NBA Ikorodu Chair, Bayo Akinlade Finally Responds To Allegations Of Unethical And Unprofessional Misconduct Against Him.

The Chairman of NBA Ikorodu Branch and National Convener of
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIARY
(FIACIJ) finally responds to allegations that he
presented a tailor as a lawyer in his law firm for the purpose of
collecting over 1 million Naira as legal fees from another lawyer’s
client.

The story first broke when one of the legal bloggers published
the petition against Mr. Akinlade. Many in the legal community were
taken aback as to how the Anti-corruption crusader could do such a
thing. Others saw it as a ploy by his opponents during the Ikorodu
Bar Elections to discredit him and have him disqualified. Whichever
way it was; the Corruption fighter did not respond to the
allegations until recently when the National Body of the NBA sent
him the Petition and asked for his response. TheNigerianLawyer
obtained Mr. Akinlade’s Statement on oath (stated below) and asked
him a few questions:

Why do you think this petition is resurfacing
now?

When it first came out in July through one of the LAW bloggers
they said it was just POLITICS. Now, I believe its because some
people see all the work we have achieved as a branch within the
last 3 months and they want to distract me.

Are the allegations false?

Of course the allegations are false! How can a lawyer say I
deceived him and his client by sending a tailor to them and
deceived them into paying a tailor legal fees. What would stop me
from collecting the fees myself? I am not even aware of the said
transaction.

So you still believe it is political?

Yes, it is very political and I am so disappointed by the people
who bring politics into the NBA and I ask; when did we start
playing politics in NBA? When did we start using political
analogies to describe NBA elections and what happens within the
NBA? Is a chairman being paid like politicians? Politics has no
rules of engagement, there are no standards or ethical foundations,
basically almost anything goes in politics, it is a mix of
professional and unprofessional people, of educated and uneducated
people, comparing APC and PDP politics to what happens in the NBA
elections is an insult to our profession. NBA is an association
with rules and laws of professional conduct but we turn a blind eye
to these rules and throw caution to the wind during election
periods. That is what happened here when my own colleagues would go
to great lengths to commit all sorts of atrocities and turn around
and say it’s just POLITICS

Now that you have responded what are the outcomes you
expect?

I expect that the LPDC will properly investigate the allegations
against me and if they find that they are untrue, I expect them to
take proper steps in dealing with the petitioners. I have also
written a petition against the person whose letter the petitioners
used to make an allegation against me. It will interest you to note
that the 6 people who signed the petition against me were not even
privy to the information or the events upon which the petition is
based. I can’t even begin to phantom how lawyers will debase
themselves soo low as to accuse me of something a third party
claimed I did in 2013. My response/defense to the petition has been
sent by courier to the National Body of the NBA and I expect to
hear from them soon.

 IN THE HIGH / MAGISTRATE COURT OF
LAGOS STATE

IN THE LAGOS JUDICIAL DIVISION

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION AGAINST ADEBAYO AKINLADE,
ESQ

WITNESS STATEMENT ON OATH OF MR. ADEBAYO AKINLADE, ESQ

I, Adebayo Ademola Akinlade, Male, Christian, Nigerian Citizen
of Block L, Flat 11B; Millennium Housing Estate, Oke-Eletu, Ijede
LCDA, Ikorodu, Lagos do hereby make oath and state as follows:

1. I am the current Chairman of the Ikorodu Branch of the Nigerian
   Bar Association

1. The depositions contained herein are within my personal
   knowledge and belief.

1. I know the 1^st to the 4^th and the
   6^th Petitioners against me as members of the Nigerian
   Bar Association; Ikorodu Branch to wit: 1. Mr. Nurudeen Ogbara, 2.
   Dotun Adetunji, 3. Mr. Tayo Ladega, 4. Mr. Ezekiel Ogbaide, and Mr.
   Adekunle Adekoya.

