Photo news: FIDA Abuja chair celebrates brother on his Call to Bar
Photo news: Awomolo SAN welcomes son into the legal profession
A son of Asiwaju A.S. Awomolo, (SAN) and his wife Chief Mrs. Victoria Awomolo, (SAN), Babatunde Lloyd Awomolo was among the over 1500 new wigs that recently joined the Nigerian bar.
Below are some photographs of the event.
Akpata says no stone will remain unturned as Inibehe Effiong’s incarceration draws more outrage
By Lillian Okenwa
As indignation continues to mount against the incarceration of rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Olumide Akpata has assured that the NBA will “leave no stone unturned” in securing his release.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Consortium on Civic Space and other rights groups are still pressing for Effiong’s immediate release from prison.
“I have received positive feedback from the NBA 1st Vice President Mr. John Aikpokpo Martins regarding our member, Inibehe Effiong who was incarcerated this week on allegations of contempt of court, “said Akpata.
He further confided: “As I advised on Thursday, the NBA 1st Vice President was instructed to travel to Akwa Ibom State and leave no stone unturned in ensuring the release of Mr. Effiong. Mr. Aikpokpo Martins visited Inibehe at the Ikot Ekpene Correctional Centre in the company of the Chairman (NBA) Uyo Branch and has assured me that Inibehe is in good spirits. He has my mandate to remain in Akwa Ibom State and continue to work toward securing Mr Effiong’s release.”
On Wednesday, 27 July, the Chief Judge (CJ) of Akwa Ibom State, Hon. Justice Ekaette Obot, sent Effiong to one month in prison for raising safety concerns over the presence of armed mobile policemen in court.
According to a former president of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) Ayo Obe: “If the learned CJ was not bringing the grievance of previous encounters and the pending application that she recuses herself to the proceedings, those openly armed police would not have been inside the court. It seems to me that she was not merely anticipating trouble, she intended to find it. Unfortunately, Counsel pre-empted her by complying with the order to proceed with the witness (despite the pending prayer for her recusal) so another casus belli had to be found…. Let me add the frivolity that GOK (Ajayi, SAN) often puts his hand in his pocket when examining a witness. In the days when I used to sew and made a tailored skirt from our grey striped fabric, I made sure to include pockets so that I could do the same…” One can only imagine what would happen to a lawyer who attempted this in Justice Ekaette Obot’s court.
The embattled lawyer was in court to defend Leo Ekpenyong, a lawyer, in a libel suit filed by Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State.
In a statement on Sunday, the Civil Society Consortium on Civic Space accused the judge of taking sides with the state governor. “It is disturbing that the chief judge of the state will descend to the arena of conflict and take sides with the governor in a matter that she ought to be an impartial judge,” the statement reads.
Similarly, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) in a tweet, asked Governor Udom to order the release of the unlawfully detained lawyer.
“Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel must immediately and unconditionally release lawyer Inibehe Effiong, who has reportedly been sent to Uyo prison while in Court representing his client against the governor.” the group said, adding; “We will see in court if Effiong is not immediately released.”
In the same vein, African Action Congress, (AAC) and the Citizens Solutions Network, demanded that disciplinary action be taken against Justice Obot for what it described as reckless abuse of judicial authority and desecration of what ought to be the hallowed temple of justice.
Additionally, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has vowed to secure the release of AAC’s National Legal Adviser, Inibehe Effiong. Reacting to the incarceration, Falana maintained that he (Effiong) did not commit any offence to warrant his imprisonment, and assured that “we shall secure his release.”
Falana further disclosed that: “In 1986, Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN was convicted for contempt in facie curiae and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment by Justice Ligali Ayorinde even though the maximum penalty is 3 months! The Court of Appeal freed him.
“In 1991, Justice Olugbani wanted to jail me for contempt ex facie curiae. The Court of Appeal set aside the contempt proceedings.
“Mr. Effiong Inibebe filed an application praying the Chief Judge to recuse herself. The motion has not been heard. But the CJ has sent him to jail to purge himself of contempt!
“In Abiola v FRN the appellant asked the Chief Justice and 8 other Justices of the Supreme Court to recuse themselves from hearing his appeal. The Justices granted the prayer without convicting Abiola’s lawyer, the late Chief GOK Ajayi SAN.”
“Likewise, Olukayode Ajulo described Effiong’s imprisonment as an abuse of judicial authority. Ajulo in a statement said, “The presiding judge, with respect, cannot be a judge in her case and our judges have been warned when faced with cases of contempt to be cautious in dealing with such cases.
“The Court of Appeal in the case of OBIUKWU v UGWUERUCHUKWU & ORS (2019) LPELR-46616(CA) has this to say to such situation; “Courts have always been admonished to be circumspect while handling contempt proceedings…
“Contempt of Court was not meant to be wielded by the Court as an instrument of intimidation, or a club of offence, to harass and subjugate and hew down litigants, lawyers and persons within the precincts of the Court, or outside. Contempt is not meant to be used as a weapon or means of showing strength and power by the Judge.
However, Adam Olori-Aje of Terseley Chambers, Abuja, and the Secretary-General, Muslim Lawyers Association of Nigeria (MULAN) touched on some more disturbing issues in the legal profession.
“Imagine if NBA national election is every year, this would no doubt keep the momentum of display of sense of concern and welfare by our aspirants and candidates frequently. Can you imagine the rate at which the show of love and kindness on the part of those that contested elections just vanished into the thin air? The son of our President of the Court of Appeal died in his sleep some days ago, all our platforms have maintained dead silence on it. Different headlines would have been flying around. A Magistrate was bulldozed out of the police station in Ikorodu on official assignment, maybe one or two headlines found it worthy of reportage. I just hope that we as lawyers have not completely imbibed the same practice of politicians we criticised and vilified always in our own microcosm political life too. That won’t be good enough though. Let’s keep the momentum high, not necessarily during the electioneering campaign alone…”
It is time to impeach Muhammadu Buhari and remove him from office
By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu
This past week education came to a halt in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It began with the order by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on 25 July closing down all six Federal Government Colleges (better known as Unity Schools) in the FCT while the students were in the middle of their end of year examinations. The reason for this order, according to the Minister was “a security breach on Sheda and Lambata villages, suburbs of Kwali Area Council which also threatened FGC Kwali.” He provided no details as to the nature or extent of the “security breach”.
In a separate announcement issued on the same day, the Education Secretariat of the FCT summarily informed “parents and guardians that the 2021/2022 academic calendar for FCT schools will come to an end on Wednesday, July 27th, 2022.” They did not much care to provide any justification for this measure. The assumption that the reason for the closure of all schools in the FCT was the same as that cited by the Minister of Education when he closed down the Unity Schools, does not necessarily explain the two more days of grace given by the FCT Administration to all the other schools in the FCT.
