Statement By NBA President On The Occasion Of The International Anti-Corruption Day

by Legalnaija | Dec 9, 2018 | Uncategorized

Dear Sir/Ma,

1. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (“UNCAC”).  Since its adoption in 2003, the Convention Against Corruption has achieved near-universal status with 186 States
including Nigeria signing up to the Convention.  09 December of every year is observed across the globe as the International Anti-Corruption Day (“IACD”) with the aim of raising public awareness of corruption and igniting discourse on, amongst others,required
measures for tackling corruption.  The Nigerian Bar Association (“NBA”) joins the International Community to mark today as the International Anti-Corruption Day.

2. Corruption is multi-faceted even though deserved attention is mostly focused on financial and economic corrupt practices.  The conducts that qualify as corruption actually extend beyond financial and economic practices
and encompass fraud, embezzlement, illicit financial flows, administrative malfeasance, mismanagement of public resources, political non-accountability, absence of transparency and impunity in public service.  The United Nation Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
obviously had this wider definition of corruption when he stated that “corruption begets corruption and fosters a corrosive culture of impunity.  The United Nations Convention Against Corruption is among our primary tools for advancing the fight.  Sustainable
Development Goal 16 and its targets also offer a template for action”.

3. The deleterious consequences of corruption stare us in the face in Nigeria.  We see it in the uncompleted developmental projects that dot our landscape, in all the nooks and crannies of this country, even though
the costs of and consideration for those projects had in a number of cases been paid out, sometimes, in full; we see the consequences of corruption in the lack of basic necessities that our citizens should take for granted such as but not limited to potable
water particularly given the wealth of Nigeria; we see it in the decay in and of our institutions – educational, infrastructure, health, literally all our institutions – notwithstanding the enormous material and human resources that the Almighty has blessed
us with.  We see the effects and consequences of corruption in the suffocating poverty amongst our people and indeed, in the pervasive insecurity of lives and property.  Recently, the Brookings Institution released a report that shows that Nigeria, with an
estimated population of 200 million people has overtaken India with a population of 1,324 billion people, as the nation with the highest number of extremely poor people.  That, indeed, should worry all of us.

4. It is gratifying that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFRhas consistently made it the credo of his government to fight corruption, right from its inauguration almost four years ago.  That is commendable.  The fight
must however not be selective or discriminatory in nature; it must not even be perceived to be selective or discriminatory.  The trial of persons for corrupt practices must itself not be tainted with corruption.  Media trial of persons charged with corrupt
practices, for example, amount to corruption itself.  Indeed, those orchestrated media trials degrade and corrupt the justice administration system quite apart from the incalculable (but obviously intended) damage that it does to persons who may ultimately
be discharged and acquitted.  In point of fact, it is corrupt practice to use as license or hide under the cover of the fight against corruption to recklessly destroy the names, characters and reputations of persons who have not been found guilty of corrupt
practices by competent courts and who may ultimately be pronounced innocent of such charges.  Furthermore, the trials of persons for corrupt practices must be speedy and must not howsoever be used or perceived to be used as excuse or basis for trampling upon
the fundamental rights of citizens including but not limited to their rights to fair hearing.

5. We must also draw attention to the need for proactive strategies in fighting corruption, particularly of the economic and financial genre.  As earlier mentioned in this Statement, corruption includes administrative
malfeasance, political non-accountability, absence of transparency and impunity in public service.  More often than not, these genres of corruption give birth to financial and economic corruption.  In other words, financial and economic corruption thrive where
there is lack of transparency, impunity in public service, political non-accountability and pervasiveness of administrative malfeasance.  The NBA advises government to beam the searchlight on these corrosive and corrupt practices as a proactive measure in
the fight against financial and economic corruption.  Impunity in public service must be abhorred and so must political non-accountability and a lack of transparency in public administration and the management of our affairs.