1. I do not recall who the 5^th Petitioner is

1. Between 2012 and 2014; I was the Secretary of the Ikorodu
   Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association

1. Sometime in 2013, I received a letter from one Biola Daramola
   Esq claiming that one Abolaji Okoya had collected some monies from
   his client as agreement fees. A Copy of the Letter dated
   24^th June 2013 is Attached herein and marked
   exhibit A1

1. Attached to the letter dated 24^th June 2013 was a
   copy of a cheque allegedly made out to one Abolaji Okoya and a Deed
   of Assignment dated the 29^th of April 2013. A copy of
   the Cheque and the Deed of Assignment is Attached herein
   and Marked Exhibits A2 and A3 respectively

1. Before June 2013, I had never seen or heard of any Biola
   Daramola. I would later find out that he claimed he was registered
   as a member of the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar
   Association

1. Mr. Abolaji Okoya was first introduced to me by a junior lawyer
   named Dayo Olofinlade who I had forged a partnership with as far
   back as 2010.

1. Mr. Abolaji Okoya told me that he was a law graduate who had
   suspended going to law school because he had a young family he
   needed to take care of; hence he had become a land agent/speculator
   pending the time he would gather enough funds to sustain his family
   and attend Law school

1. I had no direct dealings with Mr. Okoya except when he and Mr.
   Olofinlade approached me for legal advice on complicated land cases
   that Mr. Olofinlade was handling

1. That only Mr. Olofinlade shared an office with me as a partner.
   A copy of the letterheads used during that period is
   Attached and Marked Exhibit A4 and A5
   respectively

1. I never represented Mr. Abolaji Okoya as a lawyer in my firm to
   anyone; his name did not appear in any of my correspondences or
   letterheads. The Petitioners and Mr. Biola Daramola should provide
   proof of this allegations

1. My office address then; was at a big shopping Plaza and for the
   purpose of an accurate identification of my office; my address was
   described as “Left Wing; Rotadet Shopping Plaza, Boge/Gbaga
   B/Stop, Ijede Rd, Ikorodu, Lagos as against the address
   used by Mr. Abolaji Okoya on the Cheque and on the Deed of
   Assignment

1. I recall speaking to Mr. Biola Daramola via telephone directing
   him to refer his letter to the NBA by writing a petition and/or
   report Mr. Abolaji Okoya to the police as I was unaware of the
   transaction neither did I represent the said Abolaji Okoya as a
   lawyer in my office to him or to anyone else.

1. Notwithstanding my strong stance in advising Mr. Biola Daramola
   to report to the authorities, I asked him what he wanted to achieve
   by involving me in the allegation and he said he wanted to use it
   to impress upon the said Mr. Abolaji Okoya to pay him some of the
   money he collected as agreement fees on the transaction since he
   (Mr. Daramola) did not benefit from the said transaction.

1. I referred Mr. Daramola to the Deed of Assignment (herein
   attached) which he himself had prepared where he printed
   “Barrister” before the name ABOLAJI OKOYA and I
   asked why he would do that and later claim that the same Abolaji
   Okoya was not a lawyer, besides; hardly any lawyer would be a
   witness to a sale of land in Ikorodu (it was certainly not the
   practice I would encourage) so he should have suspected something
   at the stage of drafting the witness portion of the Deed of
   Assignment.

1. I could gather from Mr. Biola Daramola’s response and his
   letter that he merely wanted to use me, being the Secretary of the
   NBA Ikorodu Branch to force Mr. Abolaji Okoya to give him some
   money

1. In a bid to however play my part towards resolving disputes, I
   took extra steps to contact the said Abolaji Okoya and advised him
   to meet with Mr. Daramola to resolve whatever issue was between
   them and leave me out of the mess.

1. I was disgusted by the fact that a lawyer would resort to
   blackmail and obtain monies from someone he knew wasn’t a lawyer
   because his client did not pay him his own percentage.

1. Mr. Biola Daramola drafted the Deed of Assignment describing
   Mr. Abolaji Okoya as a Barrister and when he found out he wasn’t
   one, obtained information that I knew the said Abolaji Okoya and
   used the information to fabricate lies in order to get me to
   intervene in the matter

1. The entire allegation against me was simply a ploy to get money
   from an individual; this was made clear as I did not hear again
   from both parties on the matter as I would later find out in July
   2018 that Mr. Biola Daramola had succeeded in getting the money he
   wanted from Mr. Abolaji Okoya

1. However; during the 2018 NBA campaigns after one Mr. I.K. Thany
   who contested for the position as chairman of the Ikorodu Branch
   was disqualified; there was much bitterness and accusations against
   me by Mr. Thany and the Petitioners that they conspired to have me
   disqualified to make room for their own chosen candidate

1. Mr. Thany posted Mr. Biola Daramola’s letter dated the
   24^th of June 2013 on the Branch WhatsApp Platform and
   started spreading lies about my involvement in the transaction so
   that members will have doubts as to my integrity as an
   Anti-Corruption Crusader.

