to detail, the former NBA General Secretary assures the conferees that the conference would be hitch-free, providing an enriching and engaging experience for all participants. The conference is poised to contribute significantly to legal discourse, professional development, and networking within the legal community.

Meanwhile, the TCCP Chairman has urged conferees to be security-conscious while in Abuja.

In a statement he personally signed, he wrote: “As we eagerly await your presence at the upcoming Annual General Conference, we want to emphasize the importance of prioritizing your safety and security throughout the event and your travel to Abuja.

“While the conference promises to be a rewarding and enlightening experience, being security conscious is paramount to ensure your well-being.

“Your safety and security are of utmost importance to us. By taking proactive measures and staying vigilant, you contribute to a secure and enjoyable conference experience for yourself and your fellow attendees.

“Safe travels, and we look forward to welcoming you to a successful and secure conference!”

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All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

CITY LAWYER AGENDA FOR JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM SERIES

Nigeria’s justice sector is beset by a myriad of challenges ranging from delay in administration of justice to heavy dockets that confront increasingly overworked judicial officers.

Other issues include lack of judicial autonomy and inadequate resources, poor investigation, overhang in the awaiting trial population and low level of adoption of technology and innovation, to name a few.

Against the backdrop of these longstanding challenges and the swearing-in of a new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, CITY LAWYER asked eminent Bar Leaders and justice sector stakeholders to plot a blueprint on the priorities to be tackled by the new Chief Law Officer.

MR. MUTALUBI OJO ADEBAYO SAN, former Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, argues that unless Nigeria’s courts are digitalize and anti-graft agencies unbundled, the dysfunction in the justice system will persist

JUDGES MUST QUIT WRITING IN LONG HAND

Firstly, let me seize this opportunity to congratulate Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN on his well-deserved and fitting appointment as Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is a round peg in a round hole.

Topmost is that I want the new HAGF to ensure that all the Federal Courts are fully digitalised. Enough of our Judges writing in long hands. He should appeal to and enjoin the 36 states’ Attorneys-General to also follow suit in their respective State High and Magistrate’s courts.

To fully drive home the project and ensure its successful implementation, the HAGF should seek the Federal Executive Cabinet to establish the Justice Sector Reform and Development Fund.

I envisage and anticipate a hostile challenge from the judiciary and their sympathisers who may throw up an argument that the agency should be under the full control of the judiciary. The HAGF should not be taken in by that selfish and myopic contention because my experience as the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State in 2011-2015 has shown and taught me a great lesson – that our judiciary lacks the capacity and the capability to do any meaningful capital development for the justice sector without our heads of court getting their fingers burnt in the process, as they are greatly vulnerable to the manipulations of the more experienced but very corrupt Administrative and  Accounting  Officers in the judiciary.

Also, the Honourable Attorney-General must confront headlong the monstrous corruption in all the nation’s sectors including the judiciary. Our bane in this country is corruption which is an existential problem to our nationhood. Once the HAGF successfully prosecutes and secures conviction of some major politically exposed persons in a transparent and fair manner, all other potentially corrupt persons would sit up and turn a new leaf. Corruption cannot be totally eradicated but it can be drastically reduced using the instrumentality of laws.

Happily enough, the new Sheriff in town, the learned Silk Prince Lateef Fagbemi is a man reputed for great courage, resilience, doggedness and uncompromising in any noble cause. He does not mince words and is renowned for calling a spade by its name where others will call it a simple farm tool. I can confidently assert without mincing words that the country’s fight against corruption is entering a new dawn with his appointment and swearing-in as the HAGF.

The brand new Attorney-General has rightly hit the nail on the head himself when he appeared before the Senate for screening and clearance by unequivocally stating in an unmistaken term that all our anti-graft agencies – the EFCC, ICPC, DSS and all others who presently combine the twin powers of investigation and prosecutorial – shall be unbundled in a manner as to separate within the same agency, the investigating powers from the prosecutorial powers. Indeed, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I will only need to appeal to the new HAGF to see this great  initiative of his to a logical conclusion in order to keep clean and pollution-free the stream of the fight against corruption in our dear country which at presently is in a rotten, messy, chaotic and riotous state largely due to  vesting of the agencies involved with both investigative and prosecutorial powers.

I wish the thoroughbred professional, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, a most successful tenure of office.

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The family of Lagos senior lawyer, Mrs. Ijeoma Oparanozie are blaming the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Evercare Hospital, Lekki, Lagos for the demise of the lawyer following a fatal car crash. She would have been 41 years today.

CITY LAWYER gathered that Ijeoma and her niece were fatally wounded when another vehicle somersaulted and hit their car last Sunday night around ELF in Lekki, Lagos. The deceased lawyer also had her six-year-old son and nanny in the car when the accident occurred.

The elder sister to the deceased, Mrs. Chinwe Chiazor told CITY LAWYER amid tears that first responders used crane to remove the deceased lawyer and other occupants from the accidented car and rushed Ijeoma and her niece to Evercare Hospital for treatment.

She however said that the hospital haggled over payment for hours and delayed treatment to both accident victims until the deceased lawyer was eventually referred to LASUTH by Evercare after she had bled profusely and remained without the crucial surgery for about 12 hours.

“The accident happened around 8 pm,” she said. “I would also have been in that car. That I’m alive today is God’s grace. Ijeoma was unconscious and was bleeding internally.”

According to her, “She was stabilized at Evercare Hospital. They sent for CTI scan and the result came out. They then told us that she needed to be moved into ICU for surgery. I deposited N300,000. They however insisted that we must pay N5 million each for Ijeoma and my niece, and that unless they receive the money, they would not commence the surgery.

“I noticed that my sister’s head was beginning to swell and they told me it was because of internal bleeding, that blood was being sucked into her head.

“I was crying; I was begging them to start the surgery. They asked, ‘What of the N2 million you said you and your husband will transfer?’ I told them that I can transfer N1 million to them immediately while my husband will transfer another N1 million first thing in the morning as he does not operate the banking App. This was around 12 midnight.

“Ijeoma’s company doctor, Dr. Nwogu came around 3 am and assured them that the company would take full responsibility and pay the bill immediately they resume work in the morning. They refused to do the surgery notwithstanding the guarantee given by their professional colleague and the company.

“As promised, the company transferred N10 million to Evercare in the morning. They now jerked the figure up to N30 million! They insisted on the N30 million, or they would do a referral. I do not know whether it was because they felt the company could pay more. They referred us to LASUTH.”

According to Mrs. Chiazor, her sister and niece were in very bad shape by this time. “Our nightmare did not end with the referral as Ijeoma was not attended to for four hours at LASUTH. They told us that there were no doctors on duty. They wanted to use a fibrator to resuscitate her but had to rely on CPR instead as they said they did not have the equipment. My sister was in the ambulance for over four hours without any medical attention. It was only the nurse from the ambulance company that was attending to her until she died. What will I tell her six-year-old son? She fought; she wanted to live for her son! My niece also died at Evercare! She could not be moved because we could not get a medical facility with a ventilator! They said she was brain dead.”

CITY LAWYER gathered that Ijeoma’s son survived the accident with an injury to his head.

When CITY LAWYER contacted Evercare Hospital via its verified telephone number, one Robertson directed our Correspondent to send an email to the hospital “on your letterheaded paper and our Legal Team will respond if necessary.”

LASUTH could not be reached for a response at the time of going to press.

The demise of the senior lawyer has thrown the legal community and especially the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Lagos Branch into mourning. Announcing her passing, the branch leadership wrote in a statement obtained by CITY LAWYER: “We, the Executive Committee of NBA Lagos Branch, with deep sadness, announce the passing of Chizoma Ijeoma Okoro on the 21st August 2023. Chizoma Ijeoma Okoro is an active member of our Branch. May God grant her family the fortitude to bear this loss.

“We will cease all birthday celebrations for today and tomorrow as today was supposed to be Ms. Chizoma Ijeoma Okoro’s birthday.

“Members of the Executive Committee of NBA Lagos Branch have reached out to her family.

“Burial arrangements will be announced when available, and her family consents to such announcement.”

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CITY LAWYER AGENDA FOR JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM SERIES

Nigeria’s justice sector is beset by a myriad of challenges ranging from delay in administration of justice to heavy dockets that confront increasingly overworked judicial officers.

Other issues include lack of judicial autonomy and inadequate resources, poor investigation, overhang in the awaiting trial population and low level of adoption of technology and innovation, to name a few.

Against the backdrop of these longstanding challenges and the swearing-in of a new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, CITY LAWYER asked eminent Bar Leaders and justice sector stakeholders to plot a blueprint on the priorities to be tackled by the new Chief Law Officer.

MR. OLAWALE FAPOHUNDA SAN, a two-time Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ekiti State, notes that justice sector reform must aim to build a justice system which is affordable, efficient, independent, transparent, professional and accountable to Nigerians

A JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM AGENDA

In setting an agenda for the Attorney-General of the Federation, it has to be emphasized that the state of the nation today including the less than enviable citizens perception of our justice sector makes the case for far reaching interventions in the justice sector. Every aspect of the infrastructure of our justice system requires fundamental rethinking.

Our approaches to policing, adjudication, bail, sentencing, imprisonment needs change in significant ways. The Attorney- General of the Federation cannot simply be the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Justice. He must in addition to overseeing state legal affairs, set the agenda for the justice sector.

For clarity, a justice sector reform agenda will include facilitating immediate to long term reform measures in the Judiciary, Police, Correctional Services and Access to justice institutions (Legal Aid Council, National Human Rights Commission.

The overall objective of justice sector reform is to build a justice system which is affordable, efficient, independent, transparent, professional and accountable to Nigerians, one that ensures the rule of law and the observance of human rights and contributes to reclaiming the trust of Nigerians in the Justice system.

Judiciary

Priority Interventions in the Judiciary should include a review of judicial salaries and allowances as well as supporting constitutional amendments that ensure that only matters of significance are heard in the Supreme Court. No less important are related matters of judicial appointments and affirming the sanctity of our courts and its decisions.

Policing

The Attorney-General must be interested in police reform. The absence of credible and reliable data on the human, equipment and other resources available to the police is a concern that retards crime prevention and obstructs criminal prosecution. There is also a need for a holistic response to citizen’s concerns about police handling of complaints of police abuse.

Correctional Services

The State of our Correctional Centers including incidents of frequent jailbreak, overcrowding and the conditions of service for correctional officers must be of concern to any Attorney- General. No less important is the need to interrogate the appropriateness of placing the Correctional Services in the Ministry of Interior and not in the Ministry of Justice.

Access to Justice Institutions

There is a need to take a closer look at our access to justice institutions (National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council of Nigeria) and the Federal Ministry of Justice itself. The Attorney-General should find out whether the level of endowment of these institutions is such that individually and collectively, they can be said to be fulfilling their responsibilities to the people of Nigeria.

Law Reform

It is often said that the problem with our justice system is not the absence of laws but our inability to enforce existing laws. Weak law enforcement regime is certainly an important concern. However there are several laws that should have no place in the laws of the federation. The Attorney-General should provide leadership for a law reform intervention. The outcome of which should be an updated laws of the federation containing a body of laws that are current and relevant to Nigerias socio-economic and political aspirations.

Professionalize Federal Ministry of Justice

The ability of the Attorney- General to deliver on the mandate of the Ministry of Justice as well as his reform agenda largely depends on his ability to achieve a Ministry of Justice that is professional, service oriented and whose personnel understand and are sensitive to the myriad issues facing the administration of justice including the role of the Justice Ministry itself. Changing the perception of citizens that the justice ministry solely exists to defend government is an important goal.

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The suspended Dean of Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon will on September 5 know his fate in the serial sexual harassment and sundry allegations levelled against him by past and present students of the faculty.

This came on the heels of today’s inauguration of a 7-member panel to probe the allegations levelled against the embattled Law teacher. Ndifon was reinstated after surviving a 2015 allegation of raping a 20-year-old student twice in his office. The Vice Chancellor told CITY LAWYER in an exclusive interview that Ndifon was recalled based on a court judgment.

An Abuja based senior lawyer and UNICAL Law graduate, Nelly Idagba told CITY LAWYER in an exclusive interview that she was sexually harassed by Ndifon.

Meanwhile, the university authority has appointed an Acting Dean of Law in Ndifon’s stead, even as it also granted ‘Observer Status’ to the Nigeria Police and Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to monitor the probe. The new Dean is Dr. (Mrs.) Rose Ohiama Ugbe.

Hinting that Prof. Ndifon’s fate may have been sealed, a press statement by the university indicated that Ugbe’s appointment “takes effect from Tuesday, August 22, 2023 and will run till a substantive dean is elected for the faculty.”

Others granted observer status include the Public Complaints Commission, (International) Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), University of Calabar Alumni (National), and ‘Malabor High Court.’

The committee has a Professor of Philosophy, Prof. Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob as Chairman. Other members are the Executive Director of Gender Development Centre, Dr. Brenda Akpan; Director of SERVICOM, Prof. Patrick Egaga; Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Tony Eyang; Representative of Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU), Prof. Ayodeji T. Owolabi; the University Counsellor, Prof. Elizabeth Akpama; and Deputy Registrar, Post Graduate School, Barr. Gabriel Orok who will serve as Secretary.

Speaking at today’s inauguration, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi said that the institution has no vested interest in the case, urging the probe panel to pursue justice.

While accepting the offer to serve, the Chairman of the Panel, Prof. Oluwagbemi-Jacobs assured that against the backdrop of wide interest the matter has generated locally, nationally and internationally, members of the panel will be thorough in the investigation and fair to all parties. She stated that decisions taken will be based on the truth and available facts, not sentiment.

According to a statement by the university, the Registrar, Mr. Gabriel Egbe, in a memo to members of the panel “listed a 12-point terms of reference which include: rigorous investigation of sexual harassment against the suspended Dean, to examine the extent of result manipulations, mutilations and aberration in examination conduct in the Faculty of Law from 2021 and investigations relating to the abuse of office, high- handedness, extortion and violation of the extant laws of the University by the suspended Dean.

“Others include checking the records of candidates mobilized to Law School in the past two sessions and establish if those mobilized met the requirements, the allegation of students being made to pay for matriculation numbers/clearance against Senate approved payments, Direct Entry admission abnormalities, mode of course allocations to lecturers and choice of ‘Supervisees’ and Course Reps by the suspended Dean, as well as, compliance with Senate decisions on faculty meetings.

“The panel, according to the Registrar, is expected to carry out a thorough, fair and objective investigation of the allegations and make appropriate recommendations to Management within two weeks.”

Meanwhile, the university has mandated the new Dean of Law to “take up the responsibilities and duties associated with the office and also oversee faculty’s academic programmes, foster a healthy relationship among staff and students, and create a positive environment for teaching and learning.”

CITY LAWYER recalls that students of the faculty recently protested against the embattled Law teacher, accusing him of sexual harassment, embezzlement and manipulation of the list of students to be admitted to the elite Nigerian Law School. Ndifon denies the charges, saying the protest was orchestrated by his detractors.

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The eagerly awaited Opening Ceremony of the 63rd Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) will take place on Sunday, August 27, 2023.

According to information available to CITY LAWYER, the time for the Opening Ceremony is 3 pm while the venue is The Velodrome, National Stadium, Abuja.

The conference, themed “Getting It Right, Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation Building,” is scheduled to hold from August 25 to September 1, 2023.

A programme schedule unveiled by the Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN-led AGC Planning Committee shows that a Jumat service will hold by 1 pm on Friday, August 25, 2023 at the Central Mosque, Abuja to herald the conference.

This will be followed by a 5 km Health Walk on Saturday, August 26, 2023 commencing at 7 am to 10 am. The route will be from NBA National Secretariat to the National Stadium.

While the health walk is aimed at encouraging healthy living through regular exercise, a Tree Planting session will come on the heels of the health Walk on the same day.

There will also be a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, 27th August, 2023 at the Summit Bible Church located at Plot 1101 Kaura District, Abuja. The time is 9 am.