6. As ordinary citizens of Nigeria, we must also all stand up against corruption.  We must refuse to give bribes for favors.  We must blow whistles on bribe-takers and the practitioners of other forms of corruption,to
wit, impunity in public service, administrative malfeasance, political non-accountability and a lack of transparency in our country’s administration and management.  The fight against corruption must not be left to or for our governments alone.  We must, as
individuals and citizens, also take our stand against corruption in all its ramifications.  Only then can we begin to reap the rewards and benefits of our abundant wealth, both in human and material resources.  God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  God
bless the Nigerian Bar Association.

Paul Usoro, SAN

President

It Should Not Be The Duty Of A Lawyer To Investigate The Source Of Clients’ Funds

by Legalnaija | Dec 8, 2018 | Uncategorized

I have now read the statement credited to Mr Okutepa SAN and yes he is correct that EFCC has a right to investigate anyone and that lawyers are also subject to the jurisdiction of the Court and yes the NBA President does not have immunity from investigation nor prosecution. 

I however disagree with him on his submission that the fees for work done for an individual came from state coffers. This in my view is a clear evidence that he either did not read the aide memoir attached to the NBA President’s address to NEC or he chose to ignore it’s content. 

My recollection of the charge posted on social media is that it’s in connection with the sum of 1.7B received from AKSG as fees for work done by PUC for AKSG. The fee for the election petition was the sum of 300m which was paid into PUC account by the Client either directly or through a proxy but definitely not directly from the account of AKSG. Let us assume that the money was first taken from AKSG account and then ferried to PUCs how is the recipient expected to know that information not having been involved in the paying of the monies into the account.

Furthermore, the statement betrays the possibility of the truthfulness of the idea that the timing of the Charge is a function of the ‘pain’ still being experienced by some of those who lost the election to PUSAN. Whilst the learned Silk Okutepa may not see, as of now, how the issue affects the generality of the Bar I pray that he will never have to experience the need to explain how his Client got the money with which his fees was paid as a result of this precedent that he wants established and that is simply because the precedent shall never be established. 

The day will never come that a lawyer will have to, in addition to thinking how he will best serve his client’s cause, he will also have to consider where the Client is sourcing money to pay him as long as he is not engaged in actively or otherwise involved in advising the Client to embark on criminalities to be able to pay the fees.

The present siege on the person of Paul Usoro SAN is the next stage in the fight for the soul of Nigeria outside of the realm of politic and politician. The first stage was in the invasion of the homes of our judicial officers which many of us chose to ignore and some spoke in favour of and which has obviously failed to achieve it major agenda though it did serve to send out some ‘lessons’. After this stage I pray it will not be your or my turn as individual lawyers.

I rest at this point and will post some of the things I’ve had cause to say on several other fora in respect of this matter of this Charge against the person of the President of the NBA.

Kayode Enitan

Effect Of Media Trial And The Court | Olatunji M. Dawodu Esq.

by Legalnaija | Dec 8, 2018 | Uncategorized

Media is regarded as one of the pillars of democracy. Media has wide ranging roles in the society. Media plays a vital role in molding the opinion of the society and it is capable of changing the whole viewpoint through which people perceive various events. The media can be commended for starting a trend where the media plays an active role in bringing the accused to hook.

Freedom of media is the freedom of people as they should be informed of public matters. It is thus needless to emphasis that a free and a healthy press is indispensable to the functioning of democracy. 

In a democratic set up there has to be active participation of people in all affairs of their community and the state. It is their right to be kept informed about the current political social, economic and cultural life as well as the burning topics and important issues of the day in order to enable them to consider forming broad opinion in which they are being managed, tackled and administered by the government and their functionaries. To achieve this objective people need a clear and truthful account of events, so that they may form their own opinion and offer their own comments and viewpoints on such matters and issues and select their future course of action. The right to freedom of speech and expression is contained in the 1999 constitution. However the freedom is not absolute. However the right to freedom of speech and expression does not embrace the freedom to commit contempt of court.

