Nigeria’s largest full service law firm, Aluko and Oyebode, has
defended its integrity against the allegations on some social media
platforms on its role in the establishment of Nigeria SEZ
Investment Company Limited, a special purpose public-private
partnership initiated by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade
and Investment.
The allegations are fake and defamatory, the firm said.
In a statement at the weekend in Lagos, the firm dismissed the
allegations and questioned the motive and intent of those promoting
them.
It said: “A deliberate attempt is being made to take a routine
enquiry into the actions of a client of the firm and associate it
with unfounded and contrived allegations designed to damage the
firm’s and its chairman’s reputation.”
The firm acknowledge that “as part of an on-going investigation,
the firm has been asked to provide certain information and
documentation to relevant government agencies in its role as legal
counsel to the ministry, including the role the firm played in the
establishment of the Nigeria SEZ Investment Company Limited as a
special purpose public-private partnership entity.”
Aluko nad Oyebode also said it willingly provided the relevant
information and documentation to the agencies of government to
assist them in their investigation of its strictly professional
role in the incorporation of the company.
It said: “No employee or representative of the firm has been
arrested or detained; neither has any of the employees or
representatives of the firm been engaged in or been accused of any
wrongdoing.”
The firm described the money laundering claims in certain
reports as disingenuous.
“At no time whatsoever has any money laundering allegation been
made against its chairman, any of its partners or A. O. Secretarial
Services Limited by the authorities concerned,” Aluko and Oyebode
said.
The firm said it reserved the right to defend its reputation and
seek redress through all legal avenues against the perpetrators of
the allegations.
The statement added that Aluko and Oyebode was engaged by the
ministry on June 5, last year, to support the legal processes for
the establishment of the company and for A. O. Secretarial Services
Limited to act as the Company Secretary to the newly formed
company, following its incorporation. It said: “It is also
providing legal advice to the ministry on potential investments
into the company and on the legal structures for projects which the
Company intends to invest in and execute.”
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