Over petition to BoB, alleges abuse of power and interference with pending litigation
Chief Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Bencher, has fired back at the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Josiah Osigwe, SAN, over a petition allegedly filed against him to the Body of Benchers and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
In a strongly-worded statement, Okutepa accused the NBA President of weaponising petitions, abusing his office, and interfering with pending litigation in which Osigwe is a party.
The senior advocate vowed that no amount of intimidation would stop him from acting as lead counsel in cases challenging what he described as the “unconstitutional composition” of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA).
Okutepa disclosed that he learned the NBA President had filed a petition against him to the Body of Benchers and/or the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
“It has come to my knowledge that the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Afam Josiah Osigwe, SAN has written petition against me to the Hon Body of Benchers and or the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers,” Okutepa stated.
“I am yet to be served with copy of the petition. But before his petition is served on me, he has found me guilty already.”
The senior advocate stated that the petition was filed because, in the NBA President’s “misconceived view,” it constitutes professional misconduct to accept to be lead counsel in two cases filed against the constitution of ECNBA.
“He filed petition against me because in his misconceived view, it is professional misconduct to accept to be lead counsel in the two cases filed against his unconstitutional composition of ECNBA,” Okutepa said.
“His grouse as I understand it, is based on his misconceived view, that I committed professional misconduct for accepting to act as lead counsel in the two cases filed against the Incorporated Trustees of NBA and Ors which cases are currently pending before the High Court of Justice of Oyo State sitting in Ibadan.”
Okutepa accused the NBA President of using petitions as weapons against those who disagree with him.
“The President of NBA has chosen LPDC as a weapon against me as the lead counsel in a case he is a party. I am not surprised,” he stated.
“He was part and parcel of the NBA regime that engineered petitions to LPDC against those who disagreed with them in 2015 or so. I was the Chief Prosecutor of NBA at LPDC then. I refused to be used. I know this very well.”
“Weaponisation of petitions against those who disagreed with them has been their stock in trade in abuse of process.”
Okutepa made a grave allegation that the NBA President went beyond filing a petition and used his position to interfere with his membership of the Body of Benchers.
“NBA President did not stop at just filing the petition against me and the 1st Claimant in one of the cases, but in the most unfortunate abuse of power and corrupt use of office and power, Mr. Osigwe SAN proceeded to use his office and position to lobby those who have responsibilities to educate him not to do so, to cause my name to be removed from the list of those to be re-appointed as members of the Body of Benchers,” Okutepa alleged.
The senior advocate clarified that his membership of the Body of Benchers did not come through the NBA.
“It is important to note, that I did not become a member of the Hon Body of Benchers through NBA. I became a member of the Body in 2023 because the Hon Body of Benchers considered me as an eminent legal practitioner and I was appointed under Section 3(1)(l) of LPA 2004 as amended,” he stated.
“NBA President in abuse of power, used his position in concert with those who do not mean well for the legal profession to engineer the non-inclusion of my name for renewal of my membership of the Body of Benchers even though I had excellent reports of good performances as a member of the Body of Benchers.”
Okutepa accused the NBA President of interfering with pending litigation.
“It is sad that NBA president does not know that his petition constitutes direct affront and interference with pending litigation against his very unconstitutional hand picking and constitution of ECNBA which is one of the issues submitted for judicial determination,” he stated.
“The President of NBA is a party in these two cases. NBA president should know that being a party, he cannot take extra judicial steps as he did. When parties have turned over their disputes to courts for adjudication, none of the parties is allowed to take extra judicial steps in sabotage of the pending process. This is an elementary principle that I think NBA president should know.”
Okutepa declared that he would not be intimidated.
“As President of the Bar, Mr. Osigwe SAN should note that he cannot intimidate me from pursuing a cause I know is rooted in justice and good cause,” he stated.
“NBA president should know that it is unethical and unacceptable to use his position as President of NBA to pursue personal vendetta against me for taking up cases that complained against his whimsical, autocratic and despotic constitution of ECNBA.”
Okutepa made reference to a National Executive Council meeting held in Benin.
“His references to me in the petition as being present in the Benin NEC meeting should be a pointer to him that no amount of panel-beating of the minutes of the meeting held in Benin can erase the eye witness accounts of what we saw him do at the Benin NEC,” he stated.
The senior advocate vowed to continue acting as lead counsel in the cases.
“Let me use this medium to inform Mr. President of the NBA that I am a legal practitioner and a trained advocate to practice law and no amount of intimidation including his underground interference with the renewal of my membership of the Hon Body of Benchers, can stop me from acting as lead counsel in the two cases against his handpicked ECNBA,” Okutepa declared.
Rather than deterring him, Okutepa said the petition had energised him.
“I am happy NBA President Mr. Osigwe SAN petitioned me. I will rather pursue truth with courage than to be tolerantly dishonest about the truth of the unconstitutional manner the ECNBA was constituted by him,” he stated.
“The matters before the court raised fundamental questions of constitutional importance that no amount of intimidation can stop me from pursuing, in seeking for justice and that is why we are lawyers!”
Okutepa expressed confidence in the LPDC process.
“My joy is that LPDC is not NBA NEC meetings where he lords it over everybody and where he is treated as king that does no wrong and his words are laws and cannot be challenged. I am not afraid of his petition!” he declared.
“It is unfortunate that the President of the Bar does not want his despotic composition of ECNBA challenged. It has been challenged. He should allow the judiciary to decide those cases.”
Okutepa concluded with a vow to pursue the cases with renewed vigour.
“His petition will not stop me from acting as lawyer to the Claimants. Indeed the petition has given me more energy to pursue those cases with evangelical commitment,” he stated.
The public confrontation between Chief Okutepa SAN and NBA President Osigwe SAN represents one of the most significant clashes between senior members of the Nigerian Bar in recent memory.
The allegations made by Okutepa — including abuse of power, corrupt use of office, interference with pending litigation, and underground manipulation of Body of Benchers appointments — are grave accusations against the President of the Nigerian Bar Association.
At the heart of the dispute is the constitution of the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association, which Okutepa describes as “unconstitutional,” “whimsical,” “autocratic,” and “despotic.” Two cases challenging this composition are currently pending before the High Court of Oyo State in Ibadan.
The filing of a petition against lead counsel in cases where the petitioner is a party raises significant questions about the appropriate boundaries of professional conduct and the potential weaponisation of disciplinary processes.
For the Nigerian Bar Association, the public nature of this dispute between two Senior Advocates of Nigeria — one the sitting President and the other a Bencher — exposes internal divisions that may have implications for the upcoming NBA elections and the broader governance of the legal profession.
The cases before the Oyo State High Court and the petition before the Body of Benchers/LPDC will ultimately determine the merits of the competing claims. But the escalation of this conflict into the public domain suggests that the battle for the soul of the NBA is far from over.
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