By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja
Dear Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of the Federation, Sir,
Once again, by way of re-introduction, my name is Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja.
Please kindly find time to confirm my credentials from Hon. Justice Mohammed Abdullahi Dan-Ige, a judge of the Federal High Court.
He was a former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of the Sokoto State Ministry of Justice.
I worked under him during the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme between 2004 to 2005.
It was under his pupillage that I learnt the rudiments of drafting charges and it was under him that I prosecuted my first case at the High Court of Sokoto State.
He was an excellent teacher because he was both extremely knowledgeable and as well as passionate about criminal prosecution.
This rubbed off on me so much that in my first few years after my qualification as a lawyer, I focused on criminal law practice under the pupillage of Chinonye Obiagwu, SAN. I was a legal officer at the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), Lagos State.
I was so good at criminal law practice that some of my colleagues used to refer matters to me in Lagos State!!!One of them is now a judge of the High Court of Rivers State.
In addition to my knowledge of criminal law, I have spent 19 years as a legal scholar and practitioner in the field of legislative drafting. This is the aspect of law that deals with the methods for drafting of legislation and ensuring that they comply with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,1999, the Interpretation Act, 1964 and other Rules of Interpretation of Statutes.
With the benefits of this combined knowledge of criminal law and legislative drafting, I have CAREFULLY studied the charge sheet that states the charges against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The said charge sheet bears a stamp of the Nigerian Bar Association-NBA that bears your name.
In this era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with its capacity to generate images, I am not quick to jump to the conclusion that you are the author of the said charge sheet!!!
Some weeks ago, I gave a precautionary written warning (to be mindful of his hard-earned reputation) by way of an open letter to Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN to exercise caution in his handling of the case involving Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
It is just under a week, and a federal high court in Abuja was the theatre of a spirited attempt by two other Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to extricate Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, from the allegations of Contempt of Court!!!
In the similar spirit of good faith and camaraderie that should exist amongst lawyers, I am writing you this second open letter to withdraw the charges against Senator Natasha because they are fundamentally flawed.
The reason is because the Penal Code Act which is the basis of the said charges, are not applicable to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); therefore, the court wherein you have filed it cannot assume jurisdiction.
To cut a long story short, please kindly read the seminal paper by Abubakar Sani, Esq.. which is available online at: https://thenigerialawyer.com/is-the-penal-code-applicable-in-the-fct/
My providing you with this free legal advisory is part of my legal writing advocacy.
Legal writing and commentary on current legal issues is something that I am passionate about.
I am not paid by any person to write these public commentaries, as wrongly insinuated by a certain Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who is a lawyer to the Senate President.
I have an incurable passion for reading and writing, and I published my first book (an anthology of poems) in the year 1997, and it won an award from the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Rivers State Chapter. It is a habit that I inherited from my father, who is also a lawyer and writer!!!
And the joy that I derive from legal writing is when members of the public phone me and text me to say that they have benefited from my legal writings.
I have received a lot of telephone calls after I published the first open letter addressed to you this morning.
One of the callers is a very senior lawyer and staff of one of the federal government agencies under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
In a coded language and in not too many words, he literally begged me to give you the hints contained inside this letter.
He knows that you have come under a lot of pressure and under the said pressure, it is likely that you did not have the time to scrutinise the charges against Senator Natasha that either you yourself or one of the staff whom you delegated to draft.
Please kindly find time to read between the lines and make a decision that would save both your reputation and your career while preserving the most important priority of the office that you hold as DPP of the Federation.
Determining the OVER-RIDING PUBLIC INTEREST is the most important task of any DPP of the Federation!!!
Please kindly accept the assurances of my highest esteem and regards.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
23rd May 2025.
