The execution of a judgment delivered by Justice Ayotunde Phillips seven years ago has become the subject of another litigation in the High Court of Lagos state, reports ADEBISI ONANUGA
ALagos High court sitting in Ikeja will on Friday rule whether or not it has jurisdiction to stay a writ of execution obtained by a judgment-debtor, Jagal Nigeria Limited in respect of a property.
Seven years ago, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, then a judge of the High Court of Lagos State, had in a judgment delivered on July 11, 2008 in a suit delineated ID/1466/98 affirmed Jagal as the owner of the property located at Plot B, Ikosi Road, Oregun Industrial Estate, Ikeja .
Johnson Products had dragged Jagal Nigeria Limited before the court over the ownership of the disputed property. Joined as second defendant in the suit is Chief Samuel Agboola Akintan, who is said to have earlier leased the property to Wire Manufacturing (Nigeria) Limited for 20 years, having had a Deed of Conveyance dated 1971.
The company had averred that a Memorandum of Agreement executed by the two parties on April 17, 1980 “effectively transferred Jagal’s interest in the property” to it upon the payment of N1, 340,000 and that Jagal issued a receipt No.1351 dated June 2, 1982, which stated that the payment is for the assignment of the property in question. Johnson Products had further averred that Jagal acknowledged its (Johnson Products) ownership of the property in a letter addressed to Ault and Wilborg (Nig) Limited.
But Justice Phillips, in her judgment delivered on July 11, 2008 held that the Memorandum of Agreement transferred no interest in the property to Johnson Products and affirmed Jagal as the owner of the property.
Not satisfied with the decision of the court, Johnson Products Limited, appealed against the judgment on July 16, 2008 and claimed to have filed its Brief of Argument as at December 8, 2010.
However, the matter assumed a new dimension in February 2015 when the matter slated for hearing by Appeal Court, was struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
Johnson Products claimed to have re-approached the appellate court, asking the matter to be relisted but while the process was ongoing, the defendant (Jagal Nigeria Limited) obtained a Writ of Possession of the court to effect the judgment of Justice Philips against Johnson Products which also affected some inter pleaders.
The development made Johnson Products Nigeria Limited to approach the court presided by Justice Olabisi Odugbesan , praying it to restore them to status quo ante as at April 29, 2015, pending the hearing and determination of its application for re-listing in the Court of Appeal.
During the sitting of the court, the applicant through its counsel, Gabriel Olawoyin (SAN) had told the court that the order of the Court of Appeal upon which the writ of execution was predicated was obtained by deceit. He contended that the defendant mislead the court on the matter.
He argued that as at the time the defendants rushed to obtain the writ of execution, they already had applications seeking for re-listing of their appeal before the Court of Appeal. The defendants, according to him, were duly served with copies of the application and that they duly acknowledge receipt of the documents. “We have three applications, including brief of argument, pending before the Court of Appeal and they filed a counter to every application, which means they have been served”.
He had pleaded with the court that since the averments were not controverted by the defendants in any way, they should be taken as the true positions of things.
But the defendant’s counsel, Qudus Mumuney, had opposed the application on the grounds that the prayers of the applicants had no basis in law.
Mumuni contended that the issue before the court was not only the proceedings of February 5, 2015 when the Court of Appeal struck out the appeal of the appellant but the entire proceeding which dated back to 2009. He described the application filed by the applicants as an invitation to review the order of the Court of Appeal, adding that it would amount to calamity of the jurisprudence when a lower court would sit to review the order of a superior court.
Mumuni however maintained that the court has no jurisdiction to entertain the application and that the court should throw out the application which he described as abuse of court process.
But Olawoyin had insisted on the jurisdiction of the court not only to grant the prayers of the applicants but also to stay the writ of execution obtained in respect of the disputed property.
Olawoyin had also contended that the issue before the court was the writ of execution for which they are praying the court to set aside pending the determination of their application for re-listing of their appeal against the judgment of Justice Ayotunde Phillips, now a retired Chief Judge of Lagos State, which in 2008 granted possession of the disputed property located in Oregun Industrial Estate, Ikeja to Jagal Nigeria Limited.
The fight against corruption in the judiciary did not start today; yet it has not abated. Last week, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed shocked the nation when he said no fewer than 64 of the 1020 superior court judges had been sanctioned in the past five years. How can corrupt judges be stopped? ADEBISI ONANUGA sought lawyers’ views.
The figure is startling – 64 of the 1,020 superior court judges have been sanctioned in the past five years for corruption. Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed, who broke the news at a gathering in Abuja last week, looked everything but happy. He spoke with a heavy heart as he mused over the judiciary, which is commonly referred to as the last hope of the common man.
Speaking at a conference with the theme: The fight against corruption: the way forward, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-corruption Commission, the CJN said efforts were being made to rid the judiciary of bad eggs.
The CJN said petitions were immediately investigated through internal procedures established by the National Judicial Council (NJC). Those found culpable, he said, were disciplined in accordance with established procedures, including being relieved of their jobs.
He, however, lamented that much as the judiciary was doing its best to eliminate bad eggs, the public, which has been criticising the institution, seemed to be encouraging corruption.
Justice Mohammed argues that corruption persists because public officials and other persons who benefit from it are never investigated and prosecuted, when the judiciary disciplines its own.
How NJC treats petitions
Upon receiving a petition against any judge, such a judge is informed about the petition and asked to respond. If the NJC finds the judge’s response unsatisfactory, a fact-finding committee is constituted to probe issues raised in the petition. During such investigation, parties, accompanied by their lawyers, appear before the committee to state their cases.
At the end, the committee submits its report to the NJC. The Council takes its decision based on the committee’s findings.
If the judge is absolved of the allegations, he/she is informed. If culpable, the information will also be passed to the affected judge, along with the penalty.
If it is a minor offence, the judge gets a warning. The NJC recommends that a judge is either dismissed or compulsorily retired where the offence is grave. Such recommendation is directed to either the governor (in the case of a state court’s judge) or the President (where the judicial officer involved is of the federal courts.).
Such a judge is suspended from office pending when either the governor or President accedes to NJC’s request.