The trial by media is definitely an undue interference in the process of justice delivery. Before delving into the issue of justifiability of media trial it would be pertinent to first try to define what actually the ‘trial by media’ means. Trial is a word which is associated with the process of justice. It is the essential component on any judicial system that the accused should receive a fair trial.

 It completely overlooks the vital gap between an accused and a convict keeping at stake the golden principles of ‘presumption of innocence until proven guilty’ and ‘guilt beyond reasonable doubt’. Now, what we observe is media trial where the media itself does a separate investigation, builds a public opinion against the accused even before the court takes cognizance of the case. By this way, it prejudices the public and sometimes even judges and as a result the accused, that should be assumed innocent, is presumed as a criminal leaving all his rights and liberty unrepressed.

If excessive publicity in the media about a suspect or an accused before trial prejudices a fair trial or results in characterizing him as a person who had indeed committed the crime, it amounts to undue interference with the “administration of justice”, calling for proceedings for contempt of court against the media. Unfortunately, rules designed to regulate journalistic conduct are inadequate to prevent the encroachment of civil rights.

Trial By Media Is Contempt Of Court And Needs To Be Punished.

Contempt of Court is defined by identifying it as civil and criminal. Criminal contempt has further been divided into three types:

# Scandalizing

# Prejudicing trial, and

# Hindering the administration of justice.

If anybody has a case to answer, charge him/her to court. No lawyer is afraid of going to court especially when he or she has done no wrong. But going into the media deliberately to paint someone black by maligning and casting aspersions on the person’s integrity is so preposterous especially when it comes from a lawyer.

OLATUNJI M. DAWODU ESQ

PAUL USORO SAN, A VICTIM OF CROSSFIRE POLITICS

by Legalnaija | Dec 8, 2018 | Uncategorized

Mr Paul Usoro, the newly sworn in president of the NBA who has taken off with a very big bang, enthusiasm and positive energy reconstructing the old manner of businesses at the NBA House, receiving accolades and adulations from the overwhelming majority of the bar as exemplified by the standing ovation he received from members of the NBA NEC yesterday is the victim of a very primitive and execrable brand of Politics being played by the government of Nigeria..

Every discerning mind understands that it's about the unconstitutional takeover of Akwa Ibom state by hook or crook by the ruling party with the active collusion of some indigenes of the state..

Added to this and as if to add salt to injury, the National president had the "unfortunate" task of being the counsel to the Senate president Mr Bukola Saraki in his tral at the CCB at the instance of the Federal government.This he carried out dutifully and successfully with great attention to details one of the hall marks for which he's known over the years.. For this, carrying out his lawful duty as a legal practitioner he's been marked for destruction and this plan is being accentuated by a few people in the bar with access to the levers of power who are still bitter over his guts to contest for the last NBA president election which he won..

Usoro was counsel to both Udom Emmanuel and Bukola Saraki people the government/APC attempted to heckle and discomfit for political reasons. Usoro's only sin is that he's seen as a pro PDP lawyer meanwhile he's never rejected an APC brief..

The idea therefore is since they missed Udom and Saraki because of Usoro's brilliant advocacy based on evidence, they would get him (Usoro) It's like in a game of football it's said usually when the game gets tough, "if you miss the ball, don't miss the leg" our president Paul Usoro SAN, is unfortunately the "leg" in this crossfire, primitive, rough-hewn political game which the APC is known for..

How do you explain the fact that information regarding the charge of Mr Usoro SAN is already on social media meanwhile, he hasn't been served.. Why prosecute the case on Social media and not the court? The only plausible reason would be that they know their case is as wishy-washy and namby-pamby as a lamb that can't stand the weight of it's own wool. They idea therefore is to cause Mr Paul Usoro embarrassment in the eyes of the public particularly among lawyers but this has failed woefully and boomeranged as it has attracted the angst of majority of lawyers who understand that no law puts a cap on the amount a counsel ought to charge his client for services rendered which Mr Paul Usoro SAN carried out judiciously..