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Senior lawyers have called for the release of suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa by the Directorate of State Services (DSS).

Some however chided him for trampling on suspects’ rights and the rule of law while he held sway as the EFCC helmsman.

CITY LAWYER recalls that foremost human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana SAN had demanded Bawa’s immediate release. He was quickly joined by longstanding EFCC Prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs SAN.

However, while former Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) Prosecutor, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa SAN stated that “there were allegations of disrespect for court orders and rule of law” against Bawa and suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, former Oyo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice argued in a statement made available to CITY LAWYER that “Mr. Bawa is reaping and being given part of the dose of his adopted and usual style of anti-constitutional and extra-judicial measures, wickedness and gangsterism.”

In a two-page Press Release obtained by CITY LAWYER, Jacobs stated that “a close examination of the provisions of the (Administration of Criminal Justice) Act bordering on remand order would show that the continued detention of Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa can no longer be justified in law.”

He noted that the Act provides that a suspect could be in custody for a maximum of 56 days, adding that “Thereafter, the suspect ought to and must be released unconditionally except where a charge is preferred against him before a competent court of law.”

The senior lawyer warned that “The concern now is not necessarily about the person of Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa but the need to respect and observe the rule of law in a constitutional democracy which we practise in Nigeria.”

He called on the relevant authorities “to be properly guided and tow the part (sic) of justice in the instant case and other similar cases.”

Adebayo aligned with Jacobs, saying that is “what all men and women of good conscience and sincere believers in constitutional democracy should do.”

Chiding Bawa for some alleged infractions while in office, he wrote: “However, without gloating over the misfortune and present downfall of Mr. Bawa, I must confess that I am in another way happy that Mr. Bawa is reaping and being given part of the dose of his adopted and usual style of anti-constitutional and extra-judicial measures wickedness and gangsterism. Bawa was a law unto himself while in power and never believed in either the Rule of Law or Constitutionalism. He was a ruthless Emperor and a first-grade fascist.

“I am sure that when he is eventually released and secured his freedom soon and more importantly that we have a fitting and upright Attorney-General in the saddle now, Mr. Bawa will atone for his several sins, be remorseful and come to realise what constitutionalism and rule of law entail.”

Giving more details on his grouse with the embattled EFCC top shot, he said: “Mr. Bawa detained a client of mine who is a Parkinson disease patient without allowing him to have access to his medication for over 20 days when he was the Zonal Commander at Ibadan over a crime committed by a relation of my client.”

He however noted that “two wrongs will not make a right,” describing Bawa’s continued detention as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

On his part, Okutepa wrote: “The travails of AbdulRasheed Bawa suspended EFCC chairman and Godwin Emefiele suspended Governor of CBN posed serious lessons for us to learn.

“There is no substitute for the rule of law. There is a need for Nigerian public office holders to respect the rule of law. When the duo were in office, there were allegations of disrespect for court orders and rule of law. If our public institutions show respect for the rule of law and not treat our laws and constitution with disdain definitely what the duo are going through may not have happened.

“As lawyers we must also be ready to avoid aiding and abetting those who breached the rule of law with impunity. Using our legal knowledge in sabotage of the rule of law is the worst service any lawyer can do to the legal profession.”

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JOSEPH OTTEH, Legal Advocate and Convener of Access to Justice, argues that to end the legacy of impunity in the conduct of elections, Nigeria’s Judiciary and jurisprudence must shift towards principled guardianship of people’s voting rights and sanctity of the electoral process

Introduction
Beginning with the transitional elections of 1999, Nigeria’s efforts to run a system of electoral democracy began in fits and starts; election after election would often represent a worse version of the preceding one. Most post-transition elections have been marred by widespread killings and violence, bare-faced and large-scale rigging, ballot-box snatchings, voting and collation frauds, result declaration frauds and thefts, voter suppression, and so on. Now, ensuring that voting outcomes are rigged sufficiently to return electoral “victories” have became part and parcel of the preparatory layout and landscape of electoral competitions in Nigeria.

Those who steal electoral mandates are emboldened by three major factors: first, rewards and dividends of such thefts are mouthwateringly huge, and so are worth all the grievous efforts expended in procuring them. Second, a successful theft of votes gives strategic legal advantage to its beneficiary. “Law” welcomes and judicially protects such thefts, at least until a certain burden has been discharged. Our laws posit that once an election result is entered in the official record – rigged or not – they are presumed to be correct, even if they are contrived. At this point, “law” is not neutral; it takes sides with those declared to be winners by the electoral body. The Supreme Court has reiterated that: ‘’There is in law a rebuttable presumption that the result of any election declared by the returning officer is correct and authentic.” – Omoboriowo v. Ajasin. Therefore, it is much better, from a legal and tactical point of view, to rig elections, because then, a strategic advantage is gained over other competitors because the “law” gives that evidential advantage.

Third, “impunity”. There are no credible civil or criminal consequences for undertaking these grand “vote larcenies” irrespective of the bloodletting or violence undertaken during voting exercises to distort the results of ballots cast during the at the elections.

This piece considers how Nigerian courts, by applying a pedantic, legalistic approach to the resolution of electoral complaints, are aiding the continuous subversion of the electoral process, betraying the voices of voting majorities and undermining representative democracy. We also explore how courts can better rise to the challenge of protecting the integrity of electoral choices made by voters in the face of treacherous efforts to pervert the electoral process.

Complaints About Election Malpractices Must Be Regarded as “Public Interest Litigations” and Resolved Using Parallel Principles of Adjudication

Complaints about electoral malpractices – rigging, violence, fraud, voter suppression, interference with ballots, and corruption – raise issues that extend well beyond the personal rights, interests or claims of individual complainants or their impact on the electoral fortunes of a candidate or political party, and, while aggrieved complainants are entitled to a fair remedy for any wrongs suffered arising from election malpractices, their grievances implicate wider public interests in the maintenance of representative democracy, the integrity of the electoral process, and the sustenance of constitutional democracy. If aggrieved litigants do not challenge the malpractices arising from the conduct of electoral contests, members of the public have, as individuals, no standing to do so, at least, as current law suggests. This is why a case must be made for courts to regard electoral litigations as a specie of “public interest litigation”, where the petitioners represent a stakeholder demographic whose collective interests in the sustenance of constitutional democracy are endangered or violated.

In Madundo v Mweshemi v. A-G Mwanza, the Tanzanian High Court stated that: “An election petition is a more serious matter and has wider implications than an ordinary civil suit. What is involved is not merely the right of the petitioner to a fair election, but the right of the voters to non-interference with their already cast votes…” In Sarah Mwangudza Kai v. Mustafa Idd & 2 Others the court said: “It must be understood that election petitions are unique in many ways… they can be classified as actions sui generis. This is because they are not actions in which an individual asserts a private civil right as in a civil claim. Petitions are basically instituted for the benefit of all voters in the affected electoral area and generally in the public interest”

In Obih v. Mbakwe, Kalgo JSC made the point that “an election petition is not to be treated under peculiar provisions of the relevant electoral law and is not particularly related to the ordinary rights and obligations of the parties concerned” a point the Supreme Court also reiterated in Buhari v. Yusuf and in a number of other cases.

If courts accept – as have been asserted – that election litigations are sui generis, how have they applied this principle in practice, in resolving election petitions? Unfortunately, it appears that courts have applied the sui generis notion to harden the tasks of challenging and upturning results or returns declared by the electoral body. Purporting to apply the sui generis principle, courts have both insisted that petitioners comply strictly with technicalities of law and procedures in litigating election petitions, as well as meet a very high standard of proof, in order to show that elections were marred by substantial irregularities, enough to affect the outcomes announced by the electoral body. Petitioners have found that mountain too high to climb many a time.

Let’s examine the first proposition, the insistence for strict compliance with technical formalities. Courts have, more or less characterized election petitions as proceedings that require technical perfection. And so, any defect in form or procedure was enough to defeat such petitions (ref. Samamro v. Anka). In David Umaru & Or v. Babangida Aliyu & Ors. (CA/A/EP/317/2007 (CON)) [2009] the Nigerian Court of Appeal said:

It is because of its uniqueness or sui generis nature that any slightest default in complying with a procedural step which otherwise could either be cured or waived in ordinary civil proceedings could result in fatal consequences to the petition. It is not therefore the function of the court to sympathize with a party in the interpretation of a statute merely because the language of the statute is harsh or will cause hardship. That is the function of the legislature”

The second leg of the sui generis invocation, seen both in Nigeria and some other parts of the African Continent, involves the standard of proof required in election petition cases necessary to invalidate election results. Judiciaries have wrestled with the question whether a higher standard of proof – such as the one applicable to criminal trials, i.e. proof beyond reasonable doubt should be applicable to election petitions (ref. Ugandan case of Besigye v Museveni) or the civil standard of “balance of probabilities” generally applicable to civil cases. Other courts have indeed, argued for an intermediate level of the burden of proof (ref. Kenyan case of Odinga and Anor v Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and Ors and the Ugandan case of Mbabazi v Museveni [2016] UGSC 4), lying somewhere between the criminal and the civil standards of proof. There is also the “alternating” application of both civil and criminal standards, according to the nature of the complaints embodied in an election petition. (Ref, Zimbabwean case of Chamisa v Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa & Others CCZ 21/2019). In the Besigye v Museveni case, the Uganda Supreme Court held that a high standard of proof is required in election petitions given critical importance of the subject matter to the “welfare of the generality of the people of the country and their democratic governance.”

It seems quite counter-intuitive, and counter-productive we submit, to draw, from the notion that election petitions are a sui generis genre of proceeding, any requirement that challenging election outcomes, even where obviously fraudulent or contrived, should be more difficult to achieve, or that petitioners must jump through hoops raised to industrial levels in order to do so. We think, respectfully, that the implications drawn by courts in this direction are unfounded, wrong and misconceive the overarching goals of electoral justice. Courts which have applied the sui generis principle this way get it backwards, and have inverted the flow of the logic.

Purpose of Electoral Adjudication Must Animate Philosophy of Electoral Jurisprudence
The core purpose of adjudicating electoral petitions is, (eligibility questions apart), to enable a court establish who was validly elected into a political office by voters. In order to do this, a number of indicators are applied, such as; was the election conducted in a credible, transparent manner? Did voters freely, fairly and effectively exercise their franchise? What electoral choices did voters make? The role of the court is to give effect to those choices. If it must do so, it seems inexorable that electoral courts must apply the sui generis principle in a way that makes it easier, not harder, to achieve the overriding purpose of a judicial review, i.e. to ensure that voter choices remain the authentic markers and sources of power, not fictitious or fabricated data.

The “standard of proof” bar must, therefore, be recalibrated and lowered, so that petitioners can, without having to “climb Mount Everest” or carry the whole of its weight, make a case enabling an electoral court to feel called upon to upturn the results of a flawed election, irrespective of whether petitioners have brought in every atom and molecule of evidence from the electoral field. If there is credible evidence suggesting that the conduct of elections did not meet reasonable standards of transparency, or was fraught with malpractices showing the commission of fraud or violence, disenfranchisement or corruption, an electoral court ought to consider it its constitutional duty, in the safeguard of a country’s democracy and the rule of law, to invalidate the elections, in whole or part.

If the courts treat election petitions as “public interest litigations”, which, in many ways they are, then their adjudication out to proceed on analogous principles – those of simplicity of procedure, expanded access to court, creative provision of appropriate remedies, etc. etc. The Kenyan Supreme Court alluded to this when it said in Odinga & another v Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission & 2 others; [2017] KESC 42 (KLR): “This means that electoral disputes involve not only the parties to the Petition but also the electorate in the electoral area concerned. It is therefore obvious that they are matters of great public importance and the public interest in their resolution cannot be overemphasized”.

This is the way election petitions ought to proceed, we submit, so that courts can look more to the essence rather than to the form of the complaints; to “doing justice” to the substance of the causes presented before them, rather than to the manner they are garbed or the level of technical perfection they achieve.

That “justice” is not simply for the benefit of the particular petitioners before an electoral court, but even more for the sake of citizens, whose ballots embody and represent their will, election and agency, all of which have come into question. Sachs J, of the South African Constitutional Court once remarked that: “The right to vote is symbolic of our citizenship” August v Electoral Commission (cited in Richter v The Minister for Home Affairs and Others) [2009] ZACC 3. It is also about maintaining the authority of the Constitution in a constitutional democracy. Prof. Nwabueze (2008) made the point that election rigging ‘is a subversion of the Constitution and of the democratic form of government instituted by the Constitution”.

In matters of electoral justice, courts, we submit, must no longer drape their eyes with blindfolds of legalism, because this tends to miscarry the object of electoral adjudication. In its editorial of 27th April 2023, the Punch Newspaper lamented: “For too long, justice and frustration of the people’s will have been sacrificed on the altar of legal technicalities”. That is a valid point.

In a piece published by IDEA titled: “Inside the courts and challenging election outcomes” prominent election observation activist Samson Itodo has observed that “The complex and technical nature of election petitions is largely responsible for the failure of election tribunals and courts to address the grievances of litigants despite efforts at resolving such election disputes”. Justice Niki Tobi, of blessed memory, alluded to this point in Abubakar v Yar’Adua when he said: “If courts of law are bound to do substantial justice in ordinary civil matters, how much less [sic, read “more”] in an election petition.”

The Substantial Non-Compliance Question
Sec. 135(1) of the Electoral Act restrains courts from invalidating elections that were conducted in “substantial compliance” with the principles of the Act where the non-compliance did not affect substantially the result of the election. Courts have interpreted this provision literally, to require that a complaint about non-compliance with the principles of the Electoral Act is of itself inconsequential unless it be shown that the non-compliance affected the results of the election (Buhari v Obasanjo; Buhari v. INEC And 4 Ors.). However, it is reasonably clear that a literal interpretation of the section without balancing that interpretation with the broader objectives of the Electoral Act and important constitutional values, will be strongly inimical to achieving the core objectives of the Electoral Act and the Constitution.

For one, a literal interpretation will likely lead to the situation where the electoral process is “perverted” with impunity. Where courts uphold deeply flawed elections on the grounds that the irregularities and illegalities associated with their conduct did not substantially affect their outcome, perpetrators of these malpractices will feel emboldened to continue in that treacherous trade, leading to the escalation and replication of the culture (electoral) impunity. Courts would, in that case, be legitimizing the continued subversion of the electoral process if they uphold the results wrought by elections of that stripe. A Kenyan Appeal Court said it will amount to courts encouraging “vandalism”, in response to an argument that alleged irregularities in an election should not lead to a nullification because they did not affect the election results;

Again to use the section to cover the disappearance of ballot boxes, irrespective of the number of ballot papers in the missing boxes, would simply amount to encouraging vandalism in the electoral process. (Magara v Nyamweya & Others, Civil Appeal No.8 of 2010) Emphasis added.

It is our position that the current way Sec. 135(1), is interpreted by Nigerian courts is at clear odds with the goal of ensuring free, fair, transparent and credible elections, as well as securing the accountability of election management bodies. Nigeria’s courts must reframe how that section is interpreted in order to make its application more consistent with the spirit of the Electoral Act, and the compelling need to confront – with a view to ending – the legacy of electoral frauds historically associated with conducting elections in Nigeria, and to uphold the principles underlying our democratic Constitution as well as our rights as citizens and voters.

Reframing how that interpretation occurs does not necessarily rule out the invocation of a literal construction; it is still possible, we submit, in applying a literal construction to the section, to “win” justice for the cause of credible elections.

To begin with, we observe that the two conjunctive conditions for invalidating an election under that section are, put in a more direct or positive form: 1) “non-compliance with the provisions of this Act” and 2) that the non-compliance affected substantially the results of the election. On the surface, the impression is given that the non-compliance must significantly impact the announced results to the extent of depriving the declared winner of a majority vote win. On closer inquiry however, we see that this is not the only way to interpret the section, if it is even a legitimate way to do so at all. There is no objective need for the declared winner to lose the majority vote advantage, or, for that matter, for the petitioner to show that s/he won the majority vote, to justify a court’s nullification of the election on the ground that non-compliance with the Act substantially affected the results of the election.