Any affected judicial officer, who is unhappy with the NJC’s final decision, can approach the Federal High Court to challenge the decision. Appeals in such cases end at the Supreme Court.
Judges sanctioned or queried
Olotu: On February 26, last year, the NJC announced the compulsory retirement of Justice Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court. In a statement, its Acting Director, Information, Soji Oye, said Justice Olotu breached judicial procedure by delivering a judgment in a case with Suit No. FHC/UY/250/2003, 18 months after the final address by all the counsel in the suit, contrary to the constitutional provisions that judgment should be delivered within a period of 90 days.
“The judge admitted before the Fact-Finding Committee of the Council that investigated the allegations, that she forgot she had a pending ruling to deliver in an application for Joinder, and the Judge entertained a post Judgment matter in Suit No. FHC/UY/CS/250/2003 in Port Harcourt, after delivering judgment, which made her functus-officio. That in another case: Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/505/2012, Hon. Justice Olotu failed to deliver judgment twice,” NJC said.
Inyang: Also, last year, the NJC recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice U. A. Inyang of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for misconduct.
Inyang was found to have “included in his judgment, references to the garnishee proceedings, which came after judgment had been delivered on December 20, 2011. His Lordship also included the name of the counsel to Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru (SAN) who came into the matter after the judgment of December 20, 2011 was delivered.
“That the Judge recklessly signed a writ of execution, a day after delivering his judgment of December 20, 2011, the same day a notice of appeal and motion on notice for stay of execution were filed.
“That the Judge continued with the garnishee proceedings despite application for stay of execution; and that before delivering his judgment of December 20, 2011, Justice Inyang ignored a properly filed Motion on Notice for leave to file additional witness statement on oath,” NJC said.
Achibong: In February 2013, the NJC recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice Charles E. Archibong, who was then serving at the Federal High Court, Lagos, following investigations conducted by the Council on series of petitions levelled against him.
Some of the allegations were that he dismissed a grievious charge against an accused without taking his plea and refused to release the Certified True Copy of his Ruling to lawyers.
He was also accused of issuing bench warrant on some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) officials for contempt even when the counsel who was directed by the Court to serve them filed an affidavit that he had not been able to serve the contempt application.Archibong was said to have also made unfounded and caustic remarks on professional competence of some Senior Advocates of Nigeria and exhibited glaring procedural irregularities which showed that he did not have a full grasp of the Law and Court procedure.
Another allegation was that he granted the leave sought in an originating summons that had no written address of the parties and without hearing both parties in the originating summons after he had earlier on overruled the preliminary objection.
Naron: NJC, in February 2013, recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice Thomas D. Naron, then of High Court of Justice, Plateau State following its findings that there were constant and regular voice calls and exchange of text messages between the judge and one of the lead counsel for one of the parties to the suit in the Osun State Gubernatorial Election Tribunal, contrary to the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in Section 292 (1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
Ex-Abia Acting CJ, Nwanosike: The NJC in July 2013 announced the compulsory retirement of the Acting Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Shadrack O. E. Nwanosike over alleged falsification of his date of birth.
NJC said it found that Nwanosike falsified his date of birth, which invariably affected his retirement age. It directed him to proceed on compulsory retirement.
Justice Musa Anka: In 2011, NJC ordered an immediate sack of Justice Musa Ibrahim Anka, of the Zamfara State High Court, having found him guilty of gross misconduct (bribery and corruption). It found that the judge received bribe from one Zubairu Abdulmalik in order to deliver judgment in his favour.
Anka before then had been on suspension by the council since July 2010, following a petition written against him by Zamfara State Directorate of State Security Service (DSS), alleging that he received bribe from one Zubairu Abdulmalik in order to deliver judgment in his favour.
Agumagu: On March 26, 2014, the NJC rose from its general meeting with a decision to suspend President of the Rivers Customary Court of Appeal Justice Peter Agumagu for allowing himself to be sworn-into office as the state’s substantive Chief Judge.
The NJC refused to recognise him as the CJ on the ground that the normal procedure for the appointment of a CJ was not complied with. He challenged the decision at the Supreme Court, but three appeals he filed were dismissed.
NJC suspended him after saying it did not recommend him to former Governor Rotimi Amaechi for appointment as the Chief Judge. Agumagu was, however, dissatisfied with his suspension. He consequently filed an application for a judicial review of the NJC’s directive suspending him.
NJC warns judges
On February 26, the NJC issued warning letters to the Presiding Justice of Court of Appeal Kaduna Division, Justice Dalhatu Adamu, Justice A. A. Adeleye of High Court of Ekiti State and Justice D. O. Amaechina of High Court of Anambra State.
Justice Adamu was reprimanded after it was found that he deliberately absented himself from duty, an action the NJC said amounted to gross misconduct contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and the Code of Conduct of Judicial Officers.
The NJC said it found Justices Adeleye and Amaechina “culpable of very low performance. It issued them warning letters for ‘decline in their productivity’.”
Talba: Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba of the High Court of the FCT, Abuja resumed on May 2, 2014 after serving 12 months’ suspension.
The NJC had on April 26, 2013 suspended him because he did not exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously with regard to the sentences he passed on one of the accused persons, John Yakubu Yusuf in the Police pension case of FRN Vs Esai Dangabar and five others. NJC also warned Justice Talba “to desist from unreasonable exercise of judicial discretion in all matters brought before him”.
The judge had given Yusuf, who admitted to the stealing of about N27.2billion pensioners’ funds, two years’ imprisonment with an option of N750,000 fine, which the convict promptly paid. The decision attracted public criticism.
The fight continues
In spite of efforts taken by its leadership to sanitise the judiciary, which is regarded as the last hope of the common man, it has remained in the sport light of public scrutiny, not for any other reason but for the level of corruption that has pervaded and brought it to disrepute.
Observers believed that the war against corruption in the judiciary has thrown up some challenges for the legal profession in terms of respect and credibility and they see politicians as being majorly responsible for this.
They also noted that politicians have succeeded in dragging the judiciary into the centre stage of the electoral process because of its relative weaknesses which are being made worse by corruption.
