By Robert Egbe
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Muiz Banire, has petitioned the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Committee over a letter allegedly written by a lawyer, Mr. Osho Oluyemi, in the legal tussle for the Estate of the late Mrs. Helen Aroon Gill Johnson.
Banire also filed a N200 million suit with suit number, ID/ADR/1582/2020 against the respondent at the Lagos State High Court as compensation for alleged damage to his reputation.
In his petition with reference number, BB/LPDC/287/2020, he alleged that the respondent, Osho Oluyemi, in his letter to the Managing Director of Stanbic IBTC Bank, made certain uncourteous and defamatory statements.
The letter was also alleged to violate Rule 15 (2) (a), (3) (g) & (j) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners.
The alleged statement, he said, constituted a direct attack on his (Banire’s) personality and integrity, as well as legal practitioners in his law firm and Chief Magistrate I of the Lagos Magisterial District.
The petitioner stated that the Executor and the Executrix of the estate briefed his firm, M. A. Banire & Associates, to represent them in several cases and take immediate and necessary steps in the pending suits.
The petitioner stated that his clients informed him that since 2017, some of their bank accounts had been frozen via three Bankers’ Orders obtained by the Inspector-General of Police before the Magistrate Court, Lagos in connection with a Police investigation.
He stated that his firm took steps to have the Bankers Orders set aside adding that on July 21, 2020, the application was granted by Chief Magistrate K.B. Ayeye and as such set aside the Post No Debit orders placed on the account.
Consequently, the affected banks, 2nd to 4th defendants in Suit No. M/ 341/2020 were served with the order of court to enable them lift the restrictions.
He alleged that the respondent, (Osho Oluyemi), wrote a letter to the Stanbic IBTC Bank’s MD after the service of the order lifting the restriction on the Bank, challenging its compliance with the court order and also thereby defamed him, lawyers in his firm and the magistrate court.
However, in his defence, the respondent, Oluyemi Osho, denied the allegation of misconduct stating that he was not privy to the instruction said to have been issued to the applicant’s law firm by Mrs Yetunde Onyekweli, Mr Oluwatobi Onyekweli and Mr Christopher Ibukunoluwa Johnson to represent their interest in the suits listed in the said letters.
Osho added that out of the 16 beneficiaries of the Will, the applicant only had the instruction to represent three, who were also named executors under the Will, arguing that the applicant was not instructed or authorized to represent all the beneficiaries of the estate.
He said: ‘’To the best of my knowledge and at the time of the issuance of the letter dated 1st September 2020, I was not aware that the Applicant was involved in the handling of the issues in relation to the Police investigation and the banker’s orders which were subject of Suit No.: M/341/2020.
‘’Neither the beneficiaries of the estate nor our law firm was apprised or acquainted with the proceedings stated in those paragraphs until when our client called our law firm to inform us that there was a move to unfreeze and withdraw the money standing to the credit of the estate account’’.
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