Jonathan Nwokpor
The Federal High Court in Abuja has been petitioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hold a trial for the two attorneys representing former governor Yahaya Bello on charges of professional misconduct and contempt of court.
The two attorneys, Senior Advocates of Nigeria Abdulwahab Mohammed and Adeola Adedipe, were charged with professional misconduct and contempt of court for their failure to appear in court despite their commitment to do so.
The EFCC said in a motion filed by its principal lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro SAN, that Bello’s arraignment had been thwarted by the two senior attorneys’ willful failure to attend in court.
In order to punish the two attorneys and preserve the integrity and respect of the court, the lead attorney for the EFCC formally requested that Justice Emeka Nwite apply Rule 31 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners in the Nation.
According to Pinheiro SAN, the former governor’s trial regarding the criminal charges against him has been obstructed by the two solicitors’ purported use of their legal and procedural expertise.
In his 38 years of practice, the EFCC counsel—who stated that he had been a lawyer for 38 years and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria for 19 years—told Justice Nwite that he had never witnessed a case in which lawyers would purposefully disparage the same court while serving as its officers.
Adedipe, who took some time to defend himself in the case, then requested to be removed from further testimony on behalf of the former governor in the trial.
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