They are equally concerned about how this trend can be stopped within the polity.
The CJN, through the NJC, has already taken the bull by the horn by initiating steps to enact new guidelines leading to a more transparent process that would ensure that only persons that are intellectually sound and have integrity are appointed judicial officers. Acknowledging that the bench is also a by-product of the bar, Justice Mohammed has also urged the bench to expunge from its ranks, persons whose conduct may be unfit, improper, dishonest and otherwise from its ranks and file.
An ex-judge’s view
• Justice Ogunade (rtd)
A former Ogun State High Court Judge, Justice Babasola Ogunade, believes judges indicted for corruption should be tried.
“Look at what happens in other climes. You do anything that people believe is scandalous, or is criminal, you get arrested. Investigations will be done.
“If they find that you’re culpable, you’re prosecuted. If they’re able to prove their case, you go to jail – just as it happens to politicians and the rest of them. Nobody is above the law as far as I know,” he said.
He also urged judges to be diligent while being content with what they have. He said: “My advice simply is this: Always remember your judicial oath. Be industrious. There is no need for you to sit late. Your training at the Law School enjoins you to be prompt. If you’re a practitioner and you’re late in going to court, your client one day will go and look for another lawyer. Sit on time; do your best when you’re there; always remember your judicial oath. Minimise your social outings because the work is so demanding.
“You’re not going to look at the case of one side; you’re going to look at the two cases, and on your own, look at similar cases that had happened in the past that could assist you in what you’re doing. So, really, the time for socialisation is so little. Take it that you’re handling something that is sacred. If the remuneration is not as high as you expected, God is your paymaster, he will pay you.
“Since I retired 14 years ago, I’ve not looked over my shoulder. God has always provided for me. I’m not stupendously rich, but I’m not poor. If I want to eat, I have money to buy food. I have a car in which I ride. And if I need to satisfy family needs, I’m able to do it within my income. Live within your income.
“Don’t let people look at you and your status and say ‘Ah, how will they say he’s a judge and he cannot do this?’ If you’re unable to do it, you’re unable to do it. That’s the way I look at it. So, the temptation of having to add a little bit unjustly to what you’re earning may not be there,” he said.
The way out, by lawyers
• Farounbi
Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Yinka Farounbi, said for the judiciary help rid the country of corruption, it must be insulated from that corruption and like Caesar’s wife be above board.
Sadly, however, that is not the case, Farounbi lamented, adding that some of the judicial officers had forgotten the constitutional oath to dispense justice without fear or favour.
“When viewed vis a vis the importance of the institution, then one will reasonably conclude that the corruption in the Judiciary is alarming and unmanageable and something drastic has to be done,” he said.
While admitting that the punishment against erring judicial officers, no doubt, will help in serving as deterrent to others, he stressed that what should be done is to examine areas of the appointment of the judicial officers, particularly at the High Court level.
“Even though appointment of Judicial Officers could be made directly to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, but in most cases it is always by elevation from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and finally to the Supreme Court. The question then is: what is the integrity of the appointed Judges of the various High Courts who will one day be elevated to the higher Bench?
“Some of these judges were politically appointed on the doctrine of ‘man know man’ rather than pure merit. Some of them were not even practising lawyers, whether privately or in the Ministry of Justice at the time of appointment.
“In fact, some are into menial jobs overseas when appointed as a result of the connections of the parents or some godfathers. Such appointments are done without thorough examination of the characters of the applicants which ought to be very key in such appointments,” Farounbi said.
He also suggested that the unbiased opinions of the various Bar Associations in the jurisdictions where these Judges are meant to be appointed should be highly respected. According to him, “where the recommendation is yes let it yes and where it is no let the no be. It is the Bars in these areas that can best assess the candidates. To put the Bar itself on alert, it must be queried on its recommendations if the recommended applicant or applicants are later found to be corrupt. He said there must be a “designed form of enquiry” where all questions fundamental to Judicial appointments would be asked and firmly answered.
“After appointment, the local Bar should annually be contacted on the performance and general character of the judicial officers. A questionnaire form is equally recommended. A judicial officer who knows there will be a yearly report on him and that the report could be a basis for his sanction will think twice before accepting a bribe, even from an angel.
“And more importantly, there must be a conducive atmosphere for these judicial officers to work. There must be security of tenure in the real sense of it. Apart from good salaries, all other things must be put in place to aid them in effectively discharging their constitutional duties.
The popular saying is that “it takes two to tango”. Invariably there could be no receiver without a giver. My recommendation will be that both the giver and the receiver should be treated alike. It will not be enough to discipline them, they must be prosecuted. If a man collects, say triple of what his salaries would have been for “200 years” and you just retired him, he will still enjoy the loot, but if prosecuted successfully the spoil will be a waste,” he stressed.
• Ubani
Immediate past NBA Ikeja Branch Chairman Onyekachi Ubani believes the judiciary is peopled by human beings who are Nigerians, and that corruption permeates every sector and so none is sacrosanct, including our judiciary.
“The conclusion, therefore, is that corruption in Nigeria and in the judiciary is systemic and so any effort to tackle it must start from the root. One is a bit relieved when the New Chief Justice of the Federation announced recently that the system has put in place measures for the recruitment of future judges that will ensure that the best, the most competent and those with integrity are recruited. That is indeed cheering news.
“In addition to ensuring that honest and competent hands are recruited into the judiciary, the issue of their welfare should be well addressed to ensure that a judge or magistrate has no reason to take bribe and corrupt the stream of justice. In addition, the monitoring mechanism and punishment for erring personnel should be intensified to ensure that the stream of justice remains pure, clean and undiluted. With these measures in place, one can safely assume that even if not eliminated, corruption in the judiciary will be reduced minimally.
“We insist that our institutions that are empowered by law to investigate and punish crime must not spare anyone in the country who colludes, abets and aids corruption in the system. We condemn in totality the present system where our institutions appear very weak and demonstrates demonic incapacity to prosecute people who appear big in their eyes and who aid and abet corruption in every system including the judiciary.