Why not equally look into the accounts of the states governed by the ruling party or the accounts of the lawyers who stood for them at their trying moments at the Election Tribunals to know how much they were paid by their clients (State governors)

It's in the light of the prevenient therefore that i must first salute and appreciate our eminently distinguished learned Seniors, Elders and other members of the Nigerian Bar Association for your continuous understanding of the issues and your undaunted and unblinking support and solidarity for our president at this trying period not just for him but for the Bar for it's the Bar that's under attack today.. If we allow govt institutions to begin to interfere and cap how much fees we charge especially when the remonstrance over the fees charged is not coming from our clients, then we are in serious trouble and our profession is in jeopardy..

This is therefore, the time for lawyers all over the country close ranks and come out enmase to protest and support our president and stand against the forces of facism, totalitarianism, anachronism and all their agents..

Let's fight not just to preserve the Bar but our hard earned democracy.

God bless our president

God bless the NBA

God bless our Nigeria.

*Olusegun Thompson Esq*

5 Reasons Why EFCC Is A Meddlesome Interloper In Matters Concerning Professional Legal Fees

by Legalnaija | Dec 8, 2018 | Uncategorized

At the last meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association; National Executive Council on the 6th of December,2018, the Honourable President of the Bar, Paul Usoro SAN in his speech, highlighted 5 legal positions on why the EFCC has no business investigating the professional fee of a legal practitioner, especially if neither member of the contract had cried fowl in the first place. 

Find the 5 points quoted from the above mentioned speech below- 

“(a) Client-Lawyer Privilege. It has judicially and historically been acknowledged that issues of fees, as between a lawyer and his client, is a matter of privilege. The recent decision of the Court of Appeal that was delivered on 14 June 2017 in Appeal Number CA/A/202/2015: Central Bank of Nigeria v Registered Trustees of the Nigerian Bar Association & Attorney General of the Federation affirmed this position. By questioning lawyers on the legitimate fees that they have earned from clients, the EFCC is breaching the lawyer-client privilege and showing complete disregard for the judgments of the Courts in this regard.

(b) EFCC’s lack of Locus Standi in Client-Lawyer Contractual Relationship. The fees that are paid by a Client to his lawyer is not only a matter of privilege but is also contractual. As we all know, non-parties to a contract are complete strangers thereto and lack the locus standi to question and/or determine the propriety of such contract(s). The EFCC stands in that position in this and other matters of this nature; it lacks the locus standi to question the basis for the fees. Only the parties to the contract can question the justification for the fees and in this instance, neither party has raised any such query. Indeed, neither party reported this matter to the EFCC or invited the Agency to carry out any investigation in regard thereto.

(c) EFCC as Auditor and/or Regulator of Legal Fees. There is no provision in Nigeria’s statute books that constitutes the EFCC into the auditor of legal fees. When the EFCC arrogates to itself the right to determine the basis for a lawyer’s fees, it not only intrudes into a client-lawyer contract which by its nature is privileged, but also constitutes itself into an auditor of lawyers’ fees. No such position has been created in our statute books for the EFCC or any other agency for that matter. The EFCC is also not set up as the regulator of lawyers and their fees and it ought not assume such a position.

(d) Criminalization of Lawyers’ Fees. The EFCC appears to be straining quite hard to criminalize the fees that are earned by lawyers for their legitimate work. Mine is not the first of these intrusions; we all recall the case of Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN when the EFCC attempted to forfeit his fees on the pretext that the funds came from illegal sources. The allegations of the EFCC against me are not any different, particularly in regard to the N300,000,000.00 which was paid by Governor Udom Emmanuel to my Firm’s account for the benefit of his Counsel in the Election Petition Appeal. If these EFCC incursions are not checked, the Bar and the practice of our profession are doomed.