In the same week, the terrorists also forced Veritas University, a tertiary institution established by the Catholic Church in the FCT, to close down indefinitely.
On the same day that the Minister shuttered the Unity Schools in the FCT, by the way, it emerged that terrorists had killed an officer and two men of the elite Brigade of Guards of the Nigerian Army who were “reportedly ambushed after they visited the Nigeria Law School in Bwari following a distressed (sic) call from the authorities of the school.” According to the Daily Trust, “the school management was said to have alerted that terrorists had dropped a letter indicating an imminent attack on the school.”
These were not the only soldiers killed in the FCT during the week. The day after the FCT Administration shut down all schools in the Federal Capital, around 28 July, armed terrorists reportedly attacked another military unit near Zuma Rock on the border between the FCT and Niger State, killing at least two soldiers in an attack which “lasted for almost one hour” during which no one in the command structure could mobilise assistance or reinforcements for the besieged soldiers.
This latest cascade of insecurity in Nigeria’s Federal Capital began with the attack on the Kuje Medium Security Prison in the capital city on 5 July, in which the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) killed at least one security personnel and liberated over 900 of the most dangerous terrorists held or convicted by Nigeria in an operation that reportedly lasted over three hours.
Despite being in possession of advance notice of the attack, the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari took no measures to forestall or repel the attack. Instead, it appears they worked hard to encourage it. That is the only way to explain the report that soldiers who on guard around the prison perimeter were inexplicably redeployed away from that duty post less than 24 hours before the attack, a fact which could only have made the attack a lot easier for the perpetrators. No one has explained satisfactorily or at all how terrorism convicts and suspects of the most hardened type managed to end up in a medium security prison, which is what the Kuje prison is.
A few hours after the Kuje prison break, on 6 July, in Dutsinma, Katsina State in north-west Nigeria, a separate band of terrorists attacked General Buhari’s advance team heading to his village to prepare for his arrival for the Eid. On the same day, the police in the state confirmed that “an assistant commissioner of police Aminu Umar and another police officer were killed in a terrorist ambush in Dutsinma the same day.”
The Kuje prison break was the 14th under the watch of President Buhari, without consequences. His first Interior Minister served a full term. The current one remains in position and so does the president. These prison breaks have correlated positively with metastases of insecurity in the states in which they have occurred. Figures from the monitoring group, Nigeria Mourns, clearly demonstrate that the escalation of insecurity in Imo State and south-east Nigeria, for instance, is traceable to the prison break in Owerri, the Imo State capital on 5 April 2021 from which 1,844 dangerous prisoners and detainees escaped.
President Buhari’s response to this deterioration has been to amass Air Miles on an intense scale. The Kuje prison attack occurred exactly two days after President Buhari returned from a down-time visit to Portugal on 3 July. That was his 11th foreign trip in the preceding five months since the end of January, some of them undertaken at less than a whim. During the same period, the security situation in the FCT has gone into a meltdown.
After the Kuje Prison break, General Buhari decided to attend a meeting of his National Security Council on Friday, 8 July. Predictably, the meeting was worse than inconclusive. The president, a worshipful Muslim, needed to observe his Jummat prayers on the day and, thereafter, had a flight to catch to his village for the Eid holidays. None of those could wait. Serious deliberations, it appears, were deferred until the president had concluded his Eid holidays. That was not to be until 21 July, by which date the terrorists recently freed from the Kuje Prison had time to deploy in and around the FCT. As this meeting took place, it appears, the terrorists unfolded a campaign of renewed terror within the territory.
With no sense of shame or irony, two days after terrorists killed three staff of his Guards Brigade; the day after his Minister of Education shut down leading public schools in the FCT because of insecurity, and the day before his FCT Administration shut down all schools in the same FCT, on 26 July, General Buhari flew off to “Monrovia, Liberia to, among other things, deliver an address bordering on West Africa’s security.”
When Boko Haram abducted 276 students of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok, in Borno State on 14 April, 2014, it was novel, and unheard of. The incident triggered a high level presidential panel led by a former head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI), a Safe Schools Initiative, and an international campaign to #BringBackOurGirls. The All Progressives Congress (APC) created in the same year and led by Muhammadu Buhari, launched itself onto the political scene by calling on the National Assembly to “impeach President Goodluck Jonathan now.” The entire narrative of the Buhari presidential campaign was then configured around the promise that as a retired General he knew how to keep the country safe.
On the eighth anniversary of the Chibok Girls abduction in April 2022, a total of 11,536 schools were closed by insecurity and over 1,500 school children were in captivity, victims of mass abduction. Seven years into his second misadventure in power, Muhammadu Buhari has routinised the mass abduction of school children, democratized insecurity and is now incapable of securing the Federal Capital. The Institute for Security Studies, (ISS) in South Africa now hazards that Nigeria under Buhari is “out of security options” and another article published by Al-Jazeera in the past week said that “Nigeria’s security forces are no longer able to protect themselves, let alone the public.”
At the beginning of the year, General Buhari informed Nigerians that he is tired and could not wait to return to his village. Six months later, in June 2022, he announced that the job of president is “tough” saying “I am eager to go.”
The first job of a president and commander-in-chief is not merely to protect his country; it is, even more, to protect his capital city. Above all, it is to care about his people. It is now clear that as President, Muhammadu Buhari is unable and unwilling to do any of these and is indeed incapable of doing so. In the circumstance, there is no case for him to continue as president. Nigerians should grant him his desire to retire.
The only option left in democratic politics is for the National Assembly to remove him through the process of impeachment. That is their democratic duty under the constitution. The cost of continuing to keep Buhari in office is the destruction of whatever remains of Nigeria. No one, surely not Buhari, is worth the price of the country. It is now time for the National Assembly to fulfill this duty and impeach Muhammadu Buhari as the president of Nigeria.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at [email protected]
Are the challenges of the legal profession in Nigeria self-inflicted?
By Lillian Okenwa
When the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola recently announced that the challenges of the legal profession are self-inflicted, he did not mince words. Delivering a keynote address at the NBA Section on Legal Practice (SLP) 2022 Annual Conference in Asaba, Delta State, the Acting CJN held thus: “In Nigeria, the challenges of the legal profession are self-inflicted. In such situations, the Nigerian Bar Association has a burden to ensure that legal practitioners keep to the ethics of the profession.”
His Lordship’s statement continues to reverberate; particularly in these times when the bar in Nigeria is on the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
Nigerian lawyers are presently divided in their opinion about the Body of Benchers (BoB) attitude in their last meeting towards the letter written by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata. Akpata in the letter requested that the Chairman of the Body of Benchers (BoB), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), recuses himself while a petition for professional misconduct against a Partner in his law firm is being investigated.