This can be achieved in two ways: first, if the irregularities result in a significant or substantial diminution of the declared winner’s votes, the results of the elections can be said to have been “substantially affected” even if it still leaves the declared winner with a majority of the votes cast. In other words, to “substantially affect” the results does not literally equate to “displace” or “overturn” the result. It means simply “affect”! It is not a situation requiring a zero-sum equation.

A second approach still based on a literal interpretation, is to regard the irregularities as capable of substantially affecting the results if the non-compliance or irregularities has a potential effect to do so, even if the actual effect is not adequately quantifiable or remains unknown. In other words, there is an implied assumption that the non-compliance has an unknown effect on the outlook of the overall results. Also in this scenario, there is no need to prove that the petitioner’s scores would out-number those of the declared winner but for the non-compliance or irregularities.

Having noted these, we must, in summing up, say that a literal construction of electoral enactments which implicate fundamental rights of citizens, (in fact “sovereign” rights as the Odinga court puts it), represents an inadequate and very limited interpretivist framework for realizing the ends of electoral justice. A court must always embed the interpretation of a statutory instrument within the strategic vision, values and philosophy of the overall constitutional pact. Realizing that the right to vote arises from the Constitution, and is a subject of several multilateral treaties and instruments, courts must always give effect to the reinforcing values which underpin those rights.

A proper framework for interpreting Sec. 135(1) of the Electoral Act must, therefore, first take place within the context of all embracing standards – particularly the constitutional standards – governing the right of voters to freely and fairly elect their leaders without interference. Second, it will also regard and denominate the election “process” just as important as the “outcome”. If the process is flawed, the outcome will naturally reflect the “fruit of the poisoned tree” and no restrictions must stand in the way of ensuring the accountability of the process or its impact on the rights of citizens to vote.

In this regard, we can draw inspiration from the approach of other courts in the Continent, Not that long ago, the interpretation of a provision quite similar to Sec. 135(1) of Nigeria’s Electoral Act arose in Kenya, and the Kenyan Supreme Court in Odinga & another v Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission & 2 others was called upon to uphold the results of the 2017 presidential elections in spite of several irregularities in the way the country’s presidential election results were recorded, collated and presented, on the basis that: “if the quantitative discrepancies are so negligible (in this case, allegedly slightly over 20,000 votes), they should not affect the election”. The Kenyan Supreme Court responded quite formidably to the argument, saying:

“… this inquiry about the effect of electoral irregularities and other malpractices, becomes only necessary where an election court has concluded that the non-compliance with the law relating to that election, did not offend the principles laid down in the Constitution or in that law.”

And then went on to say:
“Where do all these inexplicable irregularities, that go to the very heart of electoral integrity, leave this election? It is true that where the quantitative difference in numbers is negligible, the Court, as we were urged, should not disturb an election. But what if the numbers are themselves a product, not of the expression of the free and sovereign will of the people, but of the many unanswered questions with which we are faced? In such a critical process as the election of the President, isn‘t quality just as important as quantity? In the face of all these troubling questions, would this Court, even in the absence of a finding of violations of the Constitution and the law, have confidence to lend legitimacy to this election?” (emphasis added).

The court then ruled:
”It is our finding that the illegalities and irregularities committed by the 1st respondent were of such a substantial nature that no Court properly applying its mind to the evidence and the law as well as the administrative arrangements put in place by IEBC can, in good conscience, declare that they do not matter, and that the will of the people was expressed nonetheless.” –

What the court was saying, in effect, is that the electoral process is just as important as its outcome, and that a judicial body, applying a sovereign Constitution, whose values must be read into electoral laws, should not legitimize flawed elections irrespective of the statistically limited quantitative effects of the flaws/irregularities on the overall results.

Conclusion
The 2023 elections in Nigeria have been cast in the mould of many previous elections, with some saying it’s the worst in Nigeria’s history. The scathing reports by observers of the last elections in Nigeria attest to this, saying the elections were marred with widespread violence, rigging and falsification of results, abduction of election officials, killings, and the lack of transparency among other flaws. INEC’s conduct of the 2023 elections show that Nigeria is still on its backfoot, and unless something breaks this cycle, no barrel will be too deep to plumb going forward, which will bring more shame to the collective dignity of its people.

Nigeria’s Judiciary, embroiled in a crisis of public confidence of its own, has once again been called upon to rule on whether the conduct (and outcomes) of the elections were free, fair, transparent and credible, and was up to par with the applicable standards for exercising the democratic franchise. The Judiciary already walks a tight rope, but how it wields its adjudicational powers in the resolution of these high-stake electoral disputes, and the approach it adopts towards that resolution, will shape Nigeria’s fate and stability going forward. The Judiciary must choose now how to navigate the conundrums of either: 1) preserving the status quo and recycling legacies of the blatant abuse of the electoral process; or 2) making a clean, tectonic break from Nigeria’s past and raising the thresholds for what will henceforth be regarded as acceptable, free, fair and transparent elections.

It is our hope that the Judiciary, in spite of its current outlook, will choose to give Nigerians a new hope in the country’s future, new faith in the sanctity of the electoral process and the opportunity to breathe again as a people whose voices and choices on matters of their governance ought to matter.

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Controversial lawyer, Miss Ifunaya Excel Grant has shrugged off the petition filed against her at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

Hinting that she would trump the lawyers’ body like the biblical David in a post seen by CITY LAWYER, she asked a commentator who reminded her of the pending petition to “tell them say David k!||Ed Goliath.”

In a defiant post on Facebook which indicated that she was not fazed by the petition, Ifunaya wrote: “Before I can light up my Igbo (Indian hemp), do you have any advice for Me? Note: Tell those people wey dey fine (sic) me say I’m unavailable.” There are strong indications that she was referring to NBA. A similar post on her Twitter (X) account has been viewed by over 300 hundred thousand followers at press time.

In a flurry of exchanges with her followers who commented on the NBA petition, the controversial lawyer berated a commentator for suggesting that she would be jailed as a fallout of the petition, saying, “abégi shift.”

When one Omachi Isaac Achor also warned that “NBA is after you; very soon they go jail you,” she responded: “Then prepare to join me.”

Dabbling fleetingly into politics, she stated in response to a claim that she “studied law just to frustrate the law” that “If INEC fit declare Tinubu president why not.”

In an earlier post in response to the NBA petition, the lawyer-turned-social media sensation cryptically wrote: “Them go feel it.” She illustrated her statement with a sweating emoji, indicating that she would make the lawyers’ association sweat.

While most lawyers who weighed in on the trending report chided the young lawyer for allegedly bringing the profession into disrepute, a handful of lawyers however argued that the petition was misconceived, saying the embattled lawyer is not engaged in legal practice.

CITY LAWYER recalls that NBA had yesterday announced that it had filed a petition against the young lawyer at the LPDC “centred on her social media notoriety of posting pictures and videos of herself unclad and smoking marijuana.”

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The University of Calabar has suspended the embattled Dean of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon “for alleged violation of the provisions of the extant laws and policies of the institution.”

A press statement on the suspension obtained by CITY LAWYER shows that it was conveyed in a letter signed by the University Registrar, Mr. Gabriel Egbe and “takes effect from August 17, 2023.”

Ndifon has been in the middle of widespread allegations of sexual harassment dating back to at least 2015 when he allegedly raped a 20-year-old Law student in his office.

A senior lawyer and UNICAL Law graduate, Nelly Idagba told CITY LAWYER in an exclusive interview that the Law teacher also harassed her sexually.

The university’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Florence Banku Obi had told CITY LAWYER yesterday in an interview that the administration would act on the allegations after Ndifon’s response to the query issued to him by the university.

It is recalled that students of the UNICAL Faculty of Law had held a protest recently where they alleged that Ndifon had been sexually harassing some of them.

The full statement is below.

UNICAL SUSPENDS DEAN OF LAW OVER VIOLATION OF EXTANT LAWS

The Management of the University of Calabar has suspended the Dean, Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon for alleged violation of the provisions of the extant laws and policies of the institution.

The suspension conveyed in a letter signed by the University Registrar, Mr. Gabriel Egbe takes effect from August 17, 2023.

According to the letter, the suspension came on the heels of the Dean’s response to a query earlier issued to him by the University Management which the Vice Chancellor was dissatisfied with.

Dissatisfied with his response, the Vice Chancellor, according to the letter, has relieved Prof. Ndifon of his position as Dean and placed him on suspension while the matter is referred to a panel that will beset-up to investigate the allegations levelled against him.

The letter reads this; ” Please refer to our letter Ref UC/REG/DISC.45A dated August 14, 2023 on your alleged violation of the provisions of the extant laws and policies of the University and your response to the said letter which was dated 16th August, 2023. “

The Vice Chancellor has gone through your written representations and is not satisfied with your explanations. She has therefore directed that you should be relieved of your position as Dean, Faculty of Law and placed on suspension while the matter is referred to a panel that will be set-up to investigate these allegations.

“The relief of position as Dean, Faculty of Law and suspension from official duties takes effect from August 17, 2023. You are to hand over all University property in your possession including all official

responsibilities presently handled by you to the Sub-Dean of the Faculty before vacating office.

“You are to stay away from the University premises except while responding to invitation from the panel investigating these allegations”

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• ‘WE HAVE QUERIED HIM OVER LATEST ALLEGATIONS’

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Banku Obi has given reasons why the university authority recalled embattled Prof. Cyril Ndifon after he was accused of raping a student in his office.

In an interview with CITY LAWYER, Prof. Obi stated that the decision followed a court judgment which exonerated the Law teacher of the allegation, adding that Ndifon has been queried by the university over the latest allegations arising from a protest by students of the Faculty of Law where he is the Dean of Law.

Obi told CITY LAWYER that she risked being committed to prison if the university had disobeyed the court’s decision, adding that the university administration would follow due process in handling the latest case.

Her words: “The University of Calabar is a public institution with rules and regulations. It is unfortunate that we have been in the news lately for the wrong reasons and despite our best efforts to remain a world-class citadel of learning.”

On the allegation that the university is not treating the latest allegation with the seriousness it deserves, Prof. Obi said: “We are not sweeping anything under the carpet. That is an unfair assessment. We will not rush to judgment because of insinuations. We will rigorously follow due process. Perhaps if that had been done during the earlier case, we would not be where we are today.

“Didn’t he win his case in court? If we did not obey the court order, we could have been tried for contempt of court.”

The university don told CITY LAWYER that Ndifon had been queried over the latest allegations made by the students, adding that “He still has a few hours (to the deadline) to respond.”

Prodded on when the university administration would take action on his response given that CITY LAWYER had it on impeccable authority that the embattled Law teacher submitted his response to the query today, Prof. Obi said that the University Registrar had not informed her that Prof. Ndifon had responded to the query.

“We cannot just suspend him because of a protest by the students,” she said. “We must follow due process. That is the bureaucracy of public service.”

When asked whether Ndifon’s continued stay as the Dean of Law would not compromise the investigation, Obi disagreed, saying: “There are so many things he has been accused of. If he tampers with evidence at the Faculty level, will he tamper with evidence on allegations concerning the Registrar’s Office or the Vice Chancellor’s Office?”

On the allegation that Ndifon has godfathers who have shielded him from justice till date, Prof. Obi said that is the more reason the university must follow due process in handling the latest matter, adding: “If we had suspended him in a hurry, would that not give the so-called godfathers opportunity to annul the process? We will follow due process. If he is innocent, he stays; if he is guilty, he will face the sanctions.”

Prof. Obi however noted that the university administration has taken pre-emptive steps following a meeting with all the stakeholders held last Monday, adding that “over 80 per cent of the agreed measures have been implemented.”

CITY LAWYER recalls that students of the Faculty of Law had staged a protest accusing Ndifon of sexual harassment and manipulation of the Nigerian Law School admission process. He was in 2015 accused of raping a 20-year-old Law student in his office. Ndifon was reinstated early last year. He denies all the charges, saying they are orchestrated by his detractors.

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The Chairman of Kano State National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Flora Azinge has denied news reports that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria attempted to bribe her.

The jurist however said that a staff of the tribunal is under investigation following transfers to the staff’s bank account and the orderly of a tribunal member by an unnamed lawyer.

The revelation is coming against the backdrop of the “All eyes on the judiciary” brouhaha.

Clarifying her position on the matter when the trending news was brought to her attention by a lawyer, the jurist said she was misquoted, adding: “I didn’t say that, Counsel. What I said was that there is allegation that money was transferred to the account of orderly of one of us and a tribunal staff by a lawyer. The said staff is currently under investigation on this matter.

“A lawyer had attempted to bring meat for me during Eid el Kabir celebration which I declined and cautioned him that that it is unethical.

“I am here to serve with integrity and patriotism, and will not give way for corrupt practice. Justice is what I’m here for.”

A senior lawyer had told the Judge that a news report was trending that a senior lawyer attempted to bribe the tribunal chairman, saying: “My Lord, a news report was all over the media that a senior lawyer with a case before you was attempting to bribe you.

“As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria with a case before this Honorable Tribunal, I deem it necessary to urge my Lord to name the SAN. We are five Senior Advocates with cases before My Lord. For clarification and in the interest of our reputation, My Lord should identify this lawyer”.

Justice Azinge had reportedly said during yesterday court session that “A Senior Advocate of Nigeria who has a pending case before me is attempting to bribe me. Money has been flying in this tribunal since yesterday. Whoever collects money on my behalf, God will punish that person and his generation yet unborn — to the fourth generation.

“They keep abusing judges, insulting us everyday in the papers, in the media — that we are taking bribe.

“Let me repeat again that nobody should approach me with money again. I’m contented with what God has given me, and I have a roof over my head.”

Students of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL) recently held a protest accusing the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Cyril Ndifon of sexual harassment and manipulation of the Nigerian Law School admission list.

Prof. Ndifon has denied the allegations and challenged any victim to come forward.

In this exclusive, no-holds-barred interview, a senior lawyer and graduate of the Faculty of Law tells CITY LAWYER how she was sexually harassed by the embattled Law teacher. Efforts to get Prof. Ndifon to respond to these specific allegations proved abortive. Enquiries to his telephone via WhatsApp did not receive any feedback while calls to his telephone line were declined.

Briefly introduce yourself, please.

My name is Nelly Idagba. I am a graduate of the University of Calabar with 13 years post-call (experience). I am also an Artist and speak for women through my paintings.

Which year were you at the University of Calabar and what was your course of study?

I got admission in 2003/2004. I graduated from the University of Calabar in 2008. I studied Law.

During your stay at UNICAL, did you have any opportunity to encounter Prof. Cyril Ndifon?

Yes, I did. He was my lecturer.

What course did he teach you?

He taught me Legal Method. It was a Year 2 course.

What was your experience while he took you on the course?

This will be a very long, emotional and sad story for me to share.
I had a very terrible experience as a young student of just 18 years old, being his student.

I recall that fateful day after giving his lectures; he dropped his books on my desk and asked me to carry them and follow him to his office. I innocently did. But that was the beginning of my tragedy with him until I graduated from the Faculty with pains and push.

He started his sexual harassment with me immediately I arrived his office to drop his errand books by talking about very erotic stories and how much he liked me, and how I will come out in flying colours if I agree to be his girlfriend.

It seemed really strange to me then because I was raised to reverence my elders, especially a Lecturer/Teacher. I recall quickly calling my mother to report all he said. She asked that I avoid him completely – which I did. But guess what? It still didn’t help one bit!

This man made sure he failed me 3 consecutive times and harassed me at every given time I approached his office to question my result.

I recall he drank a certain tea with (Indian) hemp constantly in his office – which we gossiped as students, because we thought that may have been one of the reasons he always got amorous with little female students.

Some of his words to me that period were, “If you do not sleep with me, you will leave the Faculty with a Third Class (degree). I promise you! Even if you guide your p**sy, I will succeed or you will fail.” And then he will give a demeaning and sarcastic laughter! He was a nightmare!!