“It is a criminal irresponsibility for the system to demonstrate capacity when a poor man or woman is involved and fails to do same when a heavy pocket individual is alleged to have committed even a more heinous crime that affects the system.
“Corruption in the country and in the judiciary must be tackled seriously as it has developed cancerous dimension against the progress of the nation. The new government of President Muhammed Buhari promised to deal with corruption which is the main reason why majority of Nigerians voted for him, therefore the time is ripe for him to start by dismantling the structures in the country that encourage corruption and for those who fail to turn a new leaf the system must descend on them heavily to act as a deterence to prospective corrupt individuals in the country. That is the way to go and I am advising “let us go there,” Ubani said.
• Omoyinmi
A member of the Ogun State Judicial Commission Abayomi Omoyinmi said unbending consideration should be accorded the process by which judges are appointed.
“Those persons in the society that also benefit from corrupting judicial officers if investigated and found culpable should be made to face heavy wrath of the law,” he said.
Lagos lawyer Emeka Nwadioke said there is no alternative to vigorous prosecution of erring judges. According to him, corruption in the judiciary is a most egregious state of affairs.
“I was tempted to say that 64 out of 1020 judges or 6.27 per cent of judges is a negligible number until I recalled the words of Henry Ward Beecher thus: ‘Take all the robes of all the good judges that have ever lived on the face of the earth, and they would not be large enough to cover the iniquity of one corrupt judge.’ We can they see the menace that even one corrupt judge constitutes to the entire society, and why everything must be done to weed out all corrupt judges from the system.
“It is noteworthy that in recent years especially, the leadership of the judiciary has been doing a lot to curb this menace. It must not relent. There is no alternative to vigorous investigation and punishment where suspects are found culpable. Indeed, the tragedy of the situation can be gleaned from the use of ‘suspects’ to qualify judges, ordinarily the most noble of all.
“All institutions connected with sanitising the judiciary must also be above board. If judges know they cannot wriggle out of the tight mesh woven by the NJC through ‘connection’ and the like, everyone is bound to sit up. However, the remuneration of judges must be adequate to dissuade them from corrupting influences,” Nwadioke said.
• Nwadioke
To him, the judiciary cannot be corrupt if the society does not tolerate it. “As to the larger society, it was the inimitable William Shakespeare who said that ‘Thieves for their robbery have authority when judges steal themselves.’ This notwithstanding, there has been a seeming decline in the zeal to combat corruption. The government has in recent years been accused of lacking the political will to combat corruption.
“It is, however, refreshing that the current administration rode to power on the back of an anti-corruption programme. It has no choice but to combat corruption through frenzied and diligent prosecution of suspects. Rigorous implementation of the new rules on trial of corruption cases is encouraged to obviate the delays that have regrettably attended such cases.
“It is also troubling that, as noted by the CJN, the Bar is not immune from the hazards of corruption. Some senior lawyers have even been severally accused of being conduits for these wayward judges. Again, prompt investigation and prosecution of suspects must be encouraged.
“The NBA must rise to the occasion by assisting institutions saddled with this duty. It is worrisome that NBA’s electoral processes have been alleged to be subject to manipulation; this is corruption of very unacceptable proportion.
“To ensure that the NBA is not found wanting in its high duty to combat corruption within its ranks, it must urgently reform its electoral processes to ensure that its leadership truly and always reflects the will of all lawyers. Perhaps the time has come to revisit the clamour for universal suffrage at the Bar through electronic voting. Other professional associations in Nigeria have utilised electronic voting with great success,” Nwadioke added.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has been urged to devise policies that would aid the welfare of young lawyers a better position the legal profession for the future.
Speaking at the NBA Lagos Branch Law Week held at the MUSON Centre, Lagos, Dr. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN) said the profession’s future would depend on how well lawyers equip themselves.
He decried the profession’s exploitation, noting that juicy briefs were being given to foreign firms especially in the petroleum industry due to non-compliance with the Local Content Act by many International Oil Companies (IOCs). He urged the NBA to intervene so as to make more work available to lawyers.
Ajogwu, who spoke on The future of the legal profession: Protection from exploitation, urged senior lawyers and law firms to shore up their remuneration packages for their employees especially junior lawyers.
He said it was in the interest of such firms, otherwise they would become mere “training ground” and targets for others who appreciate the younger lawyers’ value.
Ajogwu urged young lawyers to invest in their future by acquiring requisite skills, adding that the reward system in the industry is both instantaneous and deferred.
The presiding justice of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, Justice Amina Augie urged lawyers to always abide by the ethics of the profession.
In an impassioned speech which earned her a standing ovation, Justice Augie who traced her career trajectory, warned lawyers to avoid cutting corners as this would ultimately detract from their individual standing and the nobility of the profession. She also stressed the need for wayward lawyers to retrace their steps by embracing honesty and integrity, adding that the profession would be the better for it.
Former NBA President, Chief Wole Olanipekun decried the abandonment of the profession and the Bar by some lawyers. His words: “They are only known or remembered as lawyers through the prefix of ‘Barrister’ or ‘Lawyer’, without making any contribution whatsoever to the growth of the profession, whether contextually or tangentially.”+
Speaking on “Virtue of service to the Bar” at the Elders’ Night/Awards held at Ikoyi, Lagos as part of the Law Week programme, Olanipekun warned that ‘contribution’ to the Bar must not be construed as merely financial donations “but also incorporates mentoring of young lawyers and shouldering leadership responsibilities. It also dovetails into knowledge sharing, including participation and attendance at a forum like this. Senior members of the Bar should inspire the juniors to make it in the profession and also climb to its Mount Everest.”
The programme was rounded off with a high-profile Dinner and Award Night at City Hall, Lagos to celebrate the former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). The Law Week Committee Chairman, Mrs. Tolani Edu-Adeola said the choice of Fashola for this year’s award was “unanimous,” adding that he was “head and shoulders above other potential honorees” for changing the face of governance in Nigeria.
This sentiment was echoed by the outgoing NBA Lagos Branch Chairman, Mr. Alex Muoka in his speech. Mr. Geroge Etomi, a National Productivity Order of Merit laureate, gave the Dinner Speech titled “The legal profession in an emerging economy” while Mr. Ebun Sofunde (SAN) was chairman in an occasion witnessed by the cream of Nigeria’s legal profession.
