Prof. Ernest Ojukwu,
SAN
Erudite Professor of Law, Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, has asked the NBA
President, Paul Usoro, SAN, not to railroad the Bar into a fight
with the EFCC.
Mr. Ojukwu said this while reacting to a press statement
released by the NBA President through an open letter, on an alleged
purported money laundering charges levelled against him.
Giving his disapproval over the statement, Mr. Ojukwu said that
Usoro’s use of the NBA letterhead was an abuse of office.
See Letter:
EFCC v PAUL
USORO – DON’T RAILROAD US INTO A FIGHT WITH EFCC: OPEN LETTER TO
PAST NBA PRESIDENTS
I have read an
unsigned statement by Mr. Paul Usoro, SAN dated
19th December, 2018 released as the President NBA
on NBA letterhead titled “Purported Money Laundering Charges and
Related Matters”.
In that
statement Mr. Usoro, SAN acknowledges that his “current
travails have roots, in part, in vendetta missions that go right
back to the 2015 Akwa Ibom State Election and the 2016/2017 Code of
Conduct Tribunal trials of the Senate President…” and that “EFCC
has become a tool for fighting personal and political
fights.”
Mr. Usoro, SAN
clearly knows and shows as he has acknowledged that the charges of
money laundering against him are personal to him. Why is he
dragging NBA into it? Why is he trying to railroad us into a fight
with the EFCC for his personal battle?
Mr. Usoro’s
use of the NBA letterhead in this case is an abuse of office in the
same way he recently signed the NBA NEC resolutions relating to his
charges. This is simply the reason why the NBA past presidents
should advise Mr. Usoro, SAN to step aside temporarily and conclude
this case very fast.
I am happy
that Mr. Usoro, SAN notes broader issues of justice, and rule of
law in which he condemns past NBA leadership for not taking up.
Regrettably, Mr. Usoro, SAN did not say a word on these issues
before he became President and is only saying them now that he has
been charged by EFCC. Those fights are fights the NBA must take up
or the NBA should completely go dead but Mr. Usoro, SAN should not
use that platform to blindfold us into a fight with EFCC for his
personal interests.
In that
statement released by Mr. Usoro, SAN he stated that “I
…kept past presidents of our Association fully informed of my
current trials and it is my understanding that they are having
discussions amongst themselves and will soon meet to formulate a
common position and issue a statement on the matter.”
I hope I read
Mr. Usoro, SAN correctly and hope that past NBA Presidents will not
as a body be used by Paul Usoro, SAN against the Bar to protect
personal interests?
It is on
record as much as I know that Past NBA Presidents as a body has
never issued any statement on the following:
1. Unemployment
of young lawyers
2. Very poor
salaries paid to young lawyers by law firms
3. Maltreatment
of young lawyers by many senior or older lawyers
4. Molestation
of lawyers by police and other law enforcement agencies
5. Disobedience
of court orders and judgments by Federal and state governments and
their agencies
6. Refusal by
State Governments to allow the complete autonomy of the
judiciary
7. Mistreatments
and discrimination against our member colleagues in the ministries
and agencies
8. Lack of
support to our members with disabilities
9. Molestation
and sexual abuse of our female colleagues in law firms, public and
private agencies/companies and our law students in the
universities
10. Terrible state of
human right abuse across the country
11. The terrible security
situation in the country
12. Herdsmen problem
13. The state of Nigerian
economy
14. The challenges and
decline of legal education and the massive abuse of intake quota of
law students by universities
15. Terrible state of NBA
accounts
16. The overpricing
without approved budgets of NBA annual conferences and yet poor
deliverables
17. The conflicts and
fractionalizations going on in our NBA branches and in some cases
massive abuses of financial control and accountability
18. The shoddy and
undemocratic conduct of 2018 primary elections by all political
parties in Nigeria which is a harbinger of unfair general
elections
19. The failed
anti-corruption programme of the country
20. The challenges of
corruption and ethics in the NBA and refusal of universities to
teach ethics in our LLB
21. The proper recognition
and capacity support for our lawyer colleagues in the Police, Army
and other law enforcement agencies
22. The rigging of NBA
elections
23. And many more
Please past
Presidents, we need you now more than ever before to help the Bar
chart a course for rebirth. But please when you meet advice Mr.
Paul Usoro, SAN to quietly focus on his personal charges in court
so that he can as soon as possible clear his name and return to
lead the Bar positively and effectively. Do not allow yourselves to
be used. This case is Paul’s case not NBA’s. The less we try to
hang this on NBA the better for NBA and the future of the legal
profession.
Season’s
Greetings to you all.
Ernest Ojukwu
(Teacher)
Cc:
Charles
Idehen, esq
Chief (Mrs.)
Priscilia Kuye
Chief T.J.O.
Okpoko, OON, SAN
O.C.J. Okocha,
SAN
Chief Wole
Olanipekun, OFR, SAN
Chief Bayo
Ojo, CON, SAN
Prince Lanke
Odopgiyan
Dr. Olisa
Agbakoba, MON, SAN
Chief
Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN
Joseph Bodurin
Daudu, SAN
Okechukwu
Wali, SAN
Augustine
Alegeh, SAN
Abubakar
Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN
Paul Usoro,
SAN, FCIArb
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