Court Dismisses Suit Challenging The Conferment Of Rank Of SAN On Toyin Bashorun

The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, sitting in Apo
has held that the suit seeking to challenge the conferment of the
rank of SAN on Ms. Oluwatoyin Bashorun lacks merit.

Dismissing the case between Chinwe Adeleke v. Oluwatoyin
Bashorun, CJN, LPPC & Ors with Suit No: CV/2872/2017, the court per
John Adeniyi J, held that the case lacks merit for non-disclosure
of a reasonable cause of action. This is not far from an opinion
earlier given on the propriety or otherwise of the decision of the
committee.

The Claimant’s case was dismissed on the strength of the
Preliminary objection raised by counsel to the 1st defendant, A.J.,
Owonikoko SAN. It was dismissed entirely considering that even the
amended Originating Summons before the court was also found to also
disclose no cause of action.

In the court’s view, the appropriate order to make in the
circumstances was one of dismissal of the suit in its entirety but
with no order as to cost.

Only two of the issues were considered. They were issue number 3
and 4 which bothered on jurisdiction and lack of reasonable cause
of action respectively.

Issue three on lack of jurisdiction was resolved against the 1st
Defendant, thus, paving way for the court to determine the suit on
the merit. The Court, therefore, resolved that it had jurisdiction
considering the totality of the claimant’s case.

The case was dismissed on issue 4. The court held that the
plaintiff failed to show that she had any civil rights or
obligations to be determined by the court in respect of the award
of a professional rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria on Ms.
Oluwatoyin Ajose Bashorun.

His lordship further held, agreeing with Owonikoko, SAN, that
the disciplinary committee and the LPPC (to whom she had repeatedly
but unsuccessfully submitted petitions against Ms. Bashorun) cannot
be compelled to determine the claimant’s claim timeously or in the
exact way the claimant desired or dictated.

TNL recalls that Ms. Bashorun was the only female on the list of
successful candidates for the award of the rank of SAN in 2017. Her
conferment was, however, suspended on Friday preceding official
swearing-in September 2017 owing to two petitions received after
the announcement of her success in the exercise.

A panel was set up by the Honorable the Chief Justice of Nigeria
to revisit the petitions and report their funding not later than
November 2017.

The panel subsequently sat and in its published report, uphold
the first petition while though finding Mr. Bashorun NOT guilty of
professional misconduct in the protracted tenancy litigation,
considered her conduct of dragging recovery of tenanted premises
with her landlords unbecoming of an aspirant to the prestigious
rank of SAN. She was therefore banned from re-applying for at least
3 years with leave granted to apply for a review to the Legal
Practitioners. Privileges Committee.

On the petition which was submitted by the Claimant in the suit
dismissed today based on the same complaints, the Investigation
Panel struck it out as having been overtaken by events.

Ostensibly, that decision was arrived at because the Claimant
later elected to pursue her right by Litigating her claims in
court. She declined to prosecute her petition before the special
panel.

With this judgment, it appears that the coast is finally clear
for Ms. Toyin Bashorun to revive her application or take advantage
of the window for review of the sanction of 3-year ban as allowed
in the report of the Special Investigation Panel.

Initially, it was under speculation that the conferment was
challenged because she was holding 9 months rent, but her counsel,
Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), had earlier revealed that the reason Ms.
Oluwatoyin Ajose Bashorun was denied the SAN title was because she
used her position as a lawyer to frustrate the disposal of the
landlord and tenancy suit instituted by her landlord.