OLANIPEKUN RECUSAL: ‘IS NBA PLAYING TO GALLERY?’ ASKS CHIJIOKE OKOLI

THE NBA’S PUBLIC DEMAND OF RECUSAL OF CHIEF OLANIPEKUN, SAN AS CHAIR BODY OF BENCHERS PENDING CONCLUSION OF INVESTIGATION AGAINST A COLLEAGUE IN HIS CHAMBERS LEAVES MUCH TO BE DESIRED: STATEMENT BY CHIJIOKE OKOLI, SAN

1. It is an understatement that these are not the best of times for our country in general, the legal profession inclusive. The very unfortunate incident involving a junior colleague in what is arguably the leading litigation law firm in the country, Wole Olanipekun & Co., has arrested the attention of the Nigerian Bar Association and many of its members, with several disconcerting consequences for the reasonable and fair-minded observers and stakeholders.

2. It is against the foregoing backdrop that one was astounded to read in the social and other media the unfortunate ethnicization of the distressing developments by Silk, Chief Yomi Aliu, SAN. He accused the N.B.A. President/leadership of tribalism for their call for the recusal of Chief Olanipekun from the Body of Benchers pending the investigation of his said junior colleague for possible professional misconduct. The needless hysteria which underpins Chief Aliu’s position notwithstanding, there are some genuine concerns over the nature and manner of the N.B.A.’s call. But more on that later.

3. Chief Aliu obviously did not think through his rushed defence of Chief Olanipekun, and essentially calling on South-West lawyers to rise to the defence of “their Leader”. He unwittingly seeks to diminish the esteemed Bar Leader whose leadership constituency is way beyond the South-West, but is rather unquestionably national. Chief Olanipekun is a Leader amongst leaders of the Nigerian Bar, with mentees of all categories in all nooks and crannies of the country ready to stand up to his defence if occasion calls for it. Chief Aliu may therefore need to reconsider his unhelpful and incendiary statement with a view to a retraction of same.

4. Now, lawyers acknowledge as article of faith that oftentimes procedure is as important as the substantive, indeed that there is frequently a coalescence of both categories. It is in the foregoing light that the manner of NBA’s communication with Chief Olanipekun leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It is not too much to expect that if the NBA leadership felt that he should recuse himself from the Body of Benchers then the President should have met with and intimated him accordingly so that he could do so voluntarily. Even if he was approached as suggested but did not immediately see the point, it would still suffice to enlist some ranking practitioners and judicial officers to reiterate the message, and only after which recourse to letter writing could be justified.

5. As distasteful as the rush to write a letter to Chief Olanipekun was, even worse was the fact of it gracing the social media hardly before the ink on it had dried. For all its presumed good intentions of maintaining rules and order in the profession, this action unfortunately leaves the NBA leadership open to questions as to its motives, with complaints, by no means outlandish in the circumstances, of playing to the gallery and seeking to maximize Chief Olanipekun’s embarrassment. The fact that he apparently had not even been served with the letter before its release for the titillation of netizens and consumers of the social media is most unfortunate and detracts from the sobriety required in such delicate circumstances.

6. Finally, the present insistence that Chief Olanipekun deserved better, i.e. a more decorous engagement, from the NBA leadership is in no way suggesting the dismissal of the principle of equality before the law. However, an unnuanced application of the law almost invariably leaves it appearing crude and harsh; which is why, for example, we do not complain when a lawyer, especially a ranking one, who finds himself in the dock is given bail on self-recognizance. There is perhaps need for the reminder that the history of NBA and its pantheon of heroes extend well beyond the past one decade or couple of years. Chief Olanipekun’s place in that pantheon is beyond any contest if we remember his courageous and exemplary leadership of the NBA during the challenging times of the Obasanjo Presidency which frequently stretched the rule of law to the breaking point, with history recording Chief Olanipekun as NBA President firmly leading the defence line, leading to such feats as getting the Executive to surrender the Chief Justice’s official residence which it had seized for the Vice President’s occupation.

7. It is sincerely hoped, without suggesting that the Association become a ‘timorous soul’, that henceforth the NBA leadership appreciates the need for sobriety in its engagement in sensitive matters and that there are times and circumstances when discretion is the better part of valour.