The break-out sessions dealt with several practice areas including Labour Law, Medical Law, Media/Sport Law, Insolvency Law, Capital Market Law, Tax Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution simulation. It also included the traditionally frank and heated Bar Bench Forum.
Speakers included former Lagos State Attorney General, Mr. Ade Ipaye; Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN; Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN; Prof. Chioma Agomo, former Dean of Law, University of Lagos; Mr. Osaro Eghobamien, SAN; Mrs. Titi Akinlawon, SAN; Dr. B. A. M. Ajibade, SAN; Prof. Bankole Sodipo, Dean of Law, Babcock University; Dr. Onuobia also of Babcock University; medical practice expert, Mr. Laolu Osanyin; former NBA Lagos Branch Chairman, Mr. Chijioke Okoli; Mr. Seyi Akinwunmi, NFF Vice-President; Mr. V. Uche Obi, President of Capital Market Solicitors Association; Dr. Dapo Olanipekun; Chief Samuel Alabi, Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Eko Hotels, and Barrister (Mrs.) Vera Chinwuba of NTA Lagos, among others.
A former registrar, Oluronke Rosulu, has denied aiding Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua to defraud former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi of $330,000.
Lagos State Controller of Prisons, Vincent Ubi, also told the court he never saw Rosulu, who was Ikeja High Court Registrar, visit the prison while he was there. Ubi was Deputy Controller of Kirikiri Maximum Prison in 2004.
Rosulu was alleged to have collected $330,000 from Gen. Bamaiyi while in detention at Kirikiri Prison by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
At the resumed hearing of the matter before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, Rosulu denied all the allegations levelled against her by the commission before the court.
Led in evidence by her counsel, Mr. Bamidele Ogundele, Rosulu said she started working with the judiciary in 1981 but that she also sells housewares to augment her salary.
She admitted that she was a registrar in Justice Oyewole’s court while Bamaiyi was standing trial in the same court and that that was when she knewthe complainant (Bamaiyi).
According to her, General Bamaiyi was then standing trial before Justice Oyewole.
“I was the senior registrar in that court before I was posted out sometime in March 2006 and that was the last time I saw Bamaiyi until I was invited to EFCC’s office in 2013.
“I never met ACP Abdullahi Garba before. I don’t know Fred Ajudua personally but I knew him as an accused standing trial. I did not collect money from anybody and I don’t know Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) one on one and I never work in his chambers,”she said.
Rosulu also denied the claim of by the commission that she visited the prison three times to meet with Ajudua.
“I was surprised on December 19, 2013 when Bamaiyi confronted me at EFCC’s office that he gave me money for Chief Afe Babalola and for Justice Oyewole.
“In the same room at EFCC’s office, ACP Garba was brought in and introduced himself to me and confronted me that I came to Kirikiri and I saw him with a Ghana Must Go bag and I told him there that I don’t know him. Garba and Bamaiyi were speaking Hausa language.”
She said the EFCC detained her for 18 days at the commission office, and her statement was taken.
She in addition told the court that the EFCC officials went to her house, search and took her cheque book, phones and receipt of the land she bought which was paid for by instalments.
When unnder cross examination by the EFCC counsel, Seidu Atteh, defendant maintained that she never met Bamaiyi until he was brought to stand trial in Oyewole’s court.
According her, three of them serve as court registrars in Justice Oyewole’s court and emphasised that she does not work on Saturdays.
Rosulu also contended that she does not work in Chief Afe Chambers and has never visited his chamber.
Earlier at the proceedings, former DCP of Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Vincent Ubi in his testimony said Garba and ACP Tajudeen Kehinde were subordinate staff to him and that they share same office.
He however clarified that Garba was on general duty.
Ubi, who was led in evidence by Ogundele, the defence witness, Ubi said there were rules on how money could be admitted into prison for the inmates.
“In the day to day performance of their duty, I was not with them because I have a different office. I may not know what happen in their office. There are rules of bringing money to prison then, any money belong to detainee will go to record and kept for them.
“Anybody that need the money will apply and I will approve and the inmate must give reason. Most of time they apply simply to pay their lawyers.”
He further told court that he met Bamaiyi as one of the detainees in Kirikiri prison.
Asked if Bamaiyi applied to collect dollars to pay his lawyer, Ubi told the court that the Prison authority don’t accept dollar and that there was never a time that approval was granted him to do that.
“When application is made, staff don’t bring the person to me, I only approve the application. I don’t know the defendant (Rosulu). I was not aware of the $330,000 the complainant said he brought to the prison.
Gen. Bamaiyi had in his testimony told the court that Rosulu allegedly aided Ajudua to defraud him of $330,000.
According to him, the money was meant to be part payment for professional fees allegedly charged by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) to handle his trial for attempted murder of the publisher of The Guardian, Mr. Alex Ibru and two others.
Bamaiyi had explained that he met Ajudua and Alumile Adedeji a.k.a. Ade Bendel at Kirikiri maximum prison, while on remand at Kirikiri Prisons.
According to him, the alleged fraud took place between November 2004 and June 2005 while he was on remand alongside Ajudua in Kirikiri Maximum Prison.
The Akinlolu Omoyinmi family of Lagos has filed a suit at a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja against the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (Ikeja DISCO) over an estimated electricity bill of N436,000 served on the family house at 42/44 Ajakaiye Street, Onipetesi, Ikeja for March, last year.
The suit number ID/643/GCMW/15 was filed through a Writ of Summon by Abayomi Akin Omoyinmi and Dr. Akinkunmi Akin Omoyinmi and on behalf of Akinlolu Omoyinmi family as claimants.
The claimants are praying the court for two prayers, including a declaration that the total estimation of N436,000, which represented electricity bill to be paid for March, last year and any subsequent bills on their properties, same being estimated bills is unlawful, illegal, null and void.