One time, I sat for his Harvard carry-over (course). While in Year 5 writing his course with Year 2 students, he walked into the hall and made an announcement saying, “If you are here and I had asked you not to write this exam, walk out!” I immediately knew he was talking to me but I kept on writing. He walked directly to my desk and used a red biro to cancel each page of what I wrote and asked me to submit (the answer sheet).

I cried and reported him to a lecturer who saw what he did. The lecturer said: “Sorry, I can’t resolve your issue with him because he is my PhD Supervisor.”

He became a prayer point every evening in my home. I was so confused at some point that I thought I was a complete daft in academics until I invited my parents to challenge my scripts. He apologized to my parents, saying he had failed me in error and would correct the results. But he never did.

On one occasion, he sent for me. Just when I opened his office, he immediately grabbed my white shirt, trying to pull out my young, fragile breast until a lecturer knocked at the door. He ran like a mouse in an open house, looking for where to hide.

This was my first shameful experience in the Faculty of Law, because rumors spread like wild fire on a young child’s life. Imagine going through all of this as a very young girl!

Can you be more specific on what you mean by saying that he “harassed me at every time l approached his office to question my result”?

I will be specific. He would on one occasion send for me. Just when I knocked and opened his office door, he grabbed my blouse and closed the door behind me and struggled to fondle me until a lecturer knocked at the door and I was saved. It all wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Was it a student he sent to call you or his staff?

He would always send my classmates or ask me to follow him after classes.

Tell us more about your parents’ intervention concerning your result

After crying severally to my parents, my late father visited the Faculty and had a meeting with him, asking what really the problem was. In my father’s words, “If this child isn’t performing well, let me know and I will discipline her.” I recall him smiling and saying, it wasn’t a problem; he made some mistakes and would correct it immediately. But it was all lies.

How did you eventually pass the course?
It took a certain lecturer in the Faculty to make the corrections in my Year 5, just before Law School. That’s how I was freed.

You never formally petitioned to the Dean of Law or the university leadership?
I would never have done that as at the time. I was young and lack the exposure, gods and knowledge.

Given the recent protest by students of the Faculty, do you feel you should have spoken earlier than now?

I have done the best I can by telling my story. This was a lot for me to say, as it reminded me of the torments I went through.

I pray other ladies or his victims will come out to speak as I have, so that other young girl-children will have a proper education without facing academic monsters in the guise of lecturers. Thank you.

Thank you.

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NEWS RELEASE

DSP Daniel Ndukwe, anipr
Police Public Relations Officer,
State Headquarters,
GRA, Enugu.

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The Federal Government has filed 20 charges against a former Central Bank governor Governor in Abuja.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) at the Federal Ministry of Justice Mohammed Bakodo Abubakar made this known to journalists after Tuesday’s proceedings.

According to Abubakar, the fresh charges – with 20 counts – were filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.

One of the counts accuses Emefiele of “conferring unlawful advantages”.

On Tuesday the Federal Government applied to withdraw the “illegal possession of firearms” case it filed against Emefiele, at the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

Abubakar told Justice Nicholas Oweibo that the application followed the result of further investigations.

But defence counsel Joseph Daudu (SAN) opposed him, arguing that because the government was in disobedience of the court’s order granting Emefiele bail, its application could not be taken.

On 25, the Judge admitted Emefiele to a N20 million bail on a two-count charge of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

He also ordered that Emefiele should be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of his bail conditions.

The DSS rearrested Emefiele after fighting off prison officials on the court’s premises.

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Two brothers identified as Samuel and Samson Ogoshi have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States to face trial for their alleged involvement in a sexual extortion operation which resulted in the death of a teenage US citizen, Jordan DeMay.

The move to extradite the two brothers came as a result of a judgement delivered by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court of Abuja. The final step in the extradition process was the signing of the Surrender Order by the Attorney General of the Federation.

The order authorised the government of US to take custody of Samuel and Samson Ogoshi, aged 22 and 20 respectively, and bring them to face trial in West Michigan, USA.

The US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, Mark Totten in a statement on Sunday disclosed that the arrest of the Ogoshi siblings was the culmination of a collaborative investigation carried out by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The suspects are currently in federal custody in Michigan, according to the statement.

“I am extremely pleased with how swiftly extradition efforts moved forward, and I am grateful to the FBI and our Nigerian law enforcement partners for their unyielding work to secure justice in this international sexual exploitation investigation,” Totten said in a release published on the website of the US Attorney’s office.

He said both men were indicted in May 2023 of four counts bordering on sexual exploitation, child pornography, and cyberstalking.

Samuel was also charged with causing the death of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay of Marquette, Michigan, who was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March 2022.

According to prosecutors, Samuel used a hacked social media account to make contact with DeMay while pretending to be a young woman. After persuading DeMay to provide a sexually explicit photo of himself, he allegedly threatened to publicly release the image unless DeMay paid him.

“DeMay paid Ogoshi $300, but Ogoshi demanded more,” authorities said, and that after DeMay wrote that he was going to kill himself, Samuel allegedly responded, “Do that fast, or I’ll make you do it,” Totten said.

Justice Nyako ordered both suspects to be turned over to the United States to face the charges in the indictment.

“Sextortion is a horrible crime,” said Totten, who added, “To those who commit these crimes, we will pursue you around the world. And to those who are victims, please know we stand ready to help you.”

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The Ajah premises of the Arrows of God Orphanage in Lagos has been sealed by the police and one of its administrative staff arrested, according to the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ).

Meanwhile, CITY LAWYER gathered that the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has taken possession of Oriade Runsewe, the now six-month-old baby sold under the table by Arrows of God orphanage to undercover journalist ‘Fisayo Soyombo on July 6, 2023.

According to FIJ, “Building on previous interactions dating back to July, NAPTIP officials initated (sic) contact with FIJ on Thursday to state their readiness to receive the baby. The handover was completed on Friday when two staff of FIJ turned in the baby to the Lagos Zonal Command of NAPTIP headed by Comfort Agboko.”

Fatima Waziri-Azi, Director-General of NAPTIP, subsequently confirmed to FIJ early on Saturday that “the baby is currently in our custody, and is receiving the necessary care at our shelter”.

“The rate of buying and selling of children across the country is indeed alarming and the public must desist from patronizing illegal centres to procure children, as it contravenes section 21 of the TIPPEA Act of 2015(as re-enacted),” Waziri-Azi said.

“Adoption and fostering processes remain the mandate of the federal and state governments. Individuals, NGOs, or orphanages do not have the right to give out children for adoption.”

The actions followed the documentary and multimedia story by ‘Fisayo Soyombo, the founder and editor-in-chief of FIJ, which uncovered a baby sale at the orphanage after a 19-month investigation.

The authorities sprang into action in response to FIJ’s report published on Thursday and documentary which went live on Friday.

When FIJ visited the orphanage on Saturday, the gate had been sealed. The few eyewitnesses around were reluctant to give details of what they saw on Friday afternoon. However, the seals on the orphanage’s gate and fence seen by FIJ were from the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development.

“This premises has been sealed following the violation of the CHILD RIGHTS Law of Lagos State,” the seal read.

FIJ’s reporters met a man whom a commercial motorcyclist recognised as a worker at the Arrows of God Orphanage along Oke Ira Road. However, the man, who simply identified himself as Julius, denied working with the orphanage.

Julius claimed he had lived close to the orphanage for about seven years. He said that he saw a crowd in front of the orphanage on Friday afternoon.

“I live here, but I did not really witness it actually. I came when I saw the people were taking the children… I really don’t know but I think they were from Alausa,” Julius told FIJ on Saturday.

“You guys were the people who published the stuff, right? Someone asked you guys to publish that stuff?

“I stay at this estate. I have been in this area for like six or seven years, and people might have different opinions, but I don’t see this home as a home doing all the stuff that people are saying.

“All I know is that the home has a good record for years. I don’t know if they [those who came to seal the orphanage] came in trucks; I just saw people going out. People from inside the orphanage. It was around 3:00 pm.”

A young man with tribal marks said he didn’t know anything about the sealing on Friday and directed us to the previous shop where we met Julius.

Fathia, a young lady working at a tailor’s shop next to the orphanage, told FIJ that she and her sister attended the school inside Arrows of God Orphanage. She confirmed that the authorities came to the orphanage at about 3 pm on Friday.

“I don’t know o. I just saw people coming out. It was in the afternoon,” Fathia explained.

“What I know is that this orphanage, this school is where I went to. But what I see is that it’s not like before. I finished from the place 6 years ago, and even my siblings.

“I schooled there, and it’s not as lively as before. The school that is run there is primary, nursery and kindergarten (sic). People can apply to the school to enroll their children.”

Some shop owners opposite the orphanage denied awareness of the incident.

None of the residents living close to the orphanage confirmed the agencies involved in Friday’s raid.

FIJ knows for a fact that the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) was involved. A NAPTIP official at its Lagos office confirmed the orphanage closure and Oluchi Onyia’s detention.

“Yes, we know about the sealing of the orphanage. Don’t worry, everything is okay. Oluchi Onyia is with us,” the NAPTIP official told FIJ on Saturday.

“Oluchi is in our office right now. We actually got more details and we picked Oluchi up yesterday. As the whole process progresses, we will let you know.”

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Female students of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar have accused the Dean of Law, Professor Cyril Ndifon of sexually exploiting and harassing them.

In a video shared by a Twitter user and seen by CITY LAWYER, the female students and their male colleagues were seen protesting in front of the Law Faculty.

The tweet also bore the hashtags #CyrilNdifonMustGo and #ProtectOurGirls.

The protesting students also displayed placards with disturbing inscriptions like, “We are tired of sucking big dick”, “Professor Ndifon, let the girls with big breast breathe. Stop suffocating us”, “Enough of Law School list manipulation.”

News Band gathered that Ndifon was once suspended by the institution over allegations of sexual harassment and other sundry issues but was later recalled.

News Band alleged that there are reports that the “powers that be at the University of Calabar” are “making concerted efforts to intimidate the students after exposing professor Ndifon sexual misconducts.”

The university authorities are yet to comment on the scandal.

Unical female Law students have called out their Dean, Prof Cyril Ndifon. Right now they are being threatened and shushed by the establishment.

Lend your voice! #CyrilNdifonMustGo#ProtectOurGirls pic.twitter.com/xrlsB20ctN

— Where is Chijioke? (@Ada_mummyya) August 14, 2023

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Deceased Court of Appeal jurist, Justice Raphael Agbo is to be buried on October 6, 2023 at his home town in Obollo-Eke, Enugu State. This is exactly 15 days from his original retirement date of October 21, 2023.

A notice seen by CITY LAWYER shows that the late appellate court judge would be buried at his home town after a Valedictory Court Session at the Court of Appeal Complex, Park Avenue, GRA, Enugu on October 4, 2023.

This will be preceded by a Christian Wake Keep at his Enugu residence on Monday, September 25, 2023 by 5 pm.

Admitted to the Bar in 1978, Justice Agbo was the second ranking justice of the Court of Appeal before his death.

He was appointed to the Court of Appeal bench in 2005 after a chequered career as a judicial officer.

CITY LAWYER recalls that former Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi had recently named the Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse after the jurist who hails from the state, saying it is “honour well-deserved.”

In perhaps his last major judgment, Agbo had led a Court of Appeal panel which upheld the conviction of Senator Bassey Akpan, the governorship candidate of Young Progressives Party (YPP) in Akwa Ibom State, over money laundering charges. The court also ordered Akpan’s arrest.

The panel, sitting in Calabar, however varied the sentence by granting the appellant an option of fine.

“The court also affirmed that the appellant should restitute the sum of N240 million to the federal government through the EFCC and that the said restitution shall not be a prerequisite for his release from the correctional facility,” an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) statement noted. “The court finally revoked the bail and ordered the arrest of Senator Akpan.”

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AGC NEWS RELEASE

NBA Newsletter 002: Annual General Conference 2023 Update

Dear Colleagues,

The AGC is only a few days away. Are you ready? It’s going to be a conference like no other.

We believe you enjoyed reading the first edition of the newsletter. Here’s the second edition.

Your National Publicity Team and the AGCPC Content Creation Team are committed to ensure that you don’t miss out on any important information. We know the AGC is a lot, so we are poised to make it compact for you.

We do hope this makes it easy for you to stay abreast of all you need to know. Kindly be generous with your feedback.

We can’t wait to have you at the AGC2023.

Please click the link below to follow the NBA on Twitter and Instagram for instant updates.

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/nigbarassoc?s=21&t=cTRPmA_zZNvEBnTfsWPmnw

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CiSnHVgsUTo/?igshid=NmNmNjAwNzg=

Truly yours,
Charles Olawale Ajiboye,Esq.
National Assistant Publicity Secretary

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Reintroduction of the Park and Pay Policy By the FCTA: An Exploitative and Obnoxious Venture in the Midst of Hardship

By Obioma Ezenwobodo

The recent plan by the Federal Capital Territory Authority to reintroduce the notorious and exploitative park and pay policy in the FCT has once again shown the utter disconnection between the government and the governed in Nigeria. In a time when Nigerians and residents of the FCT are experiencing biting hardship due to the sudden withdrawal of fuel subsidy, the least the FCTA, which is a primary beneficiary of the subsidy removal, could do is to enact a policy that would further tithing the noose on innocent motorists in the FCT.

It must be noted that this same policy was in operation in the FCT before it was nullified by Justice Peter Affen of the FCT High Court, Apo Abuja in 2014. Before then, roads in the FCT were partitioned to different unregulated contractors who unleashed all manner of touts and street urchins to harass, intimidate and exploit innocent motorists and residents under the guise of restoring sanity on the roads. Such was the level of carnage before they were sent parking by the court.

The renewed attempt by the authority of the FCTA to reintroduce this policy under the belief that it has acquired necessary legality is deceptive and lacking legal basis.

The FCTA should not capitalize on its inability to provide affordable and efficient public transport system in the FCT to impose obnoxious levies on innocent motorists who are filling the gap by providing their own transport system. The FCTA is advised to concern itself with ways of alleviating the hardships residents of the FCT are undergoing. This can be done by reintroducing the defunct “El’Rufai” Bus Shuttles as palliative measures for the benefits of the residents.

Obioma Ezenwobodo Esq.
Chairman,
NBA Garki Branch, Abuja

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Asaba, the Delta State capital, came alive on Friday and Saturday as Punuka Attorneys and Solicitors, and its non-profit arm, Punuka Foundation, honoured the late Supreme Court Justice, Chukwunweike Idigbe.

The late Justice Idigbe, who hails from the state, founded the law firm in 1947. It was formerly known as Punuka Chambers.

Friday’s events included the inauguration of the “Hon. Justice Chike Idigbe e-Library & Resource Centre”. It was donated to the Asaba Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) by the Punuka Foundation.

A public lecture in honour of the late Justice Idigbe, organised by the NBA branch, was also held on Friday. The day ended with a dinner event tagged “An Evening with Prof. Poonam Puri”.

Puri, a professor of law at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, Canada, was also one of the speakers at the lecture. The other speaker was Prof. Emeka Chianu, a professor of law at the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

The high point of Saturday’s events was the inauguration of the “Hon. Justice Chukwunweike Idigbe Museum and Youth Centre”. It was built by Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors. The commissioning was preceded by the Holy Mass at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Asaba, and a visit to the Asagba of Asaba’s Palace.

The Asaba events were a continuation of a year-long programme designed to immortalise the late Justice Idigbe. On July 31, the Punuka Foundation Childcare Centre, Lekki was opened, as part of the events.

Earlier on May 3, the Justice Chike Idigbe Faculty of Law at the Veritas University permanent site in Bwari, Abuja, was unveiled under the auspices of Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors. The firm and the Idigbe family spearheaded the fundraising and got donors to contribute towards the building construction.

Principal Partner at Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) said the year-long events were designed to honour his father, who would have been 100 years old on August 12, 2023.