Signed:
Chijioke Okoli, SAN

To join our Telegram platform, please click here 

COPYRIGHT 2022 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag. To ADVERTISE in CITY LAWYER, please email citylawyermag@gmail.com or call 08138380083. 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.

INVESTIGATION: HOW NBA’S RECUSAL LETTER TO OLANIPEKUN WAS ‘LEAKED’

The letter by Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Mr. Olumide Akpata to the Chairman of Body of Benchers (BoB), Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN asking him to recuse himself from the seat was not leaked to the public, CITY LAWYER can authoritatively report.

Meanwhile, an impeccable source at the NBA HOUSE told CITY LAWYER that the recusal letter was today emailed to all BoB members by the NBA.

It is recalled that Olanipekun had in an interview with a national daily protested that he was not officially issued with a copy of the letter even though it had been trending on social media.

But an unimpeachable source at NBA HOUSE told CITY LAWYER that an attempt was made last Friday to deliver a copy of the letter to Olanipekun through the Body of Benchers office in Abuja but the office had closed before the courier got there.

According to the source, on the presumption that the recusal letter had been delivered to the BoB Office, the letter was posted on the National Officers’ WhatsApp platform, adding that in line with the clamour by NBA Branch Chairmen to be carried along in the association’s affairs, the letter was also posted on the branch chairmen’s WhatsApp forum. CITY LAWYER gathered that it was from one of these platforms that the letter got into the social media.

The source said it was “regrettable” that the letter went viral before a copy was delivered to the BoB chieftain, but added: “Let it be clear that there was no intention to keep the letter private in the long run.”

The source also dismissed the charge of the alleged leakage being propelled by ulterior motive, saying: “There is nothing ulterior about what the President did. The only motive is that everyone should be above board, do the right thing. It is all about perception. You will recall that two members of the Body of Benchers are due for replacement, given that two members resigned alongside the Chairman who has been replaced. Apparently, the BoB Chairman will be highly influential in the replacement process. If we want to maintain standards, stepping aside remains the desirable standard.”

CITY LAWYER had in an exclusive report noted the petition by NBA to the LPDC where it not only demanded sanctions against Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde, a Partner in Wole Olanipekun & Co, for alleged solicitation of briefs from Saipem SPA, but invited the Committee to “consider whether the Partners of the Firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co. are not liable to be disciplined by this august body seeing that the Respondent has the ostensible authority to act as a Partner and indeed acted for and on behalf of the said Firm.” Olanipekun is the Founding Partner of the law firm. The LPDC is a committee of the Body of Benchers.

In a letter personally signed by Akpata following the filing of the petition, NBA had urged Olanipekun “to recuse yourself from chairmanship of the BOB henceforth and to allow for the emplacement of an interim leadership of the BOB, in order to enable the LPDC carry out this particular assignment, amongst others, without coming under an undue suspicion of impartiality.”

But Olanipekun, a former NBA President, had expressed anger against the association for allegedly making its demand public without communicating the recusal letter to him, saying it appeared there was an ulterior motive behind the action. His words: “As we talk, I am yet to get a copy of the letter. People have been calling me but I can’t react to a document that I have not seen.”

In the letter to Olanipekun dated July 22, 2022 and titled “RE: PETITION AGAINST MS. ADEKUNBI OGUNDE BY THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION FOR ALLEGED PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT,” the NBA stated that it had petitioned the LPDC to penalize Ogunde “for engaging in conduct incompatible with her status as a legal practitioner and in flagrant disregard of our Rules of Professional Conduct which both the NBA and the Body of Benchers (BOB) are by their respective mandates bound to enforce as part of the disciplinary objectives of the legal profession. (Please find enclosed the Petition dated 19 July 2022).

To join our Telegram platform, please click here 

COPYRIGHT 2022 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag. To ADVERTISE in CITY LAWYER, please email citylawyermag@gmail.com or call 08138380083. 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.

LPDC PROBE: OLANIPEKUN SPEAKS ON NBA’S QUIT NOTICE

The Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN (SAN) has expressed anger over the demand by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for him to step aside due to a petition to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) concerning his law firm.

