4TH WEEK JULY (27TH-1ST AUGUST 2009)

SQUIB DIARY


MONDAY 27TH JULY 2009
The Squib’s not on the stands. The ‘fiery one’ on holiday too!
Today was her publisher’s birth-day. A birth-day forgotten in the furnace of preparation for battle in the case of C.J Lagos vs Adesina Ogunlana coming up the very next day in Abuja.
The said birthday was forgotten, until when the Generalissimo of the campaign, Daddy 3, Chief G.O.K Ajayi S.A.N in the middle of battle plans and preparation at about 3.42 am in the morning of 27th July 2009 suddenly asked his troops of lawyers and secretary “will you gentlemen care for (a bottle of) red-wine?”
Much later in the day, got the suit FHC/L/CS/792lag Adesina Ogunlana vs Ibitola Sotuminu & Ors filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos (see Bar & Bench NEWS 2).

TUESDAY 28TH JULY 2009
Was at the Court of Appeal Abuja. For my case C.J. Lagos vs Adesina Ogunlana esq before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. The matter was adjourned at Respondent’s Counsel (Chief G.O.K Ajayi S.A.N) request. Counsel had filed on behalf of Ogunlana an application for leave to apply for an order of prohibition against the LPDC.
Some fireworks though, before the adjournment was granted. It started when the prosecutor in the matter, Dele Oye esq ‘reported’ the respondent to the LPDC that in the interval of the matter, Respondent had caused certain negative things to be published about him calling him in the said publication therein a persecutor. Thereafter the following conversation took place:
Chief Awomolo S.A.N: (addressing Dele Oye) Where is the publication? What you should have done is to bring it here and show us. (Turning to Ogunlana) Em, Mr. Ogunlana, you see how well meaning your publication may be, you must avoid being personal or sentimental in what you write. There is no need to be personal about things, Mr. Oye is only doing a job on appointment. And you know he is yet to reach his peak. Anything can be used against him in the future.”
Ogunlana: My Lords, can I possibly address this honourable committee?
Committee: Yes, you can.
Ogunlana: Mr. Dele Oye here is complaining about me, that I wrote some things against him. But what I want to say is this, the person who wrote the petition against me, saying I publish defamatory articles against judges of Lagos State stated the years 2001 and 2002 for the articles But Mr. Prosecutor here is charging me for articles written in 2004 even up till 2007!
Chief Awomolo S.A.N: Mr. Ogunlana please take it easy. Afterall you have not crossed paths with Mr. Dele Oye. Or have your paths crossed?
Ogunlana: Yes our paths have crossed.
Chief Awomolo SAN: It’s alright. We won’t go into that now.
Ogunlana: I got upset because I showed the complaint to him (Dele Oye esq) but he said it was typographical error!
Committee: Yes, but that’s the issue you should bring up before this committee.
Dele Oye: We saw that we made a mistake, which we have now corrected but when we wanted to serve Mr. Ogunlana now with the new complaint, he refused to accept it.
Committee: He wouldn’t accept it?
Ogunlana: I wouldn’t! I am represented by counsel!
Chief Awomolo SAN: You wouldn’t want to waive your right and collect it?
Ogunlana: Sir I’ll like to continue to hide behind the shadow of the presence of my counsel. I need the advice of my lawyer whether to accept this new complaint or not and he is not here.
Chairman: Yes, you are right. Since he has a lawyer, let them serve his lawyer. Mr. Ogunlana we don’t want you to see any one as being against you. We all here are on an assignment, including Mr. Dele Oye. You present your own case against theirs.
Please convey our message to Chief Ajayi about this case he has filed at the Federal High Court. Chief Ajayi is a lawyer we have a lot of regard for just as we have for every other counsel. May be he has not adverted his mind to the position of the Supreme Court that nobody can stop us here to look into the issue of professional misconduct. We have series of rulings on that by the Supreme Court and the High Courts themselves have been careful not to go against the position of the Supreme Court.
However we will grant the adjournment that he has requested for, till the next session. Please convey our message to him.
Mr. Dele Oye: We will not ask for cost
Chairman: Even if you ask for cost I am sure Mr. Ogunlana here will not give you a kobo or will you, Mr. Ogunlana?
Ogunlana: Sir, Mr. Oye said he came back from London only yesterday. Such a man will not need a kobo!
It must be on record that before the proceedings went under way, Mr. Rafiu Lawal-Rabana S.A.N one of the committee members, announced in open court that he was opting out of the committee in respect of the C.J Lagos vs Adesina Ogunlana matter. According to Mr. Lawal-Rabana his decision was informed by the fact that during his time as General Secretary, of the Nigerian Bar Association (2006-2008) he had had cause, in his official capacity to have some dealings with the Respondent and would not want to give any impression of having any bias against the respondent on account of that.

WEDNESDAY 29TH JULY 2009
Was at the Ikeja High Court. For continuation of the trial of a case. The rest of the day, spent on some personal runs.

THURSDAY 30TH JULY 2009
Was at the Ikeja High Court. Noticed that human-waste fluid continued to seep out from a poorly re-constructed sewage tank at the entrance of Justice Kazeem Alogba’s court. Death for sale, here?

FRIDAY 31ST JULY 2009
Was at the court of Appeal Lagos, this morning specifically at the registry to check up on the progress of a lodged appeal. In the late afternoon, with other members of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the NBA conference 2009 (holding in Lagos) held a meeting with the Central Planning Committee (CPC) of the conference, at the National Secretariat of the NBA.
The LOC via her sub committees chairman on Security, Accommodation and Transportation reported extensively on these important headings to CPC. Other important issues like the feeding (free lunches) of the conferees also discussed critically. One important heading (publicity) was not discussed at all, as the National Executive Committee are said to be in charge of that. From all indications, preparations are on top gear to have a successful bar conference in Lagos come 17th -21st August 2009, more so as the Lagos State Government is partnering seriously with the NBA on the project.

SATURDAY 1ST AUGUST 2009
Only one Tiger, this writer, turned up for the Sportif programme of the Ikeja Bar at the Police College grounds Ikeja. But it was worth the while, I tell you.