Even more troubling is the statement of the BOB Chairman who while addressing newly inducted lawyers days ago, told them to beware of persons who will want to pull them down at the height of their success. Differing views have visited these two separate incidents and others that emerged within this period. Here are some comments from Nigerian legal practitioners.
According to the Law Professor and a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, “This report is a sad reflection on the BoB, with the most profound of respects. It is not about taking sides. For the sake of its credibility, even if the matter was not listed on the agenda, what happened to AOB? So, there were four past NBA presidents, two former Chief Justices, NBA representatives at the meeting, online and in the hall, including the former NBA reps who have become Life Benchers, and not a whimper?
“The issue of service is a distraction. My understanding is that the letter was hand-delivered to the BoB secretary, 150 copies. It was sent to all members also by e-mail. The BoB Secretary reportedly declined to circulate the hard copy to members. So there is no excuse. For four hours the BoB met. This is like Buhari going to Liberia after three members of the Brigade of Guards were killed in Abuja! The fact that this matter was not raised should frighten us all. It really should. Tomorrow, my brother, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, will complain about indiscipline at the Bar. Like seriously real…?!”
NBA 1st Vice President, John Aikpokpo-Martins had his say. “We conveniently forget that all the representatives of the NBA in the BoB are all representatives of the NBA just like the president of the NBA in the BoB. They were sent there by the NBA to represent us. Like I always say, we never send real bar men there. 70% of our representatives in statutory bodies know next to nothing about the interest of the NBA. Anyway, we have done our part and history will be kind to us. I am extremely very proud of my brother, Olumide Akpata, and prouder still that history will record my signature on the petition to the LPDC.”
But Ikeazor Akaraiwe, SAN, a former 1st Vice President of NBA was of the opinion that Akpata should have raised the matter when everyone was silent. “Why would he want other people to raise the matter on his behalf? Is he not the president of the NBA to whom the majority of lawyers gave their mandate? Did he specifically delegate the authority to raise the matter to any other person, and the person did not? Did he not write that letter on the NBA letterhead and in the name of the NBA? In any case, since Olumide was in the meeting, albeit virtually, He should have raised it.”
However, Charles Okeibunor, lawyer and workplace transformation expert differed. “May I respectfully differ? Why would Olumide Raise it? Nemo judex in causa sua is trite. It is our principle. Assuming Olumide is not President. Is it not a personal disgrace to every member of the bar that our learned and revered senior ignores to recuse himself in a matter that affects him? Shouldn’t it be without saying? As a matter of personal integrity, this is what we should do. This is what we expect from every civilization, no less from lawyers.
“In the developed world, I shudder when a mere unfounded accusation precipitates resignation just to maintain integrity. Why should I write a letter, circulate it, and also champion it? Assuming without conceding that he was wrong, shall we say that if a member of the bar wrote that letter, it will take the author’s attendance for it to be raised? Assuming without conceding that he was wrong, shall we say that if a journalist who isn’t a member of the profession raised the concern, it will not be a subject of discussion in the meeting of nobles?
“Why are we called the noble profession? We are not rabble-rousers. We are gentlemen of the highest level of dignity and honour. In the final analysis. There is No blame in this game. It appears the shame is on us all.”
Bringing an interesting perspective to the debate, Akpata noted that this entire debate is ongoing because an influential lawyer is involved. “That is our system, hypocrisy and double standard all the way. “If na one lawyer wey no get Papa, wey no get Mama, they will be shouting, preaching like an archbishop… We play double standard, We like to pontificate, We are hypocrites.”
During the recent Call to Bar ceremony, Olanipekun who saw the letter and call to recuse himself as an affront counselled the new wigs. “Appreciate those amongst you who are doing well rather than trying to pull them down. In other words, do not get enrolled in either a PHD course or School. And by PHD, I mean, Pull him/her down… I pray that in due season when God elevates each and every one of you and you become the cynosure of eyes, may no power principalities or blackmailer be able to bring you down.”
Dismayed at this position, Akaraiwe, SAN said: Your partner wrote a letter to an organisation soliciting them to become clients to your firm, and seducing them with your chairmanship of the Body of Benchers, and in fact advertising you as being above all judges and lawyers in the country.
“Now, the NBA requests you to recuse yourself from leading the BoB, which is the body saddled with the responsibility of disciplining any legal practitioner in Nigeria, until the investigation and disciplinary proceedings proposed to be undertaken against your partner and possibly all other partners of your firm are determined. And you say that the call to recuse yourself amounts to blackmail or pull-him-down syndrome??? Haba!
Curiously, an associate of Chief Olanipekun and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria Yomi Aliyu has brought tribalism into the debate. Chief Aliyu has threatened to mobilise Yoruba lawyers to defend the BoB chair.
Advocating that this indeed is a dreadful mindset, a former Vice Chair of NBA Abuja, Mrs. Ogechi Abu remarked: “For a SAN to drag tribalism into an objective professional matter, then cite a clear case of professional misconduct as an example of victimisation of a tribe is sad. Is anything more disheartening coming from such an exalted rank? What then can possibly be the justification to penalise any lawyer in this jurisdiction???? The show of shame is at the highest level.”
Insisting however that this contentious matter was brought to the public space by Henry Odein Ajumogobia, SAN is gaining traction because ‘big men’ are involved, Damilola Mumuni, a Lagos lawyer told his story.
“In 2019, I sued a lawyer at the Ikorodu Magistrate Court, where I obtained judgement against him in the sum of N450,000 after he had fraudulently represented that he had land to sell to me for farming purposes and he had none to show me or deliver possession.
“My decision to take him to court was because after two years he did nothing. This lawyer did not appear in court and only told me he would not comply with the judgment and would frustrate any attempt to enforce same since he also is a lawyer. On the basis of his threat, I decided to file a petition against him, and till date nothing has been done.
“I involved Lagos branch which is my Branch, Ikorodu Branch; the branch of the lawyer, and now LPDC. At the level of the branches, there was this reluctance to take action, especially in my branch where the claim was that the lawyer is not a member of the branch. The lawyer’s branch was only trying to tell me to settle and all that. The lawyer’s boss pulled his weight and nothing was done.
“Now at the LPDC level, we have since joined issues but nothing has been heard. I ordinarily believe that in this age of technological advancement, we should be more proactive in addressing issues of this nature and not wait until a big fish is caught. Now about three years after my judgement and almost two years after filing at the LPDC, this lawyer is walking freely without any consequence and I’m made to look like a fool for trusting the system.”
All said, the question is — Are the challenges of the legal profession in Nigeria self-inflicted? Answers are still awaited.