CITY LAWYER had in an exclusive report noted the petition by NBA to the LPDC where it not only demanded sanctions against Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde, a Partner in Wole Olanipekun & Co, for alleged solicitation of briefs from Saipem SPA, but invited the Committee to “consider whether the Partners of the Firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co. are not liable to be disciplined by this august body seeing that the Respondent has the ostensible authority to act as a Partner and indeed acted for and on behalf of the said Firm.” Olanipekun is the Founding Partner of the law firm. The LPDC is a committee of the Body of Benchers.

Olanipekun told SUNDAY VANGUARD that he would not understand why NBA President, Mr. Olumide Akpata would write him a letter requesting him to step down as the Body of Benchers and circulate the letter on social media without serving him a copy more than 24 hours after.

According to the report, Olanipekun, a former President of the NBA, said it appeared there was an ulterior motive behind the action of the NBA President.

His words: “As we talk, I am yet to get a copy of the letter. People have been calling me but I can’t react to a document that I have not seen.”

In a statement personally signed by Akpata, NBA had urged Olanipekun “to recuse yourself from chairmanship of the BOB henceforth and to allow for the emplacement of an interim leadership of the BOB, in order to enable the LPDC carry out this particular assignment, amongst others, without coming under an undue suspicion of impartiality.”

In the letter to Olanipekun dated July 22, 2022 and titled “RE: PETITION AGAINST MS. ADEKUNBI OGUNDE BY THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION FOR ALLEGED PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT,” the NBA stated that it had petitioned the LPDC to penalize Ogunde “for engaging in conduct incompatible with her status as a legal practitioner and in flagrant disregard of our Rules of Professional Conduct which both the NBA and the Body of Benchers (BOB) are by their respective mandates bound to enforce as part of the disciplinary objectives of the legal profession. (Please find enclosed the Petition dated 19 July 2022).

“Ms. Ogunde, the subject of the Petition, as it turns out, is a Partner at the Law Firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co. where you are a Founding Partner and remain involved in the day-to-day running of the Firm. This dynamic creates an undeniable shared and intertwined professional relationship between your goodself and the said Ms. Ogunde. Indeed, in the said Petition, we have also asked the LPDC to “…consider whether the Partners of the Firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co. are not liable to be disciplined by this august body seeing that the Respondent has the ostensible authority to act as a Partner and indeed acted for and on behalf of the said Firm.

“As you know, the LPDC is a Standing Committee of the BOB whose processes come under the supervision of the Chairman of the BOB – an office which you currently occupy.

“Against the backdrop of your partnership relationship with Ms. Ogunde, vis-a-vis the prosecution of the petition by the LPDC, it is clear, albeit unfortunate, that you have been put in a situation where your continued occupancy of the office during this period would conflict, or be reasonably interpreted to conflict, with or influence the processes of the LPDC, by fair-minded observers and right thinking members of the public, both within and outside our profession. By reason of your close professional ties and involvement with Ms. Ogunde, it would be an infraction of the salutary principles of natural justice for the said Petition to be heard by the LPDC while you continue as Chairman of the BOB, of which the LPDC is a committee.”

Quoting Lord Denning, Akpata noted that justice must be rooted in confidence and that confidence is destroyed when right-minded people go away thinking that the Judge is biased, adding: “Consequent upon the above, I am constrained to invite you to recuse yourself from chairmanship of the BOB henceforth and to allow for the emplacement of an interim leadership of the BOB, in order to enable the LPDC carry out this particular assignment, amongst others, without coming under an undue suspicion of impartiality.

“As a beacon of Rule of Law and due process, the NBA must continue to demonstrate that it is committed to the vision of its founding fathers, especially in its internal affairs. This situation, therefore, puts our foundational ethos as an Association on the line, and I trust that as a former President of the NBA and a very respected senior member of the Bar, you will take the honourable path of stepping-aside in the interest of justice, fairness, and posterity.

“I am pained that I have to make this call, but in the circumstance, it is in the best interest of our Association and of the legal profession in Nigeria.”

To join our Telegram platform, please click here 

COPYRIGHT 2022 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag. To ADVERTISE in CITY LAWYER, please email citylawyermag@gmail.com or call 08138380083. 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.