•Condemns silence of members on alleged professional misconduct case
•Wants Justice Odili to preside at today’s Call to Bar
Alex Enumah in Abuja
For the second time in four months, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, to recuse himself as Chairman of the Body of Benchers (BoB), pending the investigation by the BoB of allegation of professional misconduct involving a former staff in his chamber, Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde.
Recall that the immediate past President of the NBA, Mr. Olumide Akpata, had on July 22, urged Olanipekun to step down while investigation of the alleged misconduct against Mrs. Adekunbi Ogunde was being conducted to allow for a fair, unbiased and transparent investigation.
Akpata had also called for the investigation of Olanipekun’s law firm, Wole Olanipekun and Co Chambers, to ascertain the level of its involvement in the professional misconduct of its staff, if there are any at all.
However, the issue was not discussed at the last meeting of the BoB preceding the last call to bar last August.
But barely 48 hours to the December call to bar, incumbent President of NBA, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, has again brought the issue to the fore with a letter written to Olanipekun, calling on him to step aside and allow the Vice Chairman of the BoB, former Supreme Court Justice, Mary Peter-Odili (rtd) to preside at Tuesday’s event.
The letter dated December 4, 2022 read in part, “Mr. Chairman, I did not mince words about the devastating effect of that email on our noble profession of law and by virtue of the strategic position of this Body in showcasing the crème-de-la-crème of the legal profession in Nigeria, this Body must acquit itself of any complicity, albeit after the fact, in any act of professional misconduct.”
Maikyau added that going by the circumstances and the need for an urgent remedial action, “I adopt the letter by my immediate predecessor-in-office dated July 22, 2022 and call for its immediate consideration.
“I also humbly call on the Chairman to immediately yield to the Vice Chairman of this Body – Hon. Justice Mary Peter-Odili, JSC, Rtd., to preside over the Call to Bar Ceremony scheduled for 6 and 7 December 2022.
“We owe the younger generation of not only lawyers but Nigerians honest and sincere mentorship. To allow the status quo to remain in spite the colossal damage that has been done to the conscience of this nation – the legal profession, is to abdicate our responsibility to the nation.”
According to Maikyau, the call for recusal was predicated on the need to salvage the body and by extension the judiciary which has been in a bad light since the revelation of an email written by Ogunde.
The lawyer in her email to an oil firm, Saipem Nigeria, introduced herself as a Partner leading the oil & gas practice area in Wole Olanipekun & Co.
The said email read, “I am writing specifically in relation to the ongoing USD130 million case at the Rivers State High Court brought by the Rivers State Government against Saipem SPA, Saipem Nigeria, and others.
“I believe that, you need a more influential lawyer/law firm to prevent a potential huge pay out to the Rivers State Government and without a doubt, I believe that my law firm, Wole Olanipekun & Co., can help in this regard.”
While stating that Wole Olanipekun & Co., “is the leading litigation firm that has helped other multinationals in sensitive, highly political matters”, she added that “the presence of our lead partner, Chief Olanipekun SAN, in the matter will significantly switch things in favour of Saipem.”
According to her, the law firm has also helped other multinationals, such as in the famous cases of MTN tax dispute, Shell Petroleum, Equinor (former Statoil) dispute etc., avoid huge pay outs in more complex, sensitive and highly-political matters.
“We are aware that another law firm is currently in the matter but you will agree that highly-sensitive and political matters require more influence. We are happy to work with the current lawyers to achieve the desired results.
“I hope that you consider this so as to help Saipem avoid a huge pay out in claims and I am happy to set up a meeting to discuss further,” she added.
Maikyau claimed that the said email has brutally hurt the legal profession; made a caricature of the Nigerian court system and brought the entire legal profession to abject disrepute.
“It is disgusting! That this lie was told and allowed to be fed to Nigerians is the greatest assault on our collective psyche. Why then do we go to court if this was true? Of course, this is not who we are, but we would appear to celebrate the content of the email by our silence and the insistence by the Chairman to continue to preside over the affairs of this Body without any remorse whatsoever over the embarrassment which the entire legal profession is subjected to on account of the content of that email”, he said.
According to the NBA president, there are many voices that should have been heard on the matter but were not heard.
He said given the important critical nature of the issue to the continued relevance of the Bar the silence of these leading lights in the profession, who wield enormous amount of influence not only amongst the members of the legal profession but also the Nigerian public at large, is already hurting the profession and ditto the Nigerian public.
Maikyau stressed that whatever their views are on the matter is not that important, “they simply owe the profession and the Nigerian public a duty to not only wade into the matter, but also be seen to have done so. As I stated earlier, the ultimate outcome will either make or mar the legal profession in Nigeria”, he said.
He claimed that since his assumption of office as President of the NBA, he has been expressing concerns over the negative impact of the email by Ogunde (as with so many other actions of our colleagues), on the legal profession in Nigeria.
“I specifically referred to the email and the matters arising therefrom and said, it is important to emphasise that how these matters are eventually resolved by the LPDC and the court, will go a long way in determining the continued relevance of the Bar, the confidence in which the Nigerian people will hold the legal profession and the eventual freedom which Nigeria will or will not enjoy.
“Put differently, the resolution of these matters one way or the other, will determine whether members of the legal profession in Nigeria either individually or through the instrumentality of the NBA, will be in position to provide the required leadership for the recovery, reformation and repositioning of Nigeria, to bring about the freedom we all need”, he said.
The NBA president observed that Olanipekun’s recusal alone would not address the negative perception already created by the content of the email. He said, “A collective action of this body is absolutely necessary and imperative in letting Nigerians know that the members of this body are not who the email says they are, and no one can do to this body what the email suggested the chairman does and can do.”
He accordingly urged the chairman to recuse himself if only to show some respect for what the body stands for.
“Mr. Chairman, if those who preceded us in this profession had tolerated any form of assault on the legal profession, there would not have been one to which we belong today.
“Nigerians look up to the legal profession and this body cannot afford to be silent. To do so is to betray the confidence which Nigerians have in the legal profession,” he added.