His continued stay in office will come at a cost to the integrity of our profession – JRP
Justice Reform Project (JRP), a coalition of Nigerians across the legal profession, civil society and the general public who are stakeholders in a justice system have joined the call for Chief ‘Wole Olanipekun (SAN) to step down from his position as Chairman of the Body of Benchers.
JRP holds that the “learned silk’s continued stay in office is, consequently, an indiscretion which will come at a cost to the integrity of our profession.”
Here is the full text of their statement titled: A stand for the integrity of the Nigerian Legal Profession
In the past week, we observed the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) take courageous steps to uphold ethical standards in the Nigerian legal profession. These steps have been met with commendation by a majority of the bar and, although disappointing, a minority dissent in a matter of significant public interest is to be expected, even in the most clear-cut circumstances. These dissents are, however, indicative of the rot in our profession which prompted the founding of the Justice Reform Project (JRP) and which necessitates this public statement.
The facts underlying the conduct of the primary actor, Ms Adekunbi Ogunde are undisputed. The content of her offending email is deeply damaging, insinuating that Chief ‘Wole Olanipekun SAN is capable of unduly procuring a judgment in favour of his client. Ms Kunbi herself has admitted that this may be unprofessional conduct but feigns ignorance of the Rules. No doubt, it is for the LPDC to reach a final verdict on culpability and the extent of any mitigating circumstances. The circumstances underlying this breach, however, have far-reaching ethical implications for the leadership of the bar and, in particular, the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
That the learned silk is a leader of the bar is undisputed, his position as Chairman of the Body of Benchers merely confirms it. Leadership commands respect but is also a burden, a responsibility. It requires exemplary conduct, and every action/inaction by a leader of the bar sets an example for years to come. That a person of his standing is embroiled in circumstances, which indicate less than optimal standards of conduct, is far from ideal. These are not frivolous allegations; they are comments which warrant investigation. In the face of public allegations of egregious professional misconduct affecting his practice, his responsibility as a leader of the bar imposes an obligation on him to place the integrity of the profession first.
JRP takes the position that the learned silk ought to step down from his position as Chairman of the Body of Benchers to enable investigations to be concluded with the requisite confidence. This should have predated the steps taken by the NBA and subsequent public commentary. Such an action on his part would not be a mark of culpability, it would be a matter of responsibility and honour. In his exalted position, he should ordinarily be instigating such a complaint.
JRP notes that the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) is a committee of the Body of Benchers, and even though it is a separate and independent arm of the Body of Benchers, members of the LPDC are nominated and appointed by the Body of Benchers, usually by the Chairman. The learned silk’s continued stay in office is, consequently, an indiscretion which will come at a cost to the integrity of our profession. The tribal sentiments being stoked by senior members of the bar are not helpful. Neither are allegations of witch-hunting or ulterior motives.
On a related note, the innuendos in the learned silk’s speech at the Call to Bar ceremony, suggesting that opposing views were indicative of a ‘pulling down syndrome’, can only reinforce the call for his resignation, even though a formal complaint against him has not been lodged.
The NBA, and its leadership, must be commended for taking a bold step in upholding the standards of our profession, even in circumstances involving a man who commands an enormous amount of respect from the entire profession. This is the true test of our will to revive our dying profession and, all of us, including the learned silk, have a responsibility to put the profession first in circumstances like this.
Finally, we recognize commentary which suggests that the NBA faltered by not contacting the learned silk informally beforehand. While comments on whether this show of courtesy was necessary will remain divisive given their cultural rather than legal underpinnings, it is important not to lose sight of the issues on ground. The factual inconsistencies regarding the delivery of the letter are also a relatively small matter. The NBA leadership has done its job. Their actions have marked a new era in the enforcement of ethical standards in the legal profession and we must all stand behind the NBA to ensure the integrity of our profession.
Justice Reform Project
Lagos, 29 July 2022
Unlawful Refund Policy and Practice of “Aero Contractor” Airline
Unlawful Refund Policy and Practice of “Aero Contractor” Airline. Daily Law Tips (Tip 756) by Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb(UK)
Introduction:
Like any other sector, the commercial airline sector is regulated. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) regulates commercial airlines in Nigeria and has a robust 2015 Regulations on consumer protection issues. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Regulations 2015, covers issues of rights and obligations of airlines to their customers (passengers). This includes the rights of customers to refund and compensation for overbooking, delayed flight, cancelled flight both for domestic and international flights as well as for delayed, lost and damaged baggage.
However, some commercial airlines have institutionalized their continued breach and violation of the 2015 federal regulation made by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for commercial airlines and related service providers. This work reveals and condemns the unlawful refund policy and practice of “Aero Contractor” (a commercial airline in Nigeria); by disclosing how the airline violates the provisions of the 2015 Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Regulations under the nose of its regulator (Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority) and reiterates the recommended sanctions for such infraction.
Aero Contractor, NCAA and the Refund Illegalities:
Aero Contractor claims to be “West Africa’s 61 years old Aviation Company …, a well-respected aviation service provider in scheduled commercial and helicopter offshore oil and gas sector operation”. According to information on its official website, the airline is “Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Aero operates a combined fleet of around 3 helicopters and 4 fixed wing aircraft ranging from 50 seat Dash 8-300 to 140 seat Boeing 737-400/500, employing about 700 personnel.”
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is a federal government agency empowered to regulate technical and safety issues in the entire Nigerian civil aviation sector. Also, there is the Federal Ministry of Transportation empowered to handle policies and strategies in the Nigerian civil aviation sector. In exercising its powers to make regulation on aviation safety and security, commercial air transportation and other related services, the NCAA made regulations in 2015 (the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations). It is actually a series of amendments since 2006 that led to the 2015 regulations.
The 2015 Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Regulations made provisions for consumer protection issues (rights and obligations of airlines to their customers [passengers]). This includes the rights of customers to compensation for overbooking, delayed flight, cancelled flight both for domestic and international flights as well as for delayed, lost and damaged baggage. Click to download free copy of the Regulation.
The 2015 federal regulation mandates airlines to offer passengers the options of refund of air fares or re-routing, where there is a cancellation of flight by air line. The refund must be the full cost of unutilized ticket at the price at which it was bought. So, a passenger is to choose from receiving refund of full air fare or a re-routing, once there is a cancellation of flight by airline.
More importantly, the regulation mandates airlines to refund air flight fares immediately for domestic flights and within 14 days for international flights. Also, the refund is to be made in cash or by electronic bank transfer or bank orders or bank cheques or, with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers or other services. Well, many airlines will not in reality refund air fares without delays or forcing passengers to expend more money in seeking refunds, in clear violation of federal laws/regulations.