They asked the court to grant them an injunction restraining the defendant, his servants, agents and officials whomsoever and howsoever, from taking any step by way of disconnecting the claimants electricity at their properties at 42/44 Ajakaiye Street, Onipetesi, Ikeja, Lagos.
The writ of summon was supported with a 27-paragraph statement of claims and 26 paragraph written address. In spite of the service of the process and claim for injunction against the defendants for disconnection, the defendants visited the premises and disconnected it from the grid.
The claimants averred that they are owners in possession of the properties situated at Ajakaiye Street, Onipetesi as an estate of inheritance under Yoruba native law and custom.
They averred that sometimes in March 2011, the defendant brought bills for an empty flat and another flat occupied by the first claimant following which a letter dated March 23, 2011 was written to the former company, PHCN to lodge complaints about the bill but that the defendant never and failed to respond to the letter.
They averred that various subsequent letters of complaints and protests written on the bills and disconnection for lines to claimants properties, though acknowledged but were never responded to.
The claimants stated that they noticed that since 2011, the defendant never read meters belonging to them but tend to choose to produce estimated bills in order to inflate the bills and figures and that as a result of the fraudulent estimation of bills since 2011, which is continuing and disconnection of electricity, the first claimant through his law firm wrote a letter dated February 21, 2013 to Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Related Offences (ICPC) and copied the defunct PHCN.
On receipt of the copy of the letter by PHCN, the first claimant said he received a call on line 08023108518 on which the caller identified himself as Mr. Adelakun and a Senior Marketing Manager of the defendant.
The claimants averred that Adelakun later visited the first claimant’s office along with four other senior officials, including one Mr. Eboh, a marker of the defendant at PHCN office at Onipetesi at about 12.10 p.m. and left two hours after having promised to look into the discrepancies surrounding billings at the claimants properties, especially the issue of non-reading of meters, and gave assurance to rectify the bills allocated to claimants properties but that nothing was done thereafter.
They averred that the defendant company who took over from PHCN continued in the illegal manner of estimated billings rather than meter reading.
They further averred that sometime last December, the transformers serving Ajakaiye Street, where the claimants properties are situated caught fire and distribution of light was disrupted from December 16, 2014 till when power was first restored in January 28, last year.
Notwithstanding the power failure between December 2014 and January 2015, they averred that the defendant presented them bills totalling N51,000, including N16,000 for the first claimant’s office, despite that one duplex referred to in paragraph 8 of their statement of claim had pre-paid meter.
The claimants contended that the illegal estimated billing to their properties is still continuing and unless stopped by the court, the extortion by the defendant will never be checked as it was not practicable for the defendant to determine the estimate of usage electricity without reading the meter.
They, therefore, averred that the total estimates bill is unreasonable, illegal, unlawful as the defendant has failed in its duty to ascertain the exact figure through meter reading and hence the duty to pay a reasonable sum is that of customer (the claimants) and not that of defendants.
The court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the suit.
It is not common knowledge in the legal profession that Property Law is made up of two crucial components. They are (1) Land Law and Conveyancing and (2) TRUSTS.
In Land Law and Conveyancing we contend mainly with the vicissitudes of Black-Acre among others while in the subject of Trusts we grapple with decoding the dizzying maze of concepts woven around FEOFMENT.
It is in this very difficult field of Trusts that Prof Michael Iyiola Jegede (SAN) held sway, control and dominance in the past five decades to the exclusion of any other Nigerian living or dead. Consequently in all the Faculties oF Law in Nigerian Universities where the subject of Trusts is properly taught, the name Prof. Jegede rang a bell, is appreciated and revered. Jegede and the Late Prof. J. A. Omotola (SAN) were indisputable icons of Property Law in Nigeria, nay Africa.
Founder of Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan
The late Prof Jegede set up the faculty of Law, University of Ibadan in 1982. He established the broad policy that entailed that to enrol for the LL.B programme of the University of Ibadan, a student must have acquired a strong first degree in Social Science, or Arts or Humanities. This freshivating programme produced great legal minds, such as Dr. Alex Iziyon (SAN), Niyi Akintola (SAN), Wale Akoni (SAN), Tunji Oyeyipo (SAN), Kunle Oyesanya (SAN), Justice Uche Onyemenan, JCA (Justice of the Court of Appeal), Kunle Omotola (President Real Estate Practitioners of Nigeria), among others.
Prof Jegede was a university teacher par excellence. He taught Equity Trusts with uncommon and ingenuous clarity. He was a role model in academic leadership and a great motivator of young lecturers and subordinates in the faculty. Every lecturer felt at home with him. He ran the faculty without geographical or tribal cleavages. In fact, nobody came close to Prof Jegede (SAN) without loving him. He was clearly lovable. His tenure at the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan was marked by what American Constitutional lawyers refer to as power of example rather than example of power. The students and academic staff loved him dearly because, among others he led by example.
His cook and colleague
Prof Jegede facilitated my employment as Lecturer Grade Two at the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan in March 1983. When I resumed duty, the Estate Department could not provide me accommodation. Prof Jegede invited me to share his professorial residence at No. 6 Parry Road, with him. He asked me to make use of all the rooms except the master bedroom which he used any time he came from Lagos. He stayed in Ibadan every Monday, Thursday and Friday. For the days he stayed at Ibadan, we lived together at No. 6 Parry Road, University of Ibadan – his professorial residence. I prepared the meals which both of us shared, polished his shoes and kept his room very tidy.
Sometimes as we reflected over lunch and dinner, I would wonder if it was the same Prof Jegede who, as my Dean of Faculty during my undergraduate years at the Faculty of Law University of Lagos, was so distant and awesome. I use the word “distant” because during my undergraduate years, the student’s problems were solved at the office of the Faculty Officer. We rarely saw the Dean except at the lecture hall. At Ibadan, he was humble and disarmingly human.
When he eventually resigned from the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, because the Senate and Council tried to disturb his enviable vision for the faculty, I felt seriously deprived and deflated. I began to count my days at that prestigious and highly revered premier university.