(e) Independence of Legal Profession and Practice. The practice of law, as we all know, is founded on the independence of the legal practitioner and his courage to advocate on behalf of his client to the best of his ability and conviction. That independence and thecourage of the advocate are now being threatened and trampled upon by the EFCC. Lawyers now have to work and walk on tip-toe, looking over their shoulders to determine whether the EFCC would be coming after them solely on account of their courage and independence in advocacy. That does not bode well for the profession or for legal practice generally.” 

Breaking News: NBA President Ready For Court Despite Non – Service Of Charge

by Legalnaija | Dec 7, 2018 | Uncategorized

Paul Usoro SAN, the NBA President has declared his readiness to appear in court on Monday, 10th Decemeber, 2018, despite the refusal of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to serve on him the charges brought against him.

The decision of the learned silk to attend court was made after high-powered meetings and consultations with very senior members of the Bar. The Honourable President believes it is in the interest of justice to have judicial pronouncements on the allegations against him. 

It should be recalled that the grounds of EFCC’s prosecution of the NBA President is on the basis of the legal fee collected by the President’s firm for the over 16 matters handled on behalf of the Akwa-Ibom State Government was too high. 

The NBA President released a list of matters handled on behalf of the State Government, find same below. 

EFCC’s Recent Actions Against Paul Usoro SAN – An Affront on the Bar | Kingsley Iheakaram

by Legalnaija | Dec 7, 2018 | Uncategorized

A democracy without the rule of law is nothing but a pseudo militocracy. I have never seen a democracy as decayed as what we have in Nigeria today. A democracy characterised by persecution, witch hunt, intolerance, propaganda, bad losers, to mention a few.

As long as you are in the opposition, you’re not welcome. A democracy where Law Enforcement Agencies would just dig up anything notwithstanding how frivolous for the sole purpose of embarrassing and/or cowing the people’s mouthpiece into subjugation. This is so bad for a democracy.

This brings to the fore the spat of recent overbearing attacks on the legal profession.

The Government, represented in this instance by the EFCC, has decided to bite more than they can chew, attacking the very soul of the legal profession.

How does one explain or even justify the news making the rounds on the prosecution of Mr. Paul Usoro SAN, the NBA president – the embodiment of Legal profession in Nigeria? As though that is not sad enough, how does one explain or justify the prosecution of the incumbent NBA president over frivolous charges of earned professional fees?

Can any objective mind see this beyond bitter bad blood and political witch hunt?? Your guess is as good as mine.

The reasons, however, may not be far fetched.

First, the Federal Government lost the legal battle against Saraki courtesy of a strong legal team and strategy credited to Mr. Usoro, a number of appointments, including the appointment of the EFCC chairman, were not confirmed by the Saraki’s led senate and nothing happened, Saraki defected from APC and up until today has not lost his seat against all the fight put up by the present government, etc. The ill-willed political mind will trace the brain behind all of the above to a strong legal counsel and strategist, and of course to the stable of Mr. Paul Usoro SAN who is the counsel and chief legal strategist to the Senate president.

To make this whole gimmick even more ridiculous, one would be challenged to answer the question, why wait until after his contentious election as the NBA president for which Mr Usoro emerged victorious against all odds, to levy the frivolous charges against him?. Again, an objective mind wouldn’t see beyond a motive to ridicule, annoy and embarrass the NBA president.

How can you prosecute a lawyer for his earned professional fees clearly substantiated by available documents.

Sadly, some lawyers in some quarters, clearly because Mr Usoro wasn’t their candidate in the last elections, purport to support the actions of the EFCC in this ill motivated bid, forgetting that the bad precedent being laid by the EFCC would not abide in _personam_ to Mr Usoro but to every member of this noble profession. It is not enough to say that Mr. Usoro should go and defend himself. It is equally not enough to say it does not concern me. It certainly concerns you, because as it stands now, the EFCC would be emboldened with the effrontery to go after any lawyer in the days ahead once they presume in their judgment that the fees charged by such lawyer is beyond what they expect.