Businesses, individuals and groups are allowed to pursue lawful ventures. In doing such, they must obey laws and adhere to regulations. The supremacy of the constitution of Nigeria and other laws and regulations in Nigeria dwarfs both local and international businesses and their policies, guidelines, plans, protocols and procedures. Contrary to the 2015 Regulation that compels airlines to refund air fares where there is flight cancellation, the “Aero Contractor” has a refund policy that delays refund for over 14 days.
Specifically, from the website of Aero Contractor, the “Cash Ticket Refund Request Form” of Aero Contractor suggests that refunds from Aero Contractor only become due after 14 days from the date of submission of request for refund. The text on the Aero Contractor’s “Cash Ticket Refund Request Form”, reads; “Cash refund for unused ticket will be ready after 14 days from submission”. The “Cash Ticket Refund Request Form” of Aero Contractor stating that passengers are to wait for 14 working days before receiving a refund, contrary to the 2015 Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Regulations can be accessed via <http://www.flyaero.com/refund/ticket-refund-form.pdf>.
On a personal complaint for refund for cancelled domestic flight, made via email, the Customer Service Advisor of Aero Contract, sent a reply on 11 February 2021, and stated; “If you would like the money to be sent to your account, it would take between 14-28 working days.” However, Aero Contractor agreed to make an immediate cash refund, on the condition that the affected passenger should suffer more hardship aside the cancelled flight, by traveling down to the airport office of Aero Contractor or by engaging the services of a third party to receive the cash payment. This contradicts the 2015 Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Regulations which compels airlines to refund passengers of cancelled domestic flight immediately whether in cash or by any electronic means.
Obviously, Aero Contractor’s refund policies and procedures are in violation of the 2015 Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. The illegality of the airline in refunding air fares for cancelled flights is institutionalized and publicly made available on the official website of the airline. Hence, the airline should be called to order by its regulator (the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority).
There are sanctions (civil and criminal punishments) for violation of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulation 2015. Unlawful refund policies and practices of airlines have severe punishments, too. Generally, the maximum punishment for an airline is N5, 000,000.00, the moderate is N2,000,000.00 and the minimum is N500,000.00. The maximum punishment for staff of an airline is N200,000.00, the moderate is N100,000.00 and the minimum is N50,000.00. The punishment for any airline that fails to obey the directives of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), or to investigate any case of passenger on compensation, is moderate penalty of N2,000,000.00 or suspension of license. Where there is a cancellation of flight, the sanction for failure to render assistance is moderate to maximum civil penalty. And failure to process ticket refund within time is also punishable with refund of the ticket and an additional 5% of the ticket value.
Conclusion:
Aero Contractor like any other commercial airline is bound by the 2015 Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. The airline cannot be more powerful than the regulator; Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. The airline and its legal team are called to do the needful and end its shameful unlawful refund policy and practice. The airline must adhere to its sector regulations and the laws of Nigeria at all times. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority must ensure that all operators are aboveboard at all times. Also, the unlawful refund policy and practice of “Aero Contractor” airline must be stopped in the interest of consumer protection.
My authorities, are:
- Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 16 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
- Sections 1, 2, 27, 30, 31, 54, 61, 63, 71, 78 and 79 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006.
- Sections 1.1.1.2, 1.3.3.1, 1.3.3.2, 19.1, 19.2, 19.7, 19.8, 19.9, 19.10, 19.13, 19.14, 19.16 and 19.20 (Parts 1 and 19) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015. Accessible for free via https://sabilaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/NCAA-Regulations-2015.pdf
- Table 1- Table of Civil Penalties of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015.
- Sanctions VII, Para 5, 10 and 11 of Table 2- Recommended (Part 1) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015.
- Aero Contractors, “Cash Ticket Refund request Form” (Aerocontractor) <http://www.flyaero.com/refund/ticket-refund-form.pdf> accessed 10 March 2021.
- Onyekachi Umah, “Deadline for Refunds for Cancelled Flights” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 11 March 2021) <https://sabilaw.org/deadline-for-refunds-for-cancelled-flights/> accessed 13 March 2021.
- Onyekachi Umah, “Why You Can’t Get Compensation for Cancelled Flights” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 3 March 2021) <https://sabilaw.org/why-you-cant-get-compensation-for-cancelled-flights/> accessed 10 March 2021.
- Onyekachi Umah, “The Two (2) Rights Of Any Person Whose Local Or International Flight Is Cancelled In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 27 November 2018) <https://sabilaw.org/the-two-2-rights-of-any-person-whose-local-or-international-flight-is-cancelled-in-nigeria/> accessed 2 March 2021.
- Onyekachi Umah, “Dangerous Flying” Is An Offence In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 21 September 2018) <https://sabilaw.org/dangerous-flying-is-an-offence-in-nigeria/> accessed 2 March 2021.
- Pic credit: Naira metric
- Credit:SabiLaw
Why You Can’t Get Compensation for Cancelled Flights
Why You Can’t Get Compensation for Cancelled Flights. Daily Law Tips (Tip 748) by Onyekachi Umah, Esq., LL.M, ACIArb(UK)
Introduction:
You probably have seen several publications on the compensations for cancelled flights in Nigeria and how to access such compensations. You should also note that there are conditions and circumstances that will allow an airline not pay any compensation for cancelled flights in Nigeria. Whether local flight or international flight, airline operators are protected from paying compensation for cancelled flights under certain circumstances. So, this leads to the doctrine of “All are for cancelled flights but not all are for Compensation”, where although all passengers of cancelled flights are denied the opportunity to fly the cancelled flight, not all the passengers of cancelled flights are entitled to compensation.
Doctrine of “All are for Cancelled Flights but not all are for Compensation”:
There are several reasons that may prompt an airline to cancel a flight. Ordinarily, once there is a cancellation of flight, there should be a payment of compensation to passengers that have booked the cancelled flight. After all, the passengers have lost the opportunity of buying tickets from alternative airlines at a given cost and time, and more importantly, the passengers must suffer chains of direct and indirect inconveniences. Well, this is the general thinking and the definition of justice in the eyes of passengers. What of justice in the eyes of the airline operators and then the laws of Nigeria?
Nigeria airspace is highly regulated, like any other natural resource (water, land, crude oil, gas, gold, plants, animals and human beings) in Nigeria. Aside the constitution of Nigeria, the next most important federal law on the Nigerian civil aviation sector is the Civil Aviation Act 2006. It is the federal law that creates and empowers all stakeholders, the regulator and the participants in the civil aviation sector in Nigeria, including the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
It is the duty of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), a federal government agency to regulate technical and safety issues in the entire Nigerian civil aviation sector. Also, there is the Federal Ministry of Transportation empowered to handle policies and strategies in the Nigerian civil aviation sector. In exercising its powers to make regulation on aviation safety and security, commercial air transportation and other related services, the NCAA made regulations in 2015 (the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations). It is actual a series of amendments since 2006 that led to the 2015 regulations.
