Prof. Cyril Ndifon, the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), has told a Federal High Court in Abuja that Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission’s (ICPC) counsel, was not qualified to practice as a lawyer.
Prof. Ndifon, through his lawyer, Joe Agi, SAN, made the allegation in a motion on notice marked FHC/ABJ/CR/511/2023 before Justice James Omotosho.
The suspended dean, who alleged that Akponimisingha’s name was not on the roll of legal practitioners in Nigeria pursuant to Section 2 of the Legal Practitioners Act, prayed the court to quash the four-count charge against him and his co-defendant, Mr. Sunny Anyanwu.
In the motion dated and filed on March 15, the senior lawyer told the court that the amended charge was incompetent as a result of the disputed identity of the anti-graft agency’s lawyer and robbed the court of its jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Agi said he owed the court the duty to bring the alleged professional misconduct by Akponimisingha, as well as a breach of the law of the land, to the attention of the court as sworn to by him in his oath of declaration as Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
According to him, the amended charge was preferred by Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, a person whose name is not on the roll of legal practitioners in Nigeria pursuant to Section 2 of the Legal Practitioners Act.
“That Joshua E. Alobo, who appears for the prosecution as counsel as a private legal defendant in a criminal case, does not have the fiat of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation.
“That both Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha and Joshua E. Alobo answered in this court and caused to print on their processes the title “Dr.” “Professor” when they do not have the academic qualifications to show for the titles, thereby misrepresenting themselves to the public and bringing the legal profession to ridicule and shame,” he alleged.
Agi, therefore, sought an order striking out the amended charge in the case, having been incompetent and “preferred by a person whose name is not on the roll of legal practitioners in Nigeria pursuant to Section 2 of the Legal Practitioners Act and thus robbing this court of its jurisdiction.
“An order of court striking out all the appearance of Joshua E. Alobo from the prosecution counsel for appearing as a private legal practitioner in a criminal case without the fiat of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation.
“An order of court referred both Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha and Joshua E. Alobo to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for answering and caused them to print on their processes the titles ‘Dr’ and ‘Professor’ when they do not have the academic qualifications to show for the titles, thereby misrepresenting themselves to the public and