I’m poised to believe that one of the unsuccessful presidential candidates at the last NBA election has a hand in this whole mess having sworn that Mr. Usoro will know no peace throughout his tenure as the NBA president. I would, however, ask: where does the love for the Bar which propelled such a candidate to run for election as the Bar president lie? In seeing that the institution of the NBA is ridiculed? In instigating the EFCC to embarrass the office of the president of the Bar? It must have been a sorely bitter loss for such a candidate. I still thank God that the Bar does not have such a candidate as its president.

If at all there is a time for all lawyers to rise in coalescence in defence of the nobility and integrity of the Bar, that time is now. It is demeaning on the legal profession to have the EFCC assault it in the manner it has set out to do. I therefore call on all lawyers, young and old, gender irrespective, to stand up against the actions of the EFCC against the Bar and say no to this political witch hunt of the NBA president.

We, as members of the Bar, have always agitated and clamoured for a Bar president who has the clout to speak up against the government and its agencies over incidents of dehumanisation and lack of respect for the rule of law. That president, we now have in the person of Mr. Usoro. Shall we leave him alone in the fight against anti-people’s actions of this government and its agencies. I think not.

I implore lawyers to rise to this occasion. The time is now.

I stand with PUSAN!

I say NO to the prosecution of PUSAN.

For The Record |Emmanuel Etietob

by Legalnaija | Dec 7, 2018 | Uncategorized

Today those who feel aggrieved that the NBA is no longer a gold mine and those who lost the election who don't have a good spirit of sportsmanship instigate the EFCC to prefer a charge against Mr. President of NBA because he charged and was paid professional fee for services rendered. EFCC lawyers are also aiding and abetting it. The issue is not really about the security operatives. It's about lawyers who are narrow minded who want to kill the prestige of the legal profession.

A legal practitioner reserves the right to charge a high amount of money for his professional fee. If his client can afford it and has actually paid, what is wrong with it? The law is trite. Section 36 (12) of the 1999 Constirution as amended provides that no person is to be punished for any offence which is not created by a written law and the penalty there for prescribed in a written law. There is no written law that stipulates that a high professional fee charged and paid by a corporate client who could afford it and has paid without complain is money laundering.

What they are trying to do is persecution and not prosecution. Our highly respected law luminary Afe Babalola SAN charged Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in US dollars in an election petition case which makes what Paul Usoro SAN charged Akwa Ibom state government a peanut. Where was EFCC then?

The universe is not sustained arbitrarily. There are structures of realities which God, the maker of the universe has put in place. They are universal in nature. Jesus Christ said in Luke 23:31 that if it happens to the green tree what do you think will be the fate of other trees? The English adage says "if gold rusts, what will iron do?" The President of NBA is the personification of the glory and splendour of the legal profession. Any attempt to attack the president of NBA is an attack on the profession. It's an attack on all the lawyers. If our colleagues master mind the framing of frivolous and vexatious charges by EFCC against our president, they don't know the consequences before God.

If they knew they wouldn't try it.

In Matthew 7:1-3 among other things Jesus said that the measurement you use to measure unto others shall be used to measure back to you by God.

Psalms 18:26; Matthew 18:23-35 are on God putting on our own nature to interact with us after using his own nature to deal with us for a while and we fail to partake of his nature. If he is faithful and just , He wants a downstream expression of it from us when we deal with others. Else God puts on our character in dealing with us according to the measurement we measured to others. When we measured to others it is a seed. When God measures back to us it comes back as harvest. If you sow to the wind, you reap a whirlwind. Even when Esau had two legitimate reasons to be angry with Jacob his brother, God said to Esau through Hosea the prophet that whatever Esau builds he God will pull it down because he kept his anger against his brother for ever. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I have seen kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. People should know how they abuse this world. Enough is enough.