1. Mr. Thany and the Petitioners went to great lengths to lie,
   cheat and attempt to manipulate the election process to the extent
   that they mobilized thugs to assault me and other colleagues at the
   Bar Centre. Attached and Marked Exhibit A6 and A7 is a copy
   of my petition to the office of the Attorney General of Lagos State
   and my open letter to the President of the NBA
   respectively

1. My open letter to the NBA president was conveniently ignored
   but my petition to the AG of Lagos State received attention and the
   matter is now being investigated by officers of a special section
   in Panti. Attached and Marked Exhibit A8 is the response
   from the AG’s office to my Petition

1. In my attempt to get to the bottom of how the letter resurfaced
   5 years later; I called Mr. Daramola and asked him why he would use
   his false allegations against me 5 years ago to attempt to
   discredit me

1. Mr. Daramola claimed that he did not know how Mr. Thany got the
   letter and that as far as he was concerned; I had resolved the
   matter for him many years back. I urge that Mr. Biola
   Daramola be summoned to give his own account of the events as his
   letter to me is the basis of this Petition

1. A careful look at Mr. Biola Daramola’s letterhead will show
   that one Mr. Ogbaide Ezekiel (the 4^th Petitioner in this
   Petition) is listed as one of the lawyers in Biola Daramola’s
   Chambers.

1. It is also curious to note that the said Mr. Ogbaide was
   exposed by my goodself and others in the branch in 2014 when he
   converted over Three hundred thousand Naira (N300, 000.00) of the
   branch’s money for his personal use.

1. The same Mr. Ogbaide was a contestant for the position of the
   Vice Chairman in the 2018 NBA Ikorodu election (which is currently
   a subject of dispute within the branch)

1. Mr. Ogbaide is a close ally and friend to Mr. Nurudeen Ogbara
   (1^st Petitioner), Mr. Dotun Adetunji (2^nd
   Petitioner), and Mr. Kazeem Adebanjo all of whom are former branch
   chairmen who vowed that I would never be chairman of NBA Ikorodu
   branch while they were still alive.

1. The conspiracy deepened when this petition was sent to law
   bloggers but only BARRISTERNG agreed to publish it. As the National
   Convener of FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN THE JUDICIARY, I was simply
   the target as the Petitioners and others didn’t want someone like
   me to hold the office of an NBA Branch Chairman.

1. The Petitioners did not author nor do they have any direct
   knowledge of the transaction stated in the letter dated the
   24^th June 2013, the petition is full of hearsay
   evidence and facts but they took this document to make
   false allegations against me with a view to disparage me and ruin
   my reputation because of NBA Elections.

1. The Petitioners used this Petition to misrepresent facts with
   the aim of getting me disqualified as a candidate in the NBA
   Ikorodu Elections and are now using it to attempt to have
   me removed as Chairman so that Mr. Ezekiel Ogbaide who was
   suspiciously returned unopposed as the Vice Chairman can become
   Chairman of the Branch.

1. The Petitioners also misrepresented the fact that I did not pay
   my Bar Practicing Fee for 2015. A Copy of my Bar Practicing
   Fee payment teller No. 00004914 dated 3^rd March 2015
   evidencing payment made to Access Bank is Attached and Marked
   Exhibit A9. Please feel free to check your records to confirm my
   payment.

1. I respectfully rely on all documents attached herein and urge
   that this matter be given serious consideration. I also
   respectfully request that all parties named in my defense should
   submit evidence of the allegations they made against me and if it
   is discovered that this petition is unfounded and calculated to
   discredit me; that the LPDC should apply the full weight of the
   rules in dealing with the petitioners, Mr. Thany and Mr. Biola
   Daramola.

1. I believe the facts stated in this witness statement to be true
   and I depose to
   them in accordance with the Oaths Law of Lagos State.………..……….

D E P O N E N T

Sworn to at the High Court of Lagos State

Registry, ……….., this ……….. Day of October, 2018

BEFORE ME

COMMISSIONER FOR OATHS