He said the Museum and Youth Centre would preserve the legacy of Justice Idigbe – his experiences, life’s lessons and contributions to jurisprudence. The youth centre, he said, has an internet-equipped library, offering research opportunities for youths who need quiet surroundings to study.

“There is sufficient space for seminars and other programmes to empower the youth. We hope to partner with the state government to deliver on the programmes,” he said. The centre also has a gazebo, which Chief Idigbe said can be used to stage plays or recitals as well as other creative displays.

Speaking on the E-Library and Resource Centre, Managing Partner at Punuka Attorneys & Solicitors, Mrs. Elizabeth Idigbe, said it would boost legal practice.

She said: “Justice Idigbe stood for excellence and good education. He believed in doing things right. The e-Library will encourage lawyers to do things right. The enhanced research will enable them to do their cases powerfully and properly before the courts.

“We’ve had issues about inadequate knowledge. Judges and lawyers complain. So, we believe the e-Library and Resource Centre will help address that. We also believe it’s another good way to honour a man who represented the very best of the legal profession.”

Delta State Governor, Sheriff Obarevwori, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Kingsley Emu, paid tribute to the late Justice Idigbe and lauded the family for immortalising him.

He said: “I am happy to be part of this deserved honour being accorded to Justice Idigbe by his family and the NBA. It is most befitting that having traversed the legal profession and became a judge of the Supreme Court, the legacy he left behind should be given a life of its own to serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to members of society, especially members of the NBA and the youths.

“No doubt, a museum in his honour will definitely harbour his works, especially the in-depth judgments he gave as a judge in the High Court, and as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

“From 1946 when he became a lawyer, he began to blaze a trail as he set up his chambers in Warri in 1947. Despite the interregnum caused by the civil war, he still rose to become a judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

“Months to his anticipated elevation as the Chief Judge of the Supreme Court, nature intervened and he went in a blaze of unblemished glory to meet his creator.”

He promised that the state would partner with the Youth Centre in building human capital.

The Asagba of Asaba, His Royal Majesty, Chike Edozien, shared fond memories of the late Idigbe, who he said was a year ahead of him in secondary school and loved to play the piano.

His words: “It’s a day of joy to recognise our brother who left us many years ago. He taught me how to play the organ but I could never play it as well as him because God gave us different talents.”

“I am happy we are celebrating Chike’s immense contributions to Delta, the Judiciary and to Nigeria in general,” said the 99-year-old monarch, who marked his birthday on July 28.

The immediate-past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clement Agba, who chaired the Friday night dinner, said the removal of petrol subsidy removal was necessary because it was unsustainable.

“Removal of petrol subsidy is one right decision taken by the new administration, as well as the unification of exchange rates,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria could not continue to subsidise petrol consumption for other countries while it has an infrastructure deficit of $2.5trillion. “The only way to make omelettes is to break the egg and I’m happy the current government is doing that,” he said.

Prince Agba, who believes that the private sector should drive the economy, called for increased impact investment to help grow local communities.

His words: “Impact Investing is investments made to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. It is growing and gaining a reputation as a more sustainable way of investing across the globe.

“The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) estimates the size of the worldwide impact investing market to be $1.164 trillion. A major reason for its wide acceptance is that it offers a huge potential to address development challenges and a veritable source for bridging the SDG financing gap, estimated to be $2.5 trillion annually.

“Government’s role in promoting impact investing in Nigeria will include building an ecosystem of regulatory framework and oversight by strengthening the industry infrastructure through appropriate regulation, as well as establishing sufficient leadership to monitor the market.”

Prof. Puri highlighted the critical public financing role of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which she believes Nigeria can learn from. She also stressed the need for an efficient dispute resolution mechanism to encourage investments, adding that clear and simple rules are needed.

“I believe in regulation, but over-regulation can be harmful to the economy,” she said. “Also, when businesses need licenses, it should be easy to get. It should not take months or years to obtain a permit.”

The events were graced by dignitaries and eminent Nigerians from the Bar, the Bench, and captains of industry, among others.

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The National Judicial Council (NJC) has denied authorship of a trending letter which asserts that the Kebbi State Governor holds exclusive authority in determining the hierarchy of judges.

News reports (not CITY LAWYER) had alleged that the appointment of the Head of Court or Chief Judge resides solely within the jurisdiction of the state’s Governor.

But the apex regulatory body in the judiciary distanced itself from the controversial letter, saying it has asked relevant security agencies to launch a probe with a view to unmask its authors.

The NJC “earnestly appeals to all concerned parties, including media establishments and the public, to place reliance solely on validated and genuine sources for information pertaining to judicial affairs.”

The “Disclaimer” obtained by CITY LAWYER and signed by Mr. Soji Oye, NJC’s Director of Information, reads:

The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to a fake letter dated 14 July 2023, purported to have emanated from the Council, and signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, National Judicial Council, Hon Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON.

The fake letter titled “Order of Seniority of Judges of the High Court of Kebbi state and recommendation of Justice Umar Abubakar as the substantive Chief Judge of Kebbi state” addressed to the Chief Judge stating “that under section 10 of the existing law of Kebbi state 1996, His Excellency, the Governor, has the power to determine Seniority of Judges and the National Judicial Council has no power to override or reverse the decision of His Excellency”.

It further stated that “the office of the Head of Court/ Chief Judge is purely a political appointment to be decided by the Governor of a state “.

For the purpose of clarification and avoidance of doubt, the National Judicial Council hereby emphatically disclaimed the letter as there is no iota of truth in it, and no such letter ever emanated from the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the Council.

The public is hereby advised to discountenance the letter and its content.

Meanwhile, the Council has reported the unfortunate case to the relevant security agencies with a view to investigate and bring to book whoever is behind this dastardly act.

Soji Oye, Esq.
Director, Information

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The judiciary and the Nigerian Police Force have been named in an extensive investigation involving the sale of a child for N2 million by Arrows of God Orphanage headquartered in Lagos.

According to a report by investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo, the orphanage sold a new-born baby to him and his fake wife through their Anambra State branch and without any background checks.

In the middle of the scandal is a retired Army Colonel, Rev. Lt. Col. D. C. Ogo. An ordained Minister and a former Principal of the Nigerian Army School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ogo is a former Chief Matron and Founder/President of the orphanage.

The under-cover journalist said that his attempt to alert the police and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) on the baby-for-cash deal have proved abortive, as both entities have not shown any enthusiasm towards the matter.

He stated that loads of fake documents were procured to complete the “adoption” process, saying: “The second (document) suggests that my wife and I sat with the Social Welfare Officer of Nnewi Local Government before ‘His Worship’ L. S. E Uzuodu, the chief Magistrate of Nnewi Magisterial District court, and Okoro Joy Obiageli, the Assistant Chief Registrar 1, on Friday June 16, 2023.”

Stating that this was a lie, Soyombo wrote: “On the said date, I was not in the country, while my ‘wife’ was in Kano, faraway from Anambra!”

Meanwhile, the Founder of the orphanage had allegedly stated that the documents were procured by bribing the court and police officials, saying: “We just have to give them their entitlements. You see, the police and the court, once we give them their entitlements, they will be fast with the documents.”

He stated that Ogo had told him during their first telephone conversation that “it is in the East that you are going to buy this one (baby),” adding that “All the phone numbers on each document (supplied by the ‘couple’) were fake and unreachable; nobody at Arrows of God attempted to dial any of them. Neither Onyia nor Rev. Ogo nor her right hand man Monday dialed the phone numbers on the reference letters by my supposed pastor, head of family, and the important person.”

Expressing concern over the court papers, Mr. Abimbola Ojenike, a child advocate and Partner at Slingstone LP, said: “The possibility of securing a court order for the adoption of a child without appearing before any court is worrying.

“Applications for court orders for adoption or care and supervision of a child are considered cautiously based on relevant child protection principles, laws and regulations. Ultimately, the fundamental goal is to preserve the best interest of the child.

“A court’s evaluation should raise questions such as who is the person applying for adoption? Does the person have the legal and economic capacity to adopt and care for a child? Is the person a suitable person to be assigned with parenting responsibilities in the best interest of the child? What social investigations have been conducted about the person and what facts are known to government social workers and the social worker of the organisation that currently has the ostensible custody of the child?”

Ojenike also queried the papers presented before the court in support of the application for adoption, saying: “Who signed the affidavit on behalf of the actual person applying for custody? What facts did they place before the court to persuade a court to give a child to a person whose actual identity is not known and who did not appear before a Commissioner for Oaths or the court that granted the adoption order?

“It’s a real danger that a transaction for the sale and purchase of a whole Nigerian child was concluded in 2023 with a veneer of judicial authority. We have to go beyond just saying that children are important to actually putting in place processes and systems that effectively safeguard and advance their rights. If we address the red tape and racketeering that frustrate people with legitimate intentions who want to adopt children, we can effectively shut down the market for babies which many good-spirited people have patronised without knowing.”

CITY LAWYER could not independently confirm the authenticity of the court papers. Soyombo however stated that an Air Peace staff told him that he and his fake wife would have been arrested if they tried to fly with the baby through the Anambra Airport, compelling them to ferry the baby to Lagos via a 10-hour road journey.

Said the airline official: “Those documents with you would have been scrutinised; and since you did not get the baby through the right channel, you would have been arrested.”

The judiciary, the police and NAPTIP are yet to respond to the scandal.

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The Eti-Osa Heritage Organisation (ETHO) has decried what it described as the “marginalization” of Eti-Osa in appointment of members into the new Lagos State Government Executive Council.

According to a statement signed by leaders of the group on behalf of the community, the 12 Eti-Osa representatives in the list of 39 nominees sent to the Lagos State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation were not indigenes of Eti-Osa Community.

The statement, signed by senior lawyer and the ETHO President, Mr. Adewale Sanni and its General Secretary, Oloye Okunmoyinbo expressed concern that Eti-Osa was “deliberately being marginalized by the powers that be in Lagos State despite its contributions to the revenue generation, growth and development of the state.”

The organisation called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to redress the anomaly and consider re-submission of the actual names of Eti-Osa indigenes earlier sent to him by the Eti-Osa community.

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NEWS RELEASE

NBA-AGC DISCOUNTED AIR FARE: IMPORTANT UPDATE

Distinguished Colleagues,

Kindly be informed of this update as regards the steps to access the offer of discounted air flight, particularly the change to the account details for payment of the air fare to and fro Abuja for the forthcoming Annual General Conference.

Step 1: Make Payment to:
NBA Project Account
0697098243
Access Bank

Step 2: Send Proof of Payment, full name, phone number, Supreme Court Enrolment Number, dates and route of travel to:
support@nigerianbar.org.ng

Please see the attached flier for updated details.

Thank you for the feedback and do have a good weekend.

Akorede Habeeb Lawal
National Publicity Secretary

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NEWS RELEASE

You are invited to the 5-Day Employment Law Training by the NBA Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

Dates
17th, 18th, 22nd – 24th of August, 2023.

Time
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Register using this link: https://tinyurl.com/3fzdaszr

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Many thanks,

Tobenna Erojikwe
Chairman Board of NBA Institute of Continuing Legal Education

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IS THERE A DANGER IN ALLOWING THE JUDICIARY TO HAVE THE FINAL SAY ON ELECTORAL DISPUTES?

A paper presented by Dr. Monday Ubani at the Annual Conference of the African Bar Association held at the University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.

INTRODUCTION

The various electoral laws in Africa have provisions that empower the judiciary to own the final say on Electoral Issues, whether it concerns pre-election or post-election conflicts. No one should be in doubt as to the competence or capacity of the Judiciary in the continent to adjudicate on election issues, whether pre-election or post-election disagreements. The only snag here, call it alarm if you like, is that the judges that preside over these electoral cases are not gods, the Almighty. They are humans and susceptible to manipulations and inducements by desperate politicians who seek various political offices by all means possible in Africa.

Generally, ascension to power in most African States comes with so many office perks that it becomes a matter of life and death whenever the opportunity for Election presents itself. As a matter of fact, only a few countries in Africa can boast of a free and fair electoral process. In all fairness, they can easily be counted, as most lack transparency and credibility in their electoral processes.

As seen in most African states, they all look to the court for adjudication whenever the political class loses an election in a flawed process. The court is then expected to make good what has been “damaged from the foundation”. At this juncture, desperation sets in, and the judiciary and its officers are subsequently “placed on high jump”, with great expectations to satisfy the ultimate desire of declaring parties as winners even when some of them know too well that they did not win the elections. In such situations, anxiety sets in with diverse allegations and counter-allegations of monetary inducements. Undoubtedly, some judges succumb to pressure and alter the electorates’ mandate because they are humans too. This may not be a general phenomenon, but shreds of evidence abound here and there in the continent that such things do exist. Understandably, some judges remain upright and do not succumb to human pressure or inducements. Still, sadly the number of such honourable and forthright judges remains a matter of conjecture. As of today, the statistics of lower and appellate courts departing from judicial precedents on electoral issues remain frightening and alarming.

Litigating election disputes, we all agree, is contentious, complex, and excessively technical. The technicality of electoral dispute litigation is fueled by the strict requirements of the Electoral Act, coupled with judicial attitudes developed over the years. The complex and technical nature of election petitions is mainly responsible for the failure of election tribunals and courts in Africa to address the grievances of litigants despite efforts at resolving such election disputes. For example, a case of interest decided recently by the Supreme Court of Nigeria, a case involving Machina Vs Lawan, the former Senate President. Ahmed Lawan, the former senate President participated in the presidential primary elections of the All Progressives Congress(APC) in 2022. It was reported that he did not participate in the INEC-supervised primary polls for his re-election as a Senator. As a result, one Bashir Machina, who participated in the Yobe East Senatorial Primary Election, was returned unopposed.

When Ahmed Lawan lost his presidential bid, he ran back to pressurise Bashir Machina to surrender his primary win, but Machina refused. Lawan had to mobilise the whole apparatus of his party in a bid to retrieve the ticket from Machina.

In an unbelievable move, the APC subsequently submitted Lawan’s name as its senatorial candidate even though he did not participate in the senatorial primary polls. Then, Machina went to court alleging fraud. He started his litigation against Lawan, alleging fraud (a crime) by way of “Originating Summons” instead of “Writ of Summons”. And for that error called TECHNICALITY, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ignored the evidence, facts and common sense. It gave the senatorial ticket to the person who did not participate in the primary against the person who did and won by the votes of his people.

A newspaper columnist, Mr. Castro Ginigeme, a lawyer and former Adjunct Law Professor in the United States of America, had this to say concerning that judgement: ”Increasingly, Nigeria’s courts have become courts of technicality rather than courts of justice. Technical legal rules are supposed to be made a guide to justice, not a tool to thwart justice”.

In all these, let us remind ourselves of this everlasting truism stated by Associate Justice Robert H. Jackson of the US Supreme Court, the US Special Prosecutor at Nuremberg in 1945, who uttered these words””We are not final because we are infallible. Still, we are infallible only because we are final”. This means that decisions of Tribunals or courts are given by human beings with flesh and blood, and they are susceptible to human errors as the judges are not gods.

However, two African countries have ignited the light of departure and stubbornly stuck to addressing the petitioner’s grievances without paying attention to an excessive technicality, fear of the incumbent or undue consideration of the political consequences of nullifying an improperly organised electoral process. The first country was Kenya, followed subsequently and swiftly by Malawi. Kudos to African Bar Association as we have held our Annual Conferences in these two great countries. The last conference was held in Malawi last year.

THE STORY OF KENYA AND COURT’S INTERVENTION
In August 2017, a highly contested election was held in Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta’s incumbent won by a narrow majority against his opponent Raila Odinga. However, Odinga did not accept his loss and filed the presidential petition, which later became the first to ever be successful on the entire continent and resulted in the nullification of the election. He referred to the electoral commission’s (IEBC) failure to comply with the electoral law and the quantity of discovered irregularities, such as missing security features on the ballot papers, including serial numbers, official stamps and signatures.