Emmanuel Etietob

Reaction of Lawyers to unlawful acts of EFCC against Paul Usoro SAN

by Legalnaija | Dec 6, 2018 | Uncategorized

Find below reactions from Nigerian lawyers to the persecution of the NBA President, Paul Usoro SAN – 

PAUL USORO, EFCC AND THE BAR

Though we all fought from different angles during the last NBA general election, now election is gone but the profession remains. You may hate Mr Paul Usoro but the fact is that he is the BAR PRESIDENT and we all plead our allegiance to advancement of the BAR. Therefore we must support the bar president if at all we will ever witness the  BAR of our dreams. The present criminal allegations against P. U is not just baseless but an affront to not just the BAR president but to all members of the profession. EFCC and /or any other law enforcement agency should not be allowed to cow us into relinquishing our right to charge our professional fees to them. Lawyers should stop leveraging on the unwarranted and unlawful political persecution of the president to cause more harm to the BAR by supporting the impunity just to get back to the president. Paul Usoro will one day seize to be the president but the image of the bar remains. If EFCC is allowed to carry out such impunity on the number 1 Nigerian lawyer, what then will be the fate of ordinary man in the street or ordinary member of the profession. We all must stand up against this for the sake of the profession.  #NO2PAULUSOROPERSECUTION.

Attah, Esq

When EFCC started harrassing Ukiri in 2012 over a lawyer-client dispute over fees, NBA national kept conspiratorially silent! Now you see how daring they have become?

ARISE NIGERIAN LAWYERS! 

After P.U. USORO, SAN, our President,who is above EFCC’s harrassment and intimidation despite the warning of the Supreme Court in DIAMOND BANK PLC v. OPARA and EFCC v. DIAMOND BANK PLC?

Let us unite against intimidation of NBA under any guise, if the news is not fake!  P.U. USORO, SAN represents the NBA.

 We must not see this affront as his personal burden.

I will be on the legal team, trust me!

Cheers.

E.B. UKIRI,Esq.

Frmr 1st Vp., NBA.

My dilemma in this matter that smack of political witch hunt is, if the alleged accused person is yet to be arraigned, why are the proposed charge flying all over the place? Who leaked the charge to the press? Why are the news about the charge circulated by those who opposed Paul Usoro, SAN during the NBA elections? Is there a collaboration between the EFCC and Sahara Reporters and some opposing lawyers? Considering the facts that the EFCC first raised these issues at the eave of the NBA elections to whistle down the credibility and choice of Paul Usoro, SAN in the election and again on the eave of the first NEC meeting to be hosted by the Paul Usoro SAN led administration, is suggestive of a deliberate agenda aimed at destabilizing this gentleman and causing him to be derailed in pursuing his set objectives.

I urge on all of us to rise up in defense of the legal profession and defend one of our own.

Because they don’t want him to be president of the bar. Interests aligned together and attackers gathered together. An enemy to my enemy is my friend. That’s what is in the play here. Also Usoro defeated the EFCC twice. 1, with saraki when they couldn’t achieve their aim, 2, with becoming the president and also refusing to play their tune as regards the politics happening in akwaibom. Efcc freezing state account, but we all know where it will end. So attacking Usoro is the best game for them…

Just like they think the AGF too is guilty of something’s as regards the maina shit, they will just dig up unnecessary facts and use it to embarrass their target. 

They did it to Mike Ozekhome SAN, he isn’t talking again today. 

Mr. President, no shaking, we are with you on this one. The worst is that he would be docked and he would be let out on self recognizance after which the battle starts…. (What’s gonna be the gain of EFCC) second over 700 lawyers including well respected silks are ready for this…. And on the long run the issues for determination would affect the BAR… Let’s see where it ends… 

So if I charge a client 5 billion and he’s paying and still oweing for numerous cases oooo, I should be docked abi…..? 

Shameless people. Let them come. 

All the wailers game plans even at NEC is already in the open…. Let’s see how it goes today? Your point of order plan etc… Let’s see how it goes…. 

*No Shaking, We STAND WITH PAUL USORO*