Among other things, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations made provisions for consumer protection issues (rights and obligations of airlines to their customers (passengers). This includes the rights of customers to compensation for overbooking, delayed flight, cancelled flight both for domestic and international flights as well as for delayed, lost and damaged baggage. By the Regulations, generally, where an airline cancels its flight, all passengers are obviously denied the opportunity to fly the cancelled flight but not all the passengers are entitled to compensation from the airline. This position gave birth to the doctrine of “All are for Cancelled Flights but not all are for Compensation”.
Passengers that cannot be Compensated:
By the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Regulations 2015, where an airline cancels its flight, the passengers of the cancelled are stopped from boarding the cancelled flight but not all the passengers of the cancelled flight are entitled to compensation from the airline. So, this is why you (or any passenger) can’t get compensation for cancelled flights in Nigeria, including domestic and international flights. However, an airline must inform its passengers of every cancellation of flight as well as offer alternative transportation. The duty to prove that an airline sent notice of cancelation of flight to a passenger rests on the airline. Details of the circumstances that determine the passengers that are to be compensated and passengers that are not to be compensated for their cancelled flights, are shown below.
There will be no compensation of a passenger of a cancelled flight (whether local or international flight), where;
- The passenger is traveling free of charge or at a reduced fare/cost that is not open to the general public. This refers to passengers that were to fly without any cost or at reduced cost due to their internal relationships with the airline and not because of any public bonanza or special sales and ticket programs.
- The passenger does not have a confirmed reservation on the cancelled flight (may be the passenger has a mere unpaid reservation, like the popular “book on hold”).
- The passenger is under a packaged tour and there is a cancellation of the packaged tour for any other reason apart from due to cancellation of flight by the airline.
- The cancellation of flight by the airline was due to extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided, even if all reasonable measures had been taken by the airline. Extraordinary circumstances include mechanical, technical, operational, climatic, socio-political or any other conditions beyond the actual control of the airline.
- The passenger was given adequate notice of the cancellation. An airline will not provide care where the airline communicated the passenger, informing the passenger about the cancellation of flight, at least within 24 hours before the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight for domestic flights and 7 days before the scheduled departure time of the flight for international flights. Passengers of international flights can also be informed of flight cancellation with 3 to 7 days before the scheduled departure time, so far as such passengers are offered a re-routing, a re-routing that allows not more than 2 hours earlier departure from the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight and to reach final destination within not more than 4 hours from the earlier scheduled arrival time of the cancelled flight. Also, passengers of international flights can be informed within less than 7 days before the departure time, so far as they are offered a re-routing, a re-routing that allows not more than 1 hour earlier departure from the scheduled departure time of the cancelled flight and to reach the final destination within less than 2 hours from the earlier scheduled arrival time of the cancelled flight. The care mentioned above to be offered by the airline, are; free refreshment including water, soft drinks, confectionaries or snacks; a free meal, a free hotel accommodation, free transportation between the hotel and the airport, free two telephone calls, SMS or e-mails.
Conclusion:
By the doctrine of “All are for cancelled flights but not all are for Compensation”, although where there is a cancelation of flight, all passengers of the flight suffer the cancellation, not all passengers of the flight are entitled to compensation for the cancellation. Entitlement to compensation is tied to several conditions, including; possession of confirmed booking, possession of regular tickets, time of communication of cancellation of flight by the airline and the reason of the cancellation, among other things. The last condition (the reason for the cancellation) seems to be the easiest escape route for airlines to avoid paying compensation. Well, a passenger in claiming for compensation will need an airline to prove that the reason for cancellation is an extraordinary circumstance before such airline can escape payment of compensation. These are why you can’t get compensation for cancelled flights.
Every airline in Nigeria is mandated to inform passengers of their rights. Every airline has an obligation to display a text that urges passengers to request for details of their rights and to demand for a written statement of rights. The text must read; “If you are denied boarding or if your flight is cancelled or delayed for at least one hour, ask the airline officials for a written statement of your rights, particularly with regard to compensation and assistance.”
Airlines are often big corporations but in the eyes of law, there are like any other business that can sue and be sued. Where there is a violation of right or breach of any law, the concerned airline can be sued in court. The appropriate court to handle cases of airlines, matters of passenger compensation and related matters is the Federal High Court.
There are also, available administrative mechanisms within the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (via its, Consumer Protection Directorate) that can be employed to seek justice for unpaid compensations. Above all, nothing stops a passenger from approaching a court to seek justice against any airline. It is a constitutional right of any passenger!
My authorities, are:
- Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 16 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.
- Sections 1, 2, 27, 30, 31, 54, 61, 63, 71, 78 and 79 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006.
- Sections 19.1, 19.2, 19.7, 19.8, 19.9, 19.10, 19.13, 19.14, 19.16 and 19.20 of the Consumer Protection Regulations of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, 2015. Accessible for free via https://ncaa.gov.ng/media/aubd0slk/ncaa-regulations-2015.pdf
- Onyekachi Umah, “The Two (2) Rights Of Any Person Whose Local Or International Flight Is Cancelled In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 27 November 2018) <https://sabilaw.org/the-two-2-rights-of-any-person-whose-local-or-international-flight-is-cancelled-in-nigeria/> accessed 2 March 2021.
- Onyekachi Umah, “Dangerous Flying” Is An Offence In Nigeria” (LearnNigerianLaws.com, 21 September 2018) <https://sabilaw.org/dangerous-flying-is-an-offence-in-nigeria/> accessed 2 March 2021.
Credit:SabiLaw
Hon. Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo: Tribute to a fearless jurist
By Olanrewaju Onigegewura
On Friday, 29 July 2022, His Lordship Hon. Justice Taiwo O. Taiwo will deliver his last judgment as a Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria. For His Lordship, the day will no doubt be an emotional one for someone who has devoted the past forty years to nothing else but the study and practice of Law. Strangely, although it was with Law that His Lordship wrote his name into the history book, Law was actually not his first degree.
It was after obtaining his combined degree in History and Political Science from the then University of Ife that he decided to pursue his passion for law and justice by studying Law at the University of Ibadan, after a spell at Holborn Law Tutors in London. Stranger still is the fact that my Noble Lord was already married at the time he went back to school to read Law.
I have known my Noble Lord from when I was a young lawyer practising in Lagos. I had appeared in a matter to argue an application for stay of proceeding pending appeal. Mr. Taiwo was not in the matter but was present in court for a different matter. Following my submission, the trial Judge called on the respondent’s counsel for her response. The young counsel apparently was not sufficiently briefed by her senior and was not prepared for the matter. The Judge was livid and informed the young lawyer that whether she liked it or not, she must proceed with the argument.