His legal practice
He returned to his lucrative legal practice in Lagos. The late Prof Jegede practised law with extraordinary strength, grace, resourcefulness, decorum, dignity, intelligence and elegance. He paid his juniors and interns very well and demanded fidelity and hard work from them. He showed great respects to the courts and judges even where the judges were his former students. Numerous successful lawyers in Nigeria and Cameroun had their post-call training at his posh office at Yaba, Lagos.
He was one of the greatest Brief-Makers in the legal profession. My friends at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court bear tribute that his appellate briefs were second to none in Nigeria. The briefs bred intimacy between him and the appellate courts and conveyed some hidden appeal.They were marked by orderly progression of premises and organisation seldom seen elsewhere. They narrowed issues to their tiniest edge and provided legal authority for every point.
It was said that he once turned down appointment to the Supreme Court of Nigeria because of his priced personal freedom and his feeling that there was no higher professional calling than teaching the law in our classrooms and espousing the law in high and appellate courts.
Le-ultimo vagio
Death came to Prof Jegede so unexpectedly at 81 in circumstances in which medical negligence could be surmised. He energetically walked into a hospital for routine check-up and had to be carried out stone cold dead.
As he begins his ultimate journey to mother-earth on July 10, he does so with an outpouring of our unchanging sentiments of deep love and nostalgia. We shall miss his good nature, strategic piece of advice, his comforting presence, his unremitting ability to render assistance in times of need and his equanimity in moments of crisis. We shall also miss his infectious smiles that might mistakenly portray him as shy.
Adieu, my mentor, my boss and my friend. May the Good Lord receive your beautiful soul in that beautiful city of gold.
Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill of the Court of Appeal has called on the Bar and Bench to observe international best legal practices in the conduct of election petitions.
He was delivering a keynote address at the Annual Seminar of the Eastern Bar Forum (EBF) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at the Multipurpose Hall of the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Justice, Uyo
Speaking on The Bar and Bench in Nigeria: the imperatives of ethical revolution in the legal profession, Justice Georgewill said the Bar and the Bench must collaborate.
“The relationship between the Bar and the Bench is a very unique one, they share a common bond and a symbolic connection whereby one cannot exist without the other.
“Indeed, the Bench is the product of the Bar. There cannot be the Bench without the Bar, the Bar is the life giving source of the Bench and they both make up the legal profession in Nigeria,” he said.
He urged the profession to do its best to remain above board so as to protect its aura.
His words: “When you see them garbed in their black gown and white wig, they are the envy of others and they belong to the prestigious club of the legal profession.
“As members of this club, they are entrusted with the duty to act as a gauge or a barometer and as watch-dog of the society to ensure that the fundamental rights and liberties of the citizenry are respected and protected so that no man is oppressed.
“They are to ensure through the instrumentality of the law that rights of citizens who may not be capable of protecting themselves from the oppression of the powerful and mighty are not trampled upon without due legal redress.
“The legal profession, the Bar and Bench, also carries the sacred duty of ensuring that there is justice, equity and fairness in the land. The Bar does this by championing good causes in the justice, equity and fairness in the land.
“The Bar does this by championing good causes in the system and using its good knowledge of the law to defend the oppressed. The Bar continues to fight the good fight for justice to ensure that our society is changed for the better and governed by just laws for a just society.
“The Bench, on its part, carries out its responsibility by ensuring that justice is rendered to all that are brought or come before it with integrity and without fear or favour, ill will or affection
“The legal profession prides itself as the learned profession and its members as learned men, learned a little in almost everything and learned most in the law. They are a special breed of professionals, to whom much respect and honour is given and therefore from whom much more is expected by the society. The question is whether the Legal profession in Nigeria is living up to its billing by the society? Is it a thing of bride to belong to the Legal profession in Nigeria today? We shall soon find out.”
Justice Georgewill said the legal profession encompasses the length and breadth of the administration of law and justice systems in Nigeria and those involved in it, including the courts and the practitioners of the law.
According to him, the societal expectations are as essential as the very fabrics necessary for the country’s survival and growth.
“We must carry out our duties with integrity, honour, commitment to excellence and adopt the best practices in the post election litigations. We must collectively strive to attain justice so that only the true wishes of the peoples of Nigeria in their various states as expressed by their votes is respected.
“The Bar and the Bench must shun all acts or perceived acts of corruption and undue influence in all its ramifications so that our country will march on into glory with integrity and justice as our watch word even in the post election era litigations.
“The Bar and Bench must work assiduously to regain the obviously lost confidence of the Nigerian people, who in the past had wondered aloud, and justifiably so, over the unsavoury happenings and the usefulness of post election litigations in this country bedeviled with lack of transparency and integrity.
“This perception of the Nigerian people against the Bar/Bench must be changed through our conscious efforts to turn things around for good and justice in this year’s post election litigation so as to reduce to nil or the barest minimum all such perceptions of corruption in the judicial process in the post election era,” he said.
Chairman of the Governing Council of EBF, Chief Ogbonna Igwenyi, explained why the seminar was organised.
“Since 2012, the EBF has always organised a seminar on topical issues of the day with a view to keeping members and the entire society abreast with developments on contemporary issues affecting everybody in the society,” he said.
He praised his predecessor, theBayelsa State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Mr. Kemasuode Wodu for his legacies in the forum including nurturing the annual seminar and Dinner.
Igwenyi thanked Imo State Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha for his support to the forum especially, his donation of a piece of land for the construction of the EBF headquarters.
He also praised the forum’s founding fathers for their continued assistance to the association.
Former President of the NBA, Okey Wali (SAN), former General Secretary of the association, M. Emeka JP Obegolu and Mr. Chidi Anyaegbu, Chief Executive Officer of Chisco Transport were honoured at the occasion for their contributions to the development of the NBA and socio-economic development of the country.
An Ikeja High Court in Lagos has awarded N10 million damages against Paradigm Communications Limited, publishers of National Daily, for libelling a former council chairman Afeez Ipesa-Balogun.
Justice Lateef Abisola Okunnu held that the publication was libellous.
“There had, indeed, been a false, libelous publication made by the first defendant to defame the claimant in the estimation of right-thinking members of the public,” she held.