Even though the Kenyan Court has been confronted with alleged ballot rigging cases, this was the first time it ruled in favour of the petitioner in this historic judgement. The Supreme Court judges concluded the ruling with the following words: “The illegalities and irregularities committed were of such a substantial nature that no Court properly applying its mind to the evidence and the law as well as the administrative arrangements put in place by IEBC can, in good conscience, declare that they do not matter and that the will of the people was expressed nonetheless.”

THE STORY OF MALAWI AND THE INTERVENTION OF THE JUDICIARY
In May 2019, Peter Mutharika was re-elected President of the Republic of Malawi two years later. Afterwards, his opponents Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima failed to get a ballot recount and consequently filed a petition to challenge the election result. In February 2020, the High Court ruled in favour of the petitioners, thereby being the second court after Kenya, to annul a presidential election. They concluded their historic ruling by stating that” the irregularities and anomalies have been so widespread, systematic and grave such that the integrity of the results has been seriously compromised. The results cannot be trusted as a true reflection of the will of the voters as expressed through their votes”” Irregularities in Malawi included people voting more than once and erasing and manually amending ballot papers.

The beauty of these two decisions from the continent of Africa, where some people think or say we cannot get good things, is that the judgement was very much interested in probing whether the mandate of the majority was thwarted, warranting the nullification of the process and decreeing a re-run in both countries.

Allowing the courts to intervene in an electoral process means that there is a purpose for the said intervention. It is to ensure that the process is free, fair and credible. It is not for the courts to substitute the majority’s will with that of the minority they represent.
Most times, the court has created chaos and caused more damage than what the extant laws provide for them to achieve. Again let us go back to Nigeria, the giant of Africa.

In 1993, what you may consider a bizarre event occurred in the continent of Africa, and the location was Nigeria. General Ibrahim Badamosi Babaginda was President and Commander in Chief under whose watch the heinous act against Nigerians was committed. The foundation for the annulment of the June 12 presidential election of 1993 was laid less than 36 hours earlier. However, the building blocks were assembled over several months by an entity known as Association for Better Nigeria(ABN), led by the late Francis Arthur Nzeribe and one Abimbola Davis. You will have to judge whether the Association deserved that name they gave to themselves.

On Thursday, June 10, 1993, Justice Bassey Ikpeme chose an ungodly hour of 9.35 pm to launch her voyage into infamy. Though it was an interlocutory application filed by the ABN, apparently over-mobilized and over-induced, she made a final pronouncement on an interlocutory application. She decreed that the elections should be stopped, contrary to the provisions of Section 19(1) of Decree 13 of 1993, which ousts the jurisdiction of the courts over the election matter.

National Electoral Commission(NEC) promptly issued a statement disregarding the notorious court order, stating that the elections should go as scheduled. Despite all the shenanigans by the conspirators involving the Aso Rock cabal (The military leaders, the Ministry of Justice led by the then Attorney General, Chief Clement Akpamgbo SAN, the Judiciary led by Late Justice Ikpeme and ABN ably led by Late Arthur Nzeribe) and against all expectations, the elections held. There was no rain or reports of violence or rigging as usual at every election in Nigeria. It was generally peaceful, free and fair as Nigerians were ready to endure anything just to exit the military from power in Nigeria.

Interim results on Sunday, June 14, showed that one Chief Moshood Abiola was leading with an overwhelming majority in 19 States while his rival, Chief Tofa, had a clear majority in 11 States. Suddenly, the unexpected happened. Another Court from Abuja has agreed with ABN that NEC, the electoral umpire, should be restrained from announcing any results from the States in the Federation. Nigerians felt that this was a joke taken too far. After some of them recollected themselves, the courts became the centre of attraction. Following popular demands for the release of the results, two orders came in a row for the reversal of the order of the Abuja Court. Lagos high court Judge Hon Justice Moshood Olugbani ordered NEC to release the results within 24 hours. Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, the Chairman of Campaign for Democracy, issued an ultimatum to NEC to release the results within 24 hours, or the CD would do so.

Events took a more bizarre turn as Justice Dahiru Saleh, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Abuja, declared the elections void allegedly because the NEC had ignored the late-night injunction of Justice Bassey Ikpeme to conduct the election. What gave the government of the day away as the ones behind this strange event was that the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Clement Akpamgbo SAN served the judgement of Hon. Justice Saleh on Professor Humphrey Nwosu, the then NEC Chairman. He warned Nwosu that he would be on his own if he disobeyed.

NEC’s Director of Legal Services, Bukhari Bello, a bold and strong-willed man, immediately appealed against the judgement. When he was about to get a verdict delivered, the elephant in the room behind all these shenanigans came out from where he was hiding all this while and directing the drama. President Babaginda brought his chest out, flagrantly annulled the results, and announced the suspension of NEC as an umpire. At that point, both NEC and the courts that initiated the drama were incapacitated to act.

JUDICIARY AS THE LAST HOPE IN ELECTORAL DISPUTES?
Recruitment of leadership is a very grave responsibility in any democracy. As such, it must be handled with every circumspection to ensure the majority’s will is upheld and respected. Where there is a failure of orderliness and fairness at the polling units and Collation Centres, the extant laws in every democracy, whether here in Africa or elsewhere, usually invest the courts with the onerous responsibility of ensuring that the anomalies noticed at the Polling Units and grievances at the Collation Centres are addressed and redressed. The courts must carry out this demanding responsibility to respect the majority’s will. Never should they allow the majority’s will to be subverted with the enthronement of technicality over substantial justice.

In Lawan‘s case in Nigeria, which I had earlier referenced, there was uncontroverted evidence that his party APC did not cancel the earlier Primary Election held on May 28, 2022, before organising another one on June 9 of the same year in clear breach of S.84(5) of the Electoral Act. The minority justices in that case also found out that the APC did not give INEC 21 days mandatory notice before conducting another primary election on June 9, meaning that INEC did not monitor the June 9 Primary Election as required by law.

The minority justices were convinced that as long as APC has not contradicted those findings of fact and stated that they are perverse or unreasonable, that defeats their entire appeal. But the majority opinion differed and dwelt on the technicality. Justice Centus Nwaeze, who read the apex court’s majority judgement, held that Machina, Lawan’s primary challenger, was wrong to have commenced the suit at the trial court through Originating Summons, given his allegations that the APC acted fraudulently in submitting Lawan’s name to INEC as their candidate. He said, and I quote,” The bedrock of the suit shows that there were allegations of fraudulent practices against the appellants. The 1st Respondent accused the APC of fraudulently substituting his name with that of Lawan. Where there is an allegation of fraud, it should not be commenced by an Originating Summons. There was a need to call witnesses to prove allegations of fraud”.

Does the above majority decision satisfy the true meaning of Justice in the real sense of that word? Has justice been served here? I don’t think so; the people’s choice has been thwarted here using undue technicality.

Nevertheless, there are times OUR COURTS have engaged in self-realization and refused to be bogged down by technicality over substance. In the two cases referenced above, Kenyan and Malawi Supreme Courts were vociferous in their majority decisions in upholding substantial justice over technical justice.

Even the Supreme Court of Nigeria, as far back as in 2007, in an unprecedented judicial audacity in the case of Rotimi Amaechi Vs Celestine Omehia, sacked Omehia, affirming Rotimi Amaechi as the winner of an election in which he did not campaign. In reasons issued in January 2008, Hon Justice Adesola Oguntade retired, who read the lead judgement to which other 6 justices concurred had this to say: “The sum of the recent decisions of this court is that the court must move away from the era when adjudicatory power of the court was hindered by a constraining adherence to technicalities. This often results in the loser taking home all the laurels in a civil case. At the same time, the supposed winner goes home worse than he approached the court””. Hon. Justice Olayiwola Aderemi added his authoritative voice to this issue. He said, ”This court has a standing and rigid invitation to do substantial justice to all matters brought before it. Justice to be dispensed by this court must not be allowed to be inhibited by any paraphernalia of technicalities””. While at the Court of Appeal, our respected Justice John Okoro, now at the Supreme Court, had this to say concerning technicality over substance. In the case of Balogun V E.O.C.B Nigeria Limited, he was recorded to have said,” Good law, in my opinion, must have a human face; good rule should not patronise technicalities that will give rise or room to undeserved victories in litigation. Good practice will not encourage a situation where a party in the litigation will only return home with a Pyrrhic victory, which in reality is no victor”.

THE REAL REASONS FOR JUDICIAL INTERVENTION
The essence of the court’s intervention in election matters is to promote democratic culture and strengthen the people’s confidence in the democratic process. But if we reduce our courts to counting electorates” votes or voting for the candidates that should lead, we are destroying the judiciary and, at the same time, democracy. If we create a crisis of confidence in the court in their role of intervening in electoral issues, then we are in grave danger. Already the politicians are taking undue advantage of some judicial lapses to wreak havoc in the system.

They are ready to manipulate, rig, create chaos and ”win” by foul means and challenge the ”loser” to go to court, knowing that the judiciary as an institution in the continent suffers some institutional lapses. Institutions generally are not strong in the continent, leading to a loss of confidence and creating enormous problems in the long run. Take the Kenyan Election of 2007 as an example. The Incumbent president was declared the winner, while Raila Odinga also claimed victory. Due to losing confidence in the judiciary, he preferred other options than recourse to the courts. The consequence was civil unrest, resulting in several hundred deaths and the displacement of up to 600,000 persons. The election was regarded as generally flawed and led to the deepening of ethnic divisions and serious post-election violence lasting into 2008.

The same thing happened in Nigeria in 2007. The general elections of April 2007, supervised by one Professor Maurice Iwu, were adjudged by most observers to fall a long way short of the standards for credible, free and fair elections and to be the worst in Nigeria’s post-independence history. The election was so flawed that the apparent winner, His Excellency Late Umaru Yar’aduaa, considered the election deeply inadequate. He quickly set up an Electoral Reform Committee headed by the former CJN of the country to midwife a new Electoral law and system. The Committee, headed by Hon Justice Uwais, did an excellent job recommending comprehensive electoral reforms, which, if followed, would have made us take some progressive electoral steps. Still, unfortunately, the report has been thrown into the dustbin to date.

The hope that the judiciary would strengthen democracy by upturning the electoral results agreed upon by local and international observers, including the alleged winner, as flawed, was dashed as the highly manipulated electoral process was upheld as valid by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s findings that the Petitioner’s lawyers had not provided substantial evidence to overturn the official result. However, Hon. Justice Niki Tobi of the Supreme Court had this to say: “We’re not saying that all went well in the conduct of the election.” Laying the blame on the country’s political elite, he said: ”The way politics is played frightens me. It is a fight to the finish.”

The court’s holding that the election went well sent shock waves to people’s marrows until today. This was an election that witnessed widespread electoral malpractices throughout all the stages of the elections. There were failures in the late delivery of voting materials, late commencement of polls in most of the States, ballot box stuffing, allocation of votes where voting did not take place, falsification of votes, deliberate denial of election materials to polling units, especially where opponents have strong supporters etc. Despite all these, the Nigerian Courts in 2008 held that the election was free, fair and credible. INCREDULOUS!

Having fought and lost elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011, former President Buhari, who opposed the losses in court wherein he also failed, had to issue a physical threat: ”If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should happen again in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in the blood.” Recall that in the 2011 general election when he lost the presidential election to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, several innocent lives were cut short, especially in Kaduna and Bauchi, and thousands of people were displaced to date across Northern Nigeria. So his threat during the 2015 general election, which was yet to take place then, was not unusual. He was finally quoted to have stated that he would not go to court anymore if he lost the 2015 general election.

Thank God he won the election. Naturally, he did not have any reason to go to court, and there were minimal skirmishes and chaos in the land post-election. Surprisingly, the loser of that election and incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan also shunned the court. He accepted the election outcome and congratulated the winner, President Muhammadu Buhari, which earned him several accolades to date.

Countries like Gabon, Liberia, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, etc., are all billed to hold or to have held their presidential elections this year, 2023. President Julius Maada Bio has won re-election in Sierra Leone’s tense presidential vote. The election commission confirmed his victory recently, but his primary challenger Samura Kamara quickly rejected the results. However, he promised not to go to court to dispute the election results because he did not believe in the nation’s judiciary. This is his second time losing to the incumbent President Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party(SLPP). Meanwhile, he went to court after the first loss and failed woefully. Feeling that the judiciary would not be different from the first experience, he chose to shun the court for redress in the last election. Sad, isn’t it?

But that is not the case in Nigeria. Even though the Nigerian courts have never upturned Presidential results from 1960 till date, the number of electoral cases pre- and post-elections in Nigeria is frightening. The three major presidential candidates are all in court, with two from different parties, the Labour Party and People’s Democratic Party challenging the electoral victory declared by the Electoral umpire on the current President Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR of the All Progressive Congress (APC). They have all closed their cases, with written briefs filed and exchanged. We await adoptions and possible dates for Judgement. We wish parties and the country well in the coming weeks and months.

We also all await the general elections of other countries in the African Continent, like Madagascar, Gabon, Liberia and Zimbabwe. We all wish them free, fair and credible elections with no acrimony and crisis in the coming months before the end of the year.

CONCLUSIONS
Choosing leaders whose objectives are for service by the electorates should be without acrimony and the attendant bloodshed and deaths accompanying it in the continent.

The continent should insist that all nations within it must strengthen the independence and integrity of their election management bodies and the judiciary to guarantee free, fair and credible polls in the continent. And where irregularities sufficient to affect the credibility of elections are noticed, it should step in to effect immediate redress either by nullifying the elections or proclaiming the correct winner in the contest. This they must do without fear or favour.

Leadership choice is an important responsibility that should not be toyed with or handled with kid gloves on the continent. We have seen what effective and sound leadership has done for developed economies, and we as a continent cannot afford not to brace up to ensure that we strike a golden cord in mapping out proper strategy and mechanisms that will throw up effective leadership capable of taking the continent to an enviable height globally. Civilization started in Africa, but the continent has been manned by inept and corrupt leadership not necessarily chosen by the people but imposed through foul means. Unfortunately, these visionless and corrupt leaders have kept most countries in the continent retarded and unprogressive for many decades and still counting.

Whatever ideas we can generate, let us develop them as a continent and prescribe the same to all African countries to follow, enabling a credible electoral process that will throw in leaders capable of awakening the sleeping continent. In Malawi, I presented a paper in which I advised that deploying technology in our electoral process would reduce irregularities in the system. The reason is that too much human involvement in the process creates several loopholes and room for manipulation. Digitalizing our elections with proper education and orientation will mitigate these irregularities.

Above all, public offices in the continent should be well-defined and separated from the occupants. We have observed with shock that in the continent, a public officer uses public money to pursue personal goals and interests, giving room for stupendous abuse with impunity. Contrast this with the President of America like Biden, who cannot, as a president, dip his hands in the public treasury to buy an expensive wristwatch for himself or his family or service his appetite for expensive chocolate. Any day he is discovered to have tried it, he will be on his way out as he will be called out by the press and the public, and if care is not taken, impeachment proceedings may be commenced against him. They have built a responsible system and enthroned responsible leadership that is accountable due to an electoral system that guarantees that the majority makes the choice of their leaders with attendant oversight functions that will ensure the removal of such leader who has decided to be irresponsible in governance. We should cultivate such a system here in the continent if we want to advance the continent. Anything short of such a system is a complete waste of precious time.

Finally, we must trust our judicial system to help strengthen our democracy in Africa, even though the judiciary still owes itself a grave responsibility to generate public confidence through a clear display of bold decisions and forthrightness in upholding rights and dispensing justice without fear, favour or ill will.

Dr. Monday Ubani
Chairman, Election Reform Commission of AFBA.

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A lawyer representing former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over the bid by President Bola Tinubu to block release of his academic records at the University of Chicago.

Atiku, a presidential candidate during the February poll, is asking a federal court to issue a subpoena for Chicago State University to release Tinubu’s school records but the Nigerian leader is fighting to block the application, according to court filings.