It was at that point that Mr. Taiwo stood up. He respectfully appealed to the Judge to stand down the matter for some minutes, a prayer which was granted by the Court. Mr. Taiwo thereafter beckoned to the young lady and went with her outside the Court. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him taking the young wig through her paces. It was a different young counsel who came back after the brief tutelage. Citing all the authorities Mr. Taiwo must have given her, she was able to prove her mettle as a budding litigator to the admiration of all. Hon. Justice Abdullahi Mustapha who later became the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court was full of glowing words for Mr. Taiwo as an exemplary senior in the finest tradition of the Bar. That’s vintage Justice Taiwo for you, ever eager to lend a helping hand.
From that encounter, His Lordship became one of my invaluable mentors in the profession. He was always a phone call away and no matter how complicated the issues were, you could count on Justice Taiwo for a very sound legal advice.
As a Bar man, his commitment to the Nigerian Bar was never in doubt. Prior to his call to the Bar, he had creditably served as the President of the Law Students Society as an undergraduate of the University of Ibadan. It was however as a member of the Lagos Bar to which both of us belonged that his leadership skill was put to the best use. He became one of the very few people privileged to serve as Secretary, Vice-Chairman, and Chairman of a branch of the Nigerian Bar Association.
You have no doubt heard about the Magna Carta Bill of Rights. It may interest you to note that Mr. Taiwo represented the Nigerian Bar Association at the 600th anniversary of the signing of that landmark document in the United Kingdom in 2014.
When His Lordship was appointed a Judge of the Federal High Court in 2015, both the Bench and the Bar became richer for the wealth of practical legal knowledge Justice Taiwo brought to the exalted office after 27 years of active legal practice. It will amount to an understatement to state that Justice Taiwo is a Judge’s Judge. As an accomplished legal practitioner before ascending the judicial ladder, Justice Taiwo came to the office well-prepared, and it is always a joy for hard-working legal practitioners to appear in his court.
It was a pleasant surprise the day I was on the same flight from Abuja to Lagos with His Lordship. Notwithstanding the dignity of his office and the disparity in our age, Justice Taiwo, ever the gentleman, stood up to his full height to greet me warmly saying: “I had cause to use your book on taxation in the course of a judgment I wrote recently. I hope you are working on another volume.” He told me and I could feel some inches being added to my height by His Lordship’s kind words.
His Lordship is as brave and courageous as he is brilliant. I recall a conversation Abdul Mohammed SAN and myself had with His Lordship one day. Justice Taiwo told us that a judge had no business wondering what the appellate Judges or the people would say about his judgment and that the only concern should be doing justice.
In the course of his judicial career, His Lordship has had cause to deliver judgments in high-profile cases without fear or favour. It will be recalled that when the Central Bank of Nigeria froze the bank accounts of a firm that traded in cryptocurrency, His Lordship held that the CBN could not rely on a mere circular to freeze bank accounts and that the CBN failed to provide any law showing that it was illegal to deal in cryptocurrency in Nigeria.
Recently, His Lordship held that Sheriff Oborevwori, the Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly was not eligible to contest the 2023 election because he falsified information supplied to the Independent National Electoral Commission as his party’s candidate.
It is also to Justice Taiwo’s judicial credit that His Lordship was the judge who declared the activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other similar groups in any part of the country as acts of terrorism and illegality.
The list of cases with the imprimatur of His Lordship is of course endless. I am confident that judicial researchers and legal historians who are interested in documenting trial judgments that are capable of expanding jurisprudential frontiers will find more than ample materials in the judgments delivered by His Lordship in the past seven years.
One thing that strikes me about the tenure of Justice Taiwo on the Bench is that it is not the length of judicial service that matters but the quality of the judgments that come out of that service. I have no doubt that generations yet unborn will continue to be enriched by the judgments of His Lordship as preserved in our law reports.
Lest I forget, as Iya Agba, my grandmother, would say, eye ki fi apa kan fo [a bird is incapable of flight with only one wing]. I suspect that one factor that must have contributed to the success of my Noble Lord at the Bar and on the Bench is his blessed marriage to his equally resourceful and brilliant better half, my Lord Hon. Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the High Court of Lagos State. Together, the duo of Lord Justices Taiwo Obayomi Taiwo and Oluwatoyin Taiwo make the most distinguished and most excellent judicial pair. And again, as Iya Agba would say, omo ti ekun ba babi, ekun ni yoo jo [the child of a tiger must necessarily resemble a tiger]. The formidable judicial pair has been blessed with children, two of whom are legal practitioners in active practice. Talk about a fruit not falling far from the tree!
I wish His Lordship Hon. Justice Taiwo Obayomi Taiwo an engaging retirement from the Bench.
Onigegewura Olanrewaju Akinsola, FCIArb [UK], FCTI is the author of Onigegewura-Echoes Across the Niger, My Life on the Road, and Cases and Principles on Personal Income Tax Act, amongst others.
There’s no consequence for anything no matter how grave and because there’s been a dearth of outrage here… By Obi J. Iwuchukwu
So….. about 1,500 New Lawyers were sworn in as members of the Bar yesterday or was it today? I didn’t even know until I read Afam Osigwe’s post congratulating the “Newest Members of the Bar” a couple of hours ago. I join him in Congratulating the “new members of the Bar” even as I wonder how many of them would learn from their Seniors, to be Noble, be of good character, and practice Law with Professionalism and Ethics.
I attended a few NBA meetings on my return to Nigeria about a decade ago and determined that it was best that I maintain minimum relations with the Organisation because I know my temperament and know that if I continued meeting with some of the Characters leading or at the meetings, i would say something “unbefitting” of a Lawyer to some of the NBA “presiding officers” or “Executives”.
That explains to those who feel or wonder why I don’t take the Nigerian Bar Association and their politics as seriously as some of my colleagues do, why I am not an “active” member of the NBA even as a “Senior Lawyer” called to the Bar in 1989. I realised that the NBA and Judiciary in Nigeria are endemically corrupt, deep-seethed in corruption from Top to Bottom, and filled with too many hypocrites it’s nauseating.
I looked up to and was inspired by some of Nigeria’s finest Lawyers even before i became a Law Student at the University of Nigeria Enugu Campus in 1985. I admired the brilliance and carriage of J.H.C. Okolo S.A.N., Andrew Anyamene S.A.N., Chief Rotimi Williams S.A.N., Sir Clement Akpamgbo S.A.N., Chief G.C.M. Onyiuke S.A.N., Gani Fawehinmi S.A.N., Chief G. Ajayi S.A.N., and others of their ilk who brought prestige to their practice of Law.