Ipesa-Balogun, in December 2010, sued over the story published on November 27 and 28, 2010, with the headline: Incredible! Chairman Milks LG Dry, How He Blows Billions on Private Assets, Houses…in Nigeria, U… Allegation is Self-Deceiving – Council Boss … EFCC Probe Imminent’’
The claimant complained that the publication was false and libelous and had defamed him in the estimation of right-thinking members of the public.
The judge consequently ordered that Paradigm Communications pays N10 million as damages to the former council Chairman for the wrong done to him by the publication.
He made a perpetual order of injunction restraining it from further publishing the offending article and a further N250,000 award against it to Ipesa-Balogun to defray the cost of legal services incurred by him in prosecuting the case.
Our nation is awash with public debtors. They include the Federal Government, state and local governments. The creditors are also many. Topping the list of individual creditors, you have civil servants, retired and serving. The debtors like the famous Unoka of Things Fall Apart has lost any sense of shame. Some owe two, some five, some 11 months. The list of the debtors keep growing by the day, and the debtors instead of being ashamed, have become emboldened, andnow, theymerely look their creditors in the face, and remind them, that they are several other creditorslike them.
Owing workers have become trendy, with the governors indifferently comparing notes, as to who is owing morethan the other. Some have even declared that they have no idea how they can get out of their indebtedness, reminding their creditors to be patient, as they would give priority to those who have shown understanding, when they decide to pay their debts. The state governors, as part of their defence, remind theirworkers that even the federal government is also owing workers, so why should they be ashamed. They put a bold face to their insolvency, as they remind their creditors that if they must pay, they will first pay those that have not taken up arms against them.
The debtor-governors behave like Unoka. Unoka was the father of Okonkwo of The Things Fall Apart, the literary classic by Chinua Achebe. According to Achebe, Unoka “was lazy and improvident and was incapable of thinking about tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of palm-wine, called round his neighbours and made merry. He always said whenever he saw a dead man’s mouth he saw the folly of not eating what one had in one’s lifetime. Unoka was, of course, a debtor, and he owed every neighbour some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts”.
Many of our governors, serving and erstwhile, are no different from Unoka, the character depicted by Achebe in his famous novel. Many of them when ‘money came their way’ went into a spending spree. Some bought private jets, without any thought about cost of maintenance. Many spent the state money cruising the world; others engaged in one fancy project or another. Nearly all of them spared no thought about saving the freebies, which oil money is. Their happiest moment is when the oil money is rolling in. Like them, Unoka’s “happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments, hung above the fireplace. Unoka would play with them, his face beaming with blessedness and peace”. With the free money gone, many of the governors like Unoka, have lost their peace and composure.
With the creditors at the gates, harassing and haranguing the governors for their salaries, theyput a bold face to their insolvency. Again, according to Achebe, when a neighbour, Okoye, whom Unoka owed, came calling for his money, the drama that played out is similar to what the governors are acting. There, as soon as Unoka understood, Okoye’s mission, he burst out laughing. He said to Okoye: “Look at that wall. Look at those lines of chalk; and Okoye saw groups of short perpendicular lines drawn in chalk. There were five groups, and the smallest group had 10 lines. Unoka had a sense of the dramatic and so he allowed a pause, in which he took a pinch of snuff and sneezed noisily.”
Continuing, Unoka said: “Each group there represents a debt to someone, and each stroke is 100 cowries. You see, I owe that man 1,000 cowries. But he has not come to wake me up in the morning for it. I shall pay you, but not today. Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. I shall pay my big debts first. And he took another pinch of snuff, as if that was paying the big debts first”. According to Achebe, the creditor merely rolled up his goatskin and departed, just like the civil servants and the pensioners across the debtor states.
There is another respect, in which many of the governors and their other public-compatriots-in-debts have exhibited the Unoka syndrome. It is the story of Unoka’s encounter with the Oracle of Hills and Caves. Unoka had gone to consult the oracle as to why he had a miserable harvest. Not long ago, the governors had gone to consult President Muhammadu Buhari, at Aso Rock, with tales of why they are unable to pay their workers’ salary. Many of them went with varieties of salacious tales of sacrifice, but of course, none was ready to accept culpability for their woes.
According to Achebe, many years ago, Unoka had gone to consult Agbala, whose priestess was Chika. He (Unoka) said to her: “Every year, before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of land…. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen…. Hold your peace screamed the priestess…. You have offended neither the gods nor your fathers. And when a man is at peace with his gods and his ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the strength of his arm. You, Unoka, are known in all the clan for the weakness of your matchet and your hoe. When your neighbours go out with their axe to cut down virgin forest… you stay at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. Go home and work like a man”.Our governors, please go and work.
Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade, has said she is committed to improving the health status and welfare of workers in the judiciary in the state.
The Chief judge gave this assurance last week while inaugurating a new staff restaurant at the Roseline Omotoso new court building at the old Secretariat, Ikeja GRA.
She said the opening of the restaurant, also marked the opening of similar ones in Epe, Ogba, Ikorodu and Ajegunle courts.
Justice Atilade said that the establishment of the restaurant was in line with the promises she made during her swearing in about a year ago that the welfare of judiciary workers would be paramount to her.
According to her, the new eatery would provide workers with good food prepared under good hygienic conditions adding that the eatery would not only served judges but also lawyers and other judicial workers, especially those who might not be opportuned to have breakfast before coming to the courts.
Justice Atilade said the caterer was chosen to ensure that quality food were served compared to what is served at bukaterias said to be of low quality.
In her remarks, Head of the Family Courts, Justice Yetunde Idowu who recalled that the Chief Judge recently inaugurated a restaurant in State High Court, Igbosere, said all the restaurants established by the state judiciary ranked among the best in town and assured workers that they would provide them with good edibles.
Justice Idowu thanked the Chief Judge for her commitment to the improvement of staff health conditions and welfare.
Other judges of the state High Court on the occasion include Justices Lateef Lawal-Akapo, Olaide Olayinka, Omolara Kayode-Ogunmekan, Lateefat Folami, Sedoten Ogunsanya, Ganiyu Safari, the Chief Registrar, Emmanuel Ogundara and other principal officers of the judiciary.