“We continue to be puzzled by Mr. Tinubu’s vigorous opposition to our asking CSU about documents that are already in the public domain and/or have already been submitted in the Nigerian proceedings so that we can learn CSU’s position on whether, how, and when they were provided to other Nigerian litigants, and CSU’s position on the authenticity of the documents,” Atiku’s lawyer Liu Angela wrote in an email to the lawyers representing Tinubu and Chicago university on August 3.

The CSU registrar’s office had told The Gazette that it graduated a Bola Tinubu on June 22, 1979, but did not elaborate when pressed on whether the student was a male or female, much less if it is the same person now occupying Nigeria’s presidency.

“If there is an explanation for the discrepancies we have identified, we would think that Mr Tinubu would be eager to provide it. If you would like to provide an explanation to us, we are happy to consider it. That might preclude the need for, or at least expedite the deposition,” Angela said, suggesting a willingness to cooperate with Tinubu’s legal team to shut down controversies surrounding the president’s credentials. “In candour, the vehemence of Mr. Tinubu’s opposition to this discovery is increasing rather than mitigating our suspicions.”

Angela explained that Tinubu had been advised — in writing — to join the case earlier since the applicant would not oppose the request but that he chose to remain silent and waited until Atiku had submitted an ‘Order Directing Discovery’ of his academic records in court before expressing an interest in joining the suit. He then headed to the State District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to apply to join.

“At the outset, Applicant emphasizes that he does not oppose the Motion, but questions why Mr Tinubu filed it, instead of contacting and coordinating with Applicant’s counsel to submit a joint submission,” Angela wrote in her response to Tinubu’s motion to join on August 4.

“Thus, on July 27, 2023, almost a week prior to filing the application, counsel for applicant advised counsel for Mr Tinubu and CSU that applicant intended to file the application and that he was willing to stipulate to Mr. Tinubu’s intervention in the Section 1782 federal action,” Atiku’s lawyer told the court.

One of Atiku’s prayers at the Presidential Election Petition Court is that Tinubu should be disqualified for falsifying his academic records. Tinubu denies the allegation. The Presidential Election Petition Court has reserved judgment on Atiku’s case.

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The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference Planning Committee led by Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN has struck a partnership with Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace Limited for discounted flight rates ahead of the conference scheduled to hold between August 25 and September 1, 2023.

According to a flyer seen by CITY LAWYER, the flight rates range from N120,000 for a return Economy ticket for Lagos, Port Harcourt and “all other routes” to N300,000 for return Business class ticket from Kano, Yola, Gombe and Maiduguri routes.

Below are full details of the discounted flight rates.

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The Police Service Commission has vowed that police officers who have any human rights complaints against them would have their promotion suspended until they are cleared of such charges.

The Chairman of the commission, Dr. Solomon Arase made this known while receiving two delegations from the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

In a statment obtained by CITY LAWYER, Arase said that “the Commission wants to track complaints against Police,” stressing that “any Officer who has pending human rights cases will not be cleared for promotions or postings. Any Officer who has human rights issues not conclusively investigated by the Police Complaints Unit will be stepped down from promotion and postings.”

Below is the full text of the statement.

PRESS RELEASE

ARASE FROWNS AT PRE-TRIAL DETENTION AS US, UK DELEGATIONS VISIT PSC

Two delegations from the United States of America and the United Kingdom were at the Corporate Headquarters of the Police Service Commission in Jabi, Abuja today, Thursday August 10th 2023 on courtesy visits to the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, CFR, a retired Inspector General of Police.

The delegations also visited the Commission’s newly established Compliance Monitoring Unit (CMU), a tracking platform on public complaints against serving Nigeria Police Officers and promised to assist the Commission drastically reduce human rights abuses by the Police.

The United States Delegation was led by Jason A. Smith, Director International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs while Chris Grimson of the National Agency Anti- Kidnap and Extortion Unit(AKEU) visited on behalf of the United Kingdom.

The Commission Chairman told the Visitors that what Nigerians want is a responsible Police Force that would respect the human rights of the citizenry.

Dr. Arase said the Commission decided to set up the Compliance Monitoring Unit to ensure that the rights of the citizens are protected and offending Police Officers sanctioned for misconduct. He told his visitors that the leadership of the Commission and the Police are united in the fight to stamp out human rights abuses in the Country.

The PSC Chairman assured his visitors that there would be no conflict between the Commission and the Police Management on the operations of the Compliance Monitoring Unit. He however frowned at pre-trial detentions by the Police, noting that the Commission will no longer tolerate detentions beyond what the law provides for.

He declared that the Commission wants to track complaints against Police stressing that any Officer who has pending human rights cases will not be cleared for promotions or postings. “Any Officer who has human rights issues not conclusively investigated by the Police Complaints Unit will be stepped down from promotion and postings.”

He called for assistance in the provision of more systems for the CMU as the Commission anticipates several complaints against the Police as the Unit takes shape.

Dr. Smith, leader of the United States Delegation said they are in Nigeria to assist strengthen the rule of law and especially the Police. He noted that PSC is a key stakeholder in their project to strengthen the rule of law in Nigeria and promised to work with the Commission to achieve this .

Mr. Grimson of the National Crime Agency of the British High Commission promised to partner with the Commission in the training of the personnel of the Nigeria Police.

He spoke on intelligence sharing, proper investigation so as to break down barriers between the Police and other security agencies in the country.

Ikechukwu Ani
Head, Press and Public Relations
Thursday, August 10th 2023.

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GUARDIANS OF INNOVATION: MAZI AFAM OSIGWE STIRS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS DISCOURSE AT LAWSAN SUMMIT

On Friday, August 4th, 2023, an epic event unfolded at the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, where the Law Students Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN) North Central Directorate of Project, Policies, and Programs summit took place. The highlight of the summit was the keynote speech delivered by the eminent Chairman of The Planning Committee for the NBA Annual General Conference 2023, Mazi Afam Osigwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

With the captivating theme “GUARDING INNOVATIONS: Demystifying Intellectual Property Rights and Strategies,” Mazi Afam Osigwe’s keynote address proved to be both enlightening and inspiring. Drawing from his extensive expertise in the legal field, he shed light on the critical subject of intellectual property rights and the strategies needed to foster a culture of innovation in the nation.

In his speech, the learned silk passionately emphasized the importance of safeguarding intellectual property, which serves as the foundation for progress and development in any society. He provided valuable insights into the various aspects of intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets, while elucidating on their significance in promoting creativity and safeguarding creators’ rights.

The Learned Silk took this opportunity not only to impart legal knowledge but also to mentor and encourage the young law students attending the summit. He urged them to be proactive in embracing innovation and to harness their legal skills to protect and promote the rights of inventors, creators, and innovators in Nigeria. As he spoke with eloquence and passion, he reminded the students that they represent the future of the esteemed legal profession and carry the responsibility of shaping the nation’s legal landscape.

Furthermore, the distinguished silk stressed the importance of upholding exemplary character in their personal and professional lives, as he firmly believed that integrity and ethics are the pillars upon which the legal profession stands. Encouraging the students to be good ambassadors, he emphasized the immense impact they can have on society through their actions and decisions.

The LAWSAN’s North Central Directorate of Project, Policies, and Programs summit, graced by Mazi Afam Osigwe’s insightful keynote address, proved to be an enriching experience for all attendees. It ignited a newfound sense of purpose and commitment among the aspiring legal minds, fostering a collective determination to contribute positively to the legal landscape and the nation as a whole.

MAZI AFAM OSIGWE, SAN, CELEBRATES MR. AUGUSTINE ALEGEH, SAN, CON, OCCASION OF HIS BIRTHDAY

Warmest birthday wishes to Mr. Augustine Alegeh, SAN, CON, a remarkable figure who has left an indelible mark as Past President of the Nigerian Bar Association and holds the distinction of being the youngest to assume this esteemed position in our association’s history.

Reflecting on the time spent serving under your distinguished leadership as General Secretary, I am reminded of the rich learning experience it provided. Witnessing your dedication, profound altruism, and boundless passion for delivering exceptional leadership was truly inspiring. Your ability to skillfully navigate the complex waters of leadership for our beloved association played a pivotal role in the numerous achievements we collectively accomplished during our tenure.

As we celebrate this special day, my heartfelt prayer is that your journey continues to be filled with triumphant exploits across all your endeavors. May the heavens shower you with abundant blessings and may each moment be embraced with happiness. Your legacy serves as an inspiration, and I eagerly anticipate the continued impact you will undoubtedly make.

With utmost respect and warm regards,

Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN

IN RE: CHINO OBIAGWU SAN – SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT

Our attention has been drawn to an online publication where our Principal Partner, Mr. Chinonye Obiagwu SAN was maliciously portrayed as having deployed extra-judicial measures in a recovery of premises matter.

We state unequivocally that the publication is false and misleading in its entirety. For the avoidance of doubt, at no time did our Principal Partner engage in any illegal or arbitrary measures concerning the matter in issue.

If the purveyors of that jaundiced and highly slanted report had, in the best traditions of journalism and law, bothered to reach out to the renowned Learned Silk and foremost human rights advocate, they would have realized that there is no iota of truth in the fabled report.

It is unthinkable that a pre-eminent human rights activist who has all his life fought to uphold human rights will do anything that is contrary to the rule of law.

For the avoidance of doubt, the premises in question had been vacated by the tenants who had surrendered possession since 2022. These vacant flats were however broken into and occupied by squatters, thereby posing a danger to the entire community and compelling our law firm to take legal steps to recover the premises.

We have it on excellent authority that the purveyor of this blatant falsehood was actively procured by a senior lawyer to malign our esteemed Principal Partner.

While we shall take appropriate steps within the ambit of the law to seek redress for the malicious and orchestrated impugning of the character of our Principal Partner, we urge discerning members of the public to disregard the report as a poorly orchestrated hatchet job.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,
PP: Obiagwu & Obiagwu

Nnenna Chukwudi, Esq.
Practice Manager

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FEATURED

BENSU LAW CLASS ’87 2023 LAGOS REUNION: A TRIUMPHANT CELEBRATION OF LEGACY AND UNITY

In a radiant display of nostalgia, camaraderie, and benevolence, the illustrious Bendel State University (BENSU) Law Class of ’87 recently convened for a memorable three-day reunion at the Colossus Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

From the 3rd to the 5th of August, 2023, old bonds were reignited, memories were cherished, and a legacy was celebrated.

The Association’s 2023 Reunion theme was: “Developing Alumni Connections: Challenges and Prospects”, and the Special Guest of Honour at the occasion was the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, CON. BENSU is now known as the Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma.

Day 1: A Glittering Start

The event commenced with a spectacular cocktail party that set the tone for the festivities. Classmates were joyously reunited, exchanging laughter and stories, as they embarked on a journey down memory lane. The air was filled with the electric hum of rekindled friendships, and the excitement was palpable.

Day 2: Uniting for a Purpose

The second day was marked by a momentous class meeting, a time of reflection and renewal. The esteemed Chairman of the BENSU Law Class ’87 Association, Mr. Sylva Ogwemoh, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), graced the occasion with his presence and delivered a poignant speech that stirred both hearts and minds. His words served as a reminder of the shared values that have bound this exceptional group together.

He paid tribute to the late Ambrose Folorunsho Alli, a Professor of Morbid Anatomy and the first governor of Old Bendel State (now Edo State) who established the university. He stated that the major aim of the Association is to improve the welfare of members and also support AAU and particularly the Faculty of Law of the University in areas of need.

He also said the Class of ‘87 boasts of an array of Judges, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, a distinguished Professor of Law, Magistrates, Directors in Public Service, Seasoned Politicians and successful businessmen and women.

A remarkable highlight of this day was the spirit of giving that flowed abundantly. With unwavering generosity, donations totalling over N10 million naira were raised for the purchase of law books for the library of the Faculty of Law at AAU. This act of kindness will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on the education and empowerment of future legal minds.

Adding intellectual fervour to the occasion was a captivating Health Talk delivered by the erudite Dr. Augustine Idenebeme Aipoh. Attendees were enlightened on matters of well-being, highlighting the holistic approach to success that has defined the journey of BENSU Law Class ’87.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, a splendid dinner awaited, graced by the presence of the distinguished Prince Clem Agba – CON, the immediate past Minister of State for Budget and National Planning. His insightful speech resonated deeply, reminding all present of the enduring importance of their shared vocation and the impact they can continue to make on society.

He said: “Alumni associations in Nigeria should, therefore, participate actively in the development of their various institutions like their counterparts in developed countries by looking beyond providing infrastructure to looking into the administration and academic situation of our universities to know truly if we are producing the right kind of students for the society.

“This is because the real challenges of university education and development can only be properly addressed with the involvement and contributions of those who passed through its four walls and are interested in the progress and further development of the institution’’, he said.

According to the Honourable Minister, “It behooves alumni associations to ensure that the connections they have built over the years translates into tangible benefits to their institutions of training.”

He believes that the existence of an academic institution in modern sense depends largely on the commitment and carriage of its alumni.

“This is because the acquisition of knowledge and tradition and the engagement in scholarship is only appreciated through a continuous display of academic traditions and self-pride in their belief system in sustaining the values of their self-discovery and self-consciousness,” he said.

He noted that beyond donations, alumni associations can volunteer for activities in the institutions, carry out speaking engagements, engage in mentoring and take active interest in the institution’s administration.

Day 3: Fond Farewells

The reunion concluded with a heartwarming breakfast, a final moment for laughter and farewells. Departing with hearts full of cherished memories and spirits uplifted, the BENSU Law Class of ’87 bid adieu to the Colossus Hotel, each classmate taking with them the renewed determination to uphold their legacy and the values they hold dear.

This extraordinary reunion of the BENSU Law Class ’87 was more than just an event; it was a celebration of unity, purpose, and the enduring bond that has carried these legal professionals through decades of change and progress. As they return to their individual paths, they do so with a shared commitment to upholding the noble ideals of justice and scholarship that have defined their journey.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have filed charges against embattled Ilorin-based lawyer Sulaiman Toyin Yahaya for allegedly altering an extra-judicial statement made by his client who was being investigated by the commission.

In a “summary of statements of additional witnesses” obtained by CITY LAWYER, the commission has also lined up no less than four witnesses including one Peter Samuel, the lawyer’s client, against him.

The charge, Federal Republic of Nigeria versus Sulaiman Yahaya, is slated for trial at the Ilorin Judicial Division of Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin.

According to the EFCC document, Samuel will testify “that after making his statement, his lawyer went through his statement and in the process of doing so helped him to add ‘not’ where he wrote fraudulent.”

While one Roberts Muyiwa would testify that he paid the sum of N120,000 to the lawyer to represent Peter Samuel, two EFCC operatives would testify how they investigated the case and how the lawyer allegedly “altered the statement” when the operatives were not paying attention.

CITY LAWYER recalls that several lawyers had clamoured for Yahaya’s release, even as foremost human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana SAN stated that he had secured the commission’s assurances that the embattled lawyer would be released yesterday. Yahaya was released yesterday.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Security Agencies Relations Committee (NBA-SARC), Mr. Chukwuka Ikwuazom SAN had hailed Yahaya’s release, adding that NBA-SARC worked tirelessly with various stakeholders, including the NBA Ilorin Branch leadership, to ensure compliance with a court order directing his immediate release.

The Chairman of the NBA Annual General Conference Planning Committee, Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN had in a strongly worded statement decried the “incessant harassment of lawyers by law enforcement agents in the course of rendering service to their clients,” warning that it “bodes ill for the society.”

He also warned that “This has indeed become a major threat to the legal profession,” and demanded that “The lawyer must be released forthwith. We must rise up to ensure this recklessness stops. Enough is enough.”

CITY LAWYER recalls that Yahaya has been in EFCC gulag since July 26, 2023 when he was detained by the commission, notwithstanding an August 3, 2023 order of the High Court of Kwara State, Ilorin Division directing the EFCC to release the applicant “forthwith and unconditionally.”