It is true that many Lawyers in practise today don’t consider Legal practise as the Profession of Gentlemen and Ladies who place high Premium on integrity but as a hustle, some have the dog eat dog mentality of Cassino/Gambling Dons and not many or enough “Senior Lawyers” are leading the “Junior Lawyers”.
If you know about the corruption in the NBA Elections, the Hustle for offices which are not unlike that of politicians contesting elections, the bribing of Lawyers for votes, and pulling of the same shenanigans politicians pull to get ahead, you would feel as disenchanted as I am that the once Prestigious Nigerian Bar Association has been turned into a Club of wannabes and has been many of who are unscrupulous and bereft of integrity and shame.
My older friend/brother Prof. Chidi Odinkalu has been writing and lecturing on the appalling standards and corruption in the NBA in particular and the Judiciary in general for several years now. We extensively discussed Wole Olanipekun’s matter yesterday and I’d ask his permission to share his thoughts but for now, what you are reading are my sentiments and thoughts.
I very rarely comment on the seedy, very shameful, and morbidly embarrassing goings-on in the NBA, how shameless SOME so-called Senior Lawyers or Senior Advocates of Nigeria are, and their seemingly being in competition with SOME members of the Body of Benchers, the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee and SOME Judges to be more degenerate in their corruption.
This Wole Olanipekun’s matter is only being discussed because we live in a godforsaken Country called Nigeria. In Ghana next door, Wole Olanipekun wouldn’t be asked or written to before he resigns. It’s only in a shithole Country like Nigeria where there’s been a death of outrage that the mess will exist and rather than clean it up by insisting on doing what’s right, some argue as if some people who infringe the Rules of Professional Ethics either as Lawyers or Judges are above Norms, Rules and Laws should be cut slack which “ordinary Lawyers” don’t get if or when in similar situations with the “Big Wigs”.
As you are aware, in Nigeria’s Politics, almost everyone who’s properly connected literally gets away with murder. There’s no consequence for anything no matter how grave and because there’s been a dearth of outrage here, we have President Muhammadu Buhari still President of Nigeria and his “Service Chiefs” and the likes of Pantami, Godswill Akpabio, Godwin Emefiele hold their high offices and Tinubu and Atiku are vying to be President in spite of egregious their offences, their high Crimes and Misdemeanours against the Nigerian state and people.
Anathema happens in Nigeria and the perpetrators aren’t even interrogated in most cases and the rationalisation for their continuing to hold their offices is that “they have not been convicted by competent courts” and as such should be presumed innocent until pronounced as Guilty by the Courts.
Interestingly, it’s Lawyers, particularly the Senior Advocates of Nigeria arguing cases for politicians who lead on their fake advocacy for “Equality of all under the Law” when they are trying to bring down adversaries to the people who hire them but they, the Lawyers, the Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the Judges want different standards for themselves. They feel entitled to deference because they feel, just as the politicians feel that Nigeria is a Farm akin to George Orwell’s Animal Farm in which all Animals are said to be Equal BUT some Animals are more equal than others.
I am so disgusted with the Wole Olanipekun’s case that you don’t even know. For those not in the know of details of the matter, the gravamen, the thrust of the case is that an Associate in Wole Olanipekun’s Law Firm wrote a very solicitous letter to a client who already had a Lawyer suggesting albeit subtly, a debriefing of the Client’s Lawyer and suggesting that her Boss (Wole Olanipekun) was well connected and would help the client with “facilitation” of things using his government and other contacts to ensure that the Client’s matter was sorted.
Now, I’ve read the Letter and can tell you that it was Tarky as if from a hustler pretending to be “formal” and my sense or strong hunch is that such a letter couldn’t have been written without Wole’s knowledge, approval or blessing. I doubt that the woman would summon the gumption to write as confidently as she did if she didn’t know or believe for her reasons that Wole wouldn’t object even if he didn’t authorise the writing.
If it’s argued that Wole Olanipekun neither knew nor approved or authorised the despatch of the Letter, then Wole ought to lead Lawyers by example by recusing himself from the Committee he Chairs that’s supposed to investigate and act on the matter.
Any other Lawyer who’s not of Wole’s Profile, Clout or Stature who writes that kind of letter would be sanctioned by the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee.
It’s therefore amazing to me that a Lawyer as Senior and elevated at the Bar as Wole has not just refused thus far to recuse himself from the Committee he Chairs to which a formal complaint/petition AGAINST HIS LAW FIRM has been written by the NBA through It’s President Barrister Olumide Akpata, but Olanipekun has been feisty and has himself and through surrogates and agents, been throwing Tantrums against the Petition rather than allowing investigations to proceed without him presiding as Chairman.
It’s a no-brainer and yes, Lawyers are taught in first Year Law Classes at Universities that a man cannot/shouldn’t be a Judge in his own matter or one in which he has an interest or which concerns someone or people he has familial or other affinity with. Wole Olanipekun asks Judges to recuse themselves from presiding over cases in which they have interests or he (Wole) thinks that they would have biases predicated on one thing or another so it’s very annoying that he feels there should be discussions or maybe negotiations before he does what he preaches. All the talk about Wole reading about the petition in the media before he read the petition served at his office is a mischievous distraction from the subject which is basically about the Ethical and Professional misconduct of an Associate in his Law Firm who basically pointed to him as a “Fixer”.
A Judgment of the Supreme Court of America leaked last month sometime. There were expressions of outrage at that but hey, it’s not difficult to understand that especially with information known to many people (Secretaries, Photocopiers, Mail Courier companies, and aides) with divergent sentiments and proclivities, there could be leaks. The Supreme Court of America 🇺🇸 went ahead to deliver Judgment on the Roe v Wade challenge notwithstanding the fact that the draft was leaked so why would Wole Olanipekun latch onto the feeble, the lame argument that he read about the petition in the media before he read his copy at the office as if that removes from the merit of the petition?
My view is that no matter how commendable some things attributable to Wole Olanipekun S.A.N. may be, he shouldn’t be afforded courtesies that I Obi Jideofor Iwuchukwu Esq or any other ordinary Lawyer wouldn’t be, period.
I don’t understand and yes, I don’t like deference given to people because of their so-called “contributions to society or organisations”. I fervently believe that if for instance, the British Prime Minister was compelled to resign NOT over the Covid-19 shut down parties at Downing Street but because he LIED about knowing about them and other Prime Ministers and American Presidents like Bill Clinton can be PUBLICLY EMBARRASSED for things that seem or are common in Nigeria and we want to migrate as a people from our (as far as I am concerned, retrogressive) paths to emancipated ways, we must of necessity, start by considering and treating each and every one of us as EQUALS UNDER THE LAW without considering anyone’s so-called “contributions” to organisations or the society at large.
That’s my view.
Thanks……Obi J. Iwuchukwu Esq. July 27, 2022.
