“No Yoruba Son Shall Ever Be Made A Sacrificial Lamb” — Yomi Aliyu SAN Replies NBA President, Akpata

As the Nigerian legal profession was receiving news of the commencement of Disciplinary proceedings against Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde a Partner in the Law Firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co, over allegations of professional misconduct, another dust-raising letter from the NBA President, Olumide Akpata urging the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Wole Olanipekun to recuse himself from the role also surfaced.

In the letter, Akpata inter alia stressed that Olanipekun shares a working relationship with the Lawyer before the LPDC and as Chairman Body of Benchers, the supervisory body over the Disciplinary Committee, there may be a conflict of interest.

However, the letter appears not to have been welcomed in some circles, as it appears to have sparked a fresh controversy.

The sequence of events took a dramatic twist when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yomi Aliyu in response to the report by The Lawyer on a WhatsApp platform raised an alarm of a persecution of Yoruba lawyers by the NBA hierarchy, stating emphatically that Yoruba lawyers will fight tooth and nail to defend Olanipekun.

He said: “President Akpata, una do well ooooo! Yoruba lawyers shall be there in full force to defend our leader and Primus inter Peres! No Yoruba son shall ever be made a sacrificial lamb like it was done to Kunle Kalejaiye SAN! Call it what you like! Tribalism!Yes! What an insult! We are Yorubas before we are Nigerians!”

Yomi Aliyu who is the Lawyer to popular Yoruba land agitator, Sunday Igboho, was however quickly countered by another Senior Advocate, J.S. Okutepa SAN who described the comments as unfortunate while also clarifying the trial of Mr Kelajaye SAN referred to by Aliyu.

Okutepa who is one of the longest serving prosecutors at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) said: “I really don’t think it is fair to rake up Kunle Kelajaye SAN prosecution before LPDC as an ethics agenda. That will be the most unfortunate thing to do coming as it were from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The petition that led to the prosecution of Mr Kelajaye was not initiated outside Yoruba land. I prosecuted that complaint after due investigations and prima facie case of professional misconduct was made. I have no regrets do that prosecution. If we are not careful we the leaders of the Bar will completely ruin this profession. I have no comment on the decision of NBA under subject of discussion. But to bring the case of Kunle Kelajaye SAN as persecution of Yoruba lawyers is with due respect a statement not to be made concerning the prosecution of Kunle Kelajaye SAN. The allegations against Kunle Kelajaye were not found to have been baseless. His appeal at the Supreme Court was allowed on the technical points of quorum of LPDC and not that the allegations of professional misconduct were not proved. We must avoid comments that are inciting and befitting our status as senior lawyers.”

Okutepa continued: “In addition let it be known that the allegations against Mr Kunle Kelajaye was that he was communicating with judges of the election petitions Tribunal. The judges involved Justice Naron was tried found culpable and removed from office as judicial officer. He was dismissed. The petition against Kunle Kalejaye was duly investigated by a panel headed by an eminent legal practitioner of great repute Mrs Funke Adekoya SAN, a legal icon and an Amazon of extraordinary integrity. The judge that was removed by NJC. We must avoid anything that will make us a laughing stock in the comity of respected legal practitioners. What is bad is bad. No ethics colouration can make it right. I say no more.”

He further added that “When you read the Rules of Professional Conduct in the legal profession you will appreciate that as lawyers we are supposed to be the light of the society. Light and dark tolerate not one another. They cannot cohabit.”