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NOTICE OF PRE-CONFERENCE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (NEC) MEETING OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION

Distinguished NEC Members,

Please be informed that there will be a Pre-Conference National Executive Council Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association on the date, venue and time hereunder stated:

Date: Saturday 26th August, 2023

Time: 4pm

Venue: The Auditorium, NBA House, Plot 1011, Muhammadu Buhari Way, FCT, Abuja.

AGENDA:

1. NEC Prayer

2. Review of the Minutes of the last NEC Meeting of Monday 26th June, 2023

3. Matters Arising from the Minutes

4. President’s Speech

5. General Secretary’s Report

6. Other National Officers’ Reports

7. Reports from Sections, Committees and Fora

8. State of the Nation

10. Any other Business

Yours faithfully,

Adesina Adegbite, FICMC.
General Secretary.

NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION (NBA) National Secretariat: NBA House, Plot 1101 Mohammadu Buhari Way, Central Business District, Abuja, F.C.T, Nigeria Tel: +234 (0) 800 333 1111 : www.nigerianbar.org.ng : info@nigerianbar.org.ng

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Leading senior lawyer and Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Nigeria Branch, Chief Akingbola Akinola SAN has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Axa Mansard Insurance Plc.

In a July 6, 2023 letter to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and the investing public obtained by CITY LAWYER, the company noted that the appointment is in accordance with Section 274 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 and has been approved by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

Signed by its Company Secretary Omowunmi Mabel Adewusi, the letter stated that “Chief Akinola is an experienced arbitrator and practicing lawyer with considerable experience in corporate and commercial law and a highly skilled advocate with extensive commercial legal advisory experience.

“He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1987 and admitted to practice as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He is an experienced arbitrator and practicing lawyer with considerable experience in corporate and commercial law and a highly skilled advocate with extensive commercial legal advisory experience.

“He was appointed a Notary Public in May 1998, admitted as an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in November 1999 and became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in January 2000. He was appointed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2022.

“He is proposed as a Non-Executive Director representing Minority Shareholders in accordance with the NAICOM Guideline on Code of Corporate Governance 2021.”

Mr. Kola Adesina was also appointed to replace the erstwhile Chairman of the leading insurance company, Mr. Olusola Adeeyo who resigned from the Board at the last Annual General Meeting.

Other Non-Executive members of the board include Mr. Mariano Caballerro and Ms. Melina Cotlar.

AXA Mansard is a member of the AXA Group, the worldwide leader in insurance and asset management with 166,000 employees serving 107 million clients in 64 countries.

AXA Mansard Insurance plc is rated B+ by A.M. Best (2016) for Financial Strength. The company is also certified ISO 9001:2008 compliant by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) for quality management systems.

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The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN has reappointed foremost human rights activist, Mr. Chinonye Obiagwu SAN as the Chairman of the Governing Board of NBA Human Rights Institute.

In a statement made available to CITY LAWYER, Maikyau urged the members of the reconstituted board “to be diligent and to employ their wealth of experience in the field of human rights to strengthen the NBA’s position as the bastion of human rights cause in Nigeria.”

NOTICE OF RECONSTITUTION OF THE NBA-HRI

Good evening Distinguished Colleagues,

In furtherance of the objective of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to promote and protect the principles of the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights, human rights, and people’s rights, the NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, OON, SAN has reconstituted, subject to ratification by the National Executive Council, the Board of the Nigerian Bar Association-Human Rights Institute (NBA-HRI). The Board is to be chaired by Mr. Chinonye Obiagwu, SAN.

The NBA President has thanked the Board members for accepting to serve, even as he has urged them to be diligent and to employ their wealth of experience in the field of human rights to strengthen the NBA’s position as the bastion of human rights cause in Nigeria.

Kindly find attached for your reference, the Notice containing the names of the new Board members of the NBA-HRI.

Akorede Habeeb Lawal
National Publicity Secretary

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It has been a harvest of deaths in Nigeria’s judiciary lately with the death of the immediate past Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, Justice Kate Abiri.

Justice Abiri reportedly died today after a brief illness.

She belongs to the same Nigerian Law School Class as Late Justice Chima Centus Nweze who also passed on recently.

An announcement by the Class President obtained by CITY LAWYER reads:

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

It is deep sadness that I announce to us the passing of Justice Kate Abiri, retired CJ of Bayelsa state. She was the immediate past CJ of Bayelsa state.

This sad news has occurred too soon after losing CC Nweze, JSC.

May the soul of Justice Kate Abiri rest in peace and may the Lord comfort her entire family during this difficult and sad times.

May the entire NLS84 be consoled.

I will like to implore us to please observe a 3 day mourning period from today until midnight Saturday 5th August.
May the Lord stay the hands of death in our midst in Jesus name.

Many thanks.

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There is palpable controversy on the actual number of crew members and passengers on board the Airfirst Hospitality and Tour Ltd light aircraft which dramatically crashed on a Lagos road yesterday.

Investigation by CITY LAWYER shows that three crucial government agencies involved in the rescue and investigation efforts gave conflicting figures on the actual number of crew and passengers on board the ill-fated aircraft.

While the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) stated on its verified Twitter handle that “Two crew members and two passengers rescued,” the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) reportedly told CHANNELS TV that “four persons including the pilot were on board the ill-fated aircraft and they were all rescued alive and taken to a nearby hospital.”

But the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) countered both NEMA and LASEMA, saying that only “two souls” were on board.

Said NEMA: “Fixed wing Aircraft Reg 5NCCQ Airfirst Hospitality and Tour Ltd crashed near Lagos Airport. Following the incident, NEMA, LASEMA, Fire Service, security Agencies and other stakeholders carried out search and rescue operation. Two crew members and two passengers rescued.”

But in a statement by its spokesman Tunji Oketunbi, NSIB (formerly Accident Investigation Bureau) said: “The two souls on board were taken to the hospital.”

The statement added: “The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has been notified and commenced investigation into an accident involving a Jabiru J430, a light single airplane with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-CCQ operated by Air First Hospitality & Tours, which occurred around a little after 1500hrs local time on August 1, 2023.

“The aircraft was on a test flight within Lagos with two passengers onboard, before it crashed around Oba Akran area of Lagos State with no fatalities. The aircraft caught fire on impact but the spread was contained by the rainfall at the time of impact.”

The bureau urged information on the air crash, saying: “The NSIB, hereby, solicits information from the general public in form of pictures, video or recording evidences to assist in conducting a comprehensive investigation.

“The Bureau can be reached through info@aib.gov.ng and NSIB_Nigeria on its social media platforms. The Bureau can also be reached on its emergency line +234-807-709-0909.”

However, NEMA’s Acting Coordinator for South-West Zonal Office, Ibrahim Farinloye contradicted his agency when he told reporters that “There were two people on board. The control tower confirmed that there were only two people on board, not four.”

CITY LAWYER gathered that the aircraft is a South African-made propeller plane.

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Former United States President Donald Trump has been summoned to appear in court on Thursday in Washington, D. C., where he will be placed under arrest for the third time and enter a plea before a judge.

Trump was indicted by the grand jury convened by special counsel Jack Smith to investigate Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Prosecutors will outline the four conspiracy and obstruction counts Trump faces and a judge will set bail conditions in the latest criminal case before the former president, weeks after he was charged with retaining national defence information.

The judge will also set out a schedule for pretrial motions and discovery. Both sides are likely later to file motions seeking to shape what evidence and legal arguments will be permitted at the eventual trial, which could be many months away.

Trump has been charged with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States “by using dishonesty, fraud and deceit to obstruct the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election”; conspiracy to impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding; a conspiracy against the right to vote and to have that vote counted; and obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct and impede, the certification of the electoral vote.

Members of the grand jury met at the courthouse earlier yesterday. The members left around 2 p.m., according to NBC News report.

Five of the six alleged co-conspirators, based on details provided in transcripts of testimony to the Jan. 6 Committee and other records, appear to be: longtime Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani; lawyer John Eastman, who helped architect the “fake electors scheme”; attorney Sidney Powell, who helped lead Trump’s post-campaign legal efforts; former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, whom Trump considered making his attorney general; and Kenneth Chesebro, another attorney pushing the “fake electors scheme.” It is not clear who co-conspirator 6 is.

Trump announced on July 18 that he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith notifying him he was the target of a grand jury examining the Jan. 6 riot and the 2020 election.

USA TODAY reports that the former president was previously indicted in a federal case related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Prior to that, a Manhattan grand jury in New York indicted him for allegedly falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments made to two women. He pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Prosecutors in Georgia are also eyeing a potential indictment over his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election outcome. The decision in the case could come by Sept. 1.

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President Bola Tinubu has transmitted the second batch of 19 ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation.

It is recalled that the president had transmitted an earlier list to the upper legislative chamber in compliance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

The additional list is below.

AHMED TIJJANI

BOSUN TIJJANI

DR MARYAM SHETTI

ISHAK SALAKO

TUNJI ALAUSA

TANKO SUNUNU

ADEGBOYEGA OYETOLA

ATIKU BAGUDU

BELLO MATAWALLE

IBRAHIM GEIDAM

SIMON BAKO LALONG

LOLA ADEJO

SHUAIBU ABUBAKAR

TAHIR MAMMAN

ALIYU SABI

ALKALI AHMED

HEINEKEN LOKPOBIRI

UBA MAIGARI

ZEPHANIAH JISSALO

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The quest by former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President to become the next Edo State Governor under the umbrella of the resurgent Labour Party has received a major boost as former Nigeria’s Minister Oby Ezekwesili and fiery good governance advocate Aisha Yesufu hailed the move.

In a tweet seen by CITY LAWYER, Ezekwesili, who is increasingly viewed as the ‘Conscience of the Nation,’ said that she was “super delighted” about Akpata’s decision to throw his hat into the ring.

Tweeting via her verified Twitter handle, Ezekwesili wrote: “I am super delighted to read this @OlumideAkpata ??????????. Thanks for your exemplary step of taking up party membership. We need millions of citizens like you to do the same. We must rebalance the configuration of our politics to achieve Good Governance. Kudos!”✍?✍?

On her part, Yesufu wrote: “Fantastic News! This politics ehn, all of us go gather do am. We can no longer afford to leave politics to charlatans that continuously degrade our lives. Good governance comes from politics so political participation is critical. We will clean it up.”

Popular Nollywood actress Kate Amaka Henshaw also lauded Akpata for the decision with approving emojis as follows: ??????

One Adesuwa Omonuwa tweeted: “Congratulations. I wish you the very best. You excelled as NBA President. I trust you will excel in this as well.”

Clarifying the trending news, Akpata tweeted: “Yes…I joined the @labourparty_ng in March this year and on Sunday I attended my first Ward Meeting at Oredo Ward 6, in Benin-City, where I was formally introduced to members of the Ward and presented with my Party membership card.

“This was a major step for me and not one that I took lightly…but I simply got tired of complaining about Nigeria every day and bemoaning her fate and I decided to take the plunge and to try to be part of the solution rather than agonising continually over the problem.

“This, for me, is the start of a very important journey, and it is my prayer that I arrive safely at my destination. #Nigeria #Edo #LP #ForwardEver #ChangeIsIndeedPOssible #BeTheChangeYouWantToSee.”

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More lawyers have penned tributes to deceased Supreme Court jurist, Justice Chima Centus Nweze. Among those who sent in tributes to CITY LAWYER are chartered arbitrator, Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama SAN; Hon. Mela Audu Nunghe SAN, and a mentee and close confidant of the foremost jurist, Mr. Chimezie Obi.

TRIBUTE BY CHIEF J-K GADZAMA, OFR, MFR, SAN ON THE DEMISE OF AN OUTSTANDING SCHOLAR AND JURIST, LATE HON JUSTICE CHIMA CENTUS NWEZE JSC

I woke up to the shocking and sad news of the demise of my Lord, Hon. Justice Chima Centus Nweze JSC. May I use this medium to express my deepest condolences and sympathies to the family, friends, colleagues and well wishers of His Lordship. I pray that God will comfort and grant us all the fortitude to bear this eminently painful loss of an icon of inestimable value.

An iconic teacher, member of the bar and the bench, His Lordship has, during his lifetime, made great impacts to the development of the legal profession and humanity. I am confident that his legacies will not be forgotten even for generations yet to come. As we all know, a life wonderfully lived deserves to be celebrated.

I recall that His Lordship delivered a keynote address at the 8th Annual Lecture of J-K Gadzama LLP on Friday 6th November, 2015. The event also doubled as the November monthly meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association Abuja Branch (Unity Bar). I am certain that all who were in attendance and who listened to my Lord’s keynote address on that day can testify of his industry and passion for our legal system.

I celebrate His Lordship and thank the Almighty God for making it possible for me to have witnessed his unique and exemplary lifetime. I am confident that we can find solace in the fact that His Lordship lived a fulfilled life, worthy of emulation. During his lifetime, His Lordship was an epitome of integrity and diligence and was revered by all and sundry as he stood out impeccably for the cause of Justice.

I pray that the Almighty God will grant him eternal rest.

Adieu, my Lord. Till we meet again at the feet of the Master.

TRIBUTE ON THE PASSING ON TO GLORY OF MY LORD HON JUSTICE CHIME CLETUS NWEZE, JSC, FCI Arb. UK.

The demise of my lord, Hon. Justice C. C .Nweze, JSC , FCI Arb. UK. has very hard hit not only the Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) but the entire fabric of the judiciary , legal community in Nigeria and indeed globally , leaving many of his admirers in utter shock.

He was quintessential in academia, a multi- lingual Orator, lecturer, private practitioner , the Chairman , BOT of my own set NLS84, amiable , hardworking, brilliant and humorous yet very firm to his judicial oath.

Oh ! , what a rare breed of his generation ; we surely will miss his unequaled contributions especially in the law of evidence and jurisprudence.

We of the NLS84 set are proud of him in many respects especially as he stood out as the very first amongst us to make it to the Apex Court at the earliest opportunity.

May the God of sufficient grace continue to comfort & strengthen his wife, entire family, the Bar & Bench and grant in His infinite mercy the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss, Amen.?

Hon. Mela Audu Nunghe, SAN MCIArb. UK
(Magayaki Tangale)

OH CC NWEZE, MY MENTOR

A man celebrated and revered.
You loved the legal profession.
You had lofty dreams.
In your study one day
While you were still a HC judge of Enugu State,
I brought you a research work you commissioned me to carry out and as we were discussing, you told me your dream beyond the Supreme Court – your ultimate aim to become a judge of the ICJ.
I tucked it in, and we moved.
When you were elevated to CA, you offered me to come serve as your legal aide, but fate took me elsewhere in 2009.
I politely declined because Abuja had happened to me then.
(Today, I recall that decision with mixed feelings).
You went to Ilorin Divison of the Court of Appeal and moved on from there until you were elevated to the Supreme Court.
I saw your dream coming close.
You became a cynosure and attracted attention to yourself when you gave a dissenting judgement in the Imo State governorship case.
Nigerians celebrated you for standing up to justice in the face of bullying and intimidation.
When you gave a decision in the case of Lawan, Your name was on that judgement, but it never represented the CC Nweze we know. What happened was to the knowledge of a few people. You died with it.
Nigeria did not happen to you; they happened Nigeria on you in a very harsh environment.
Your integrity and your reputation died with you.
You didn’t attain your ultimate career goal, but you got so close.
When the opportunity came for Nigeria to send a judge to ICC, it went to a former FCT Chief judge, Ishaq Bello.
He applied for the job but couldn’t land it.
Just maybe, if Nigeria looked your way, you could possibly have landed that job, and they wouldn’t have tainted your reputation.

When Enugu State government named the State Customary Court of Appeal Building Complex after you, it was in recognition of your sterling achievements and contributions towards the development of justice delivery in Enugu State.
I cried silently and solemnly that you lived shortly.
But I’m glad that you left a long legacy.
To your wife, Ugonne and the kids, please take heart and be proud that you had a man who bore the torch of his people and shone like a million sparkling golden stars.

Chimezie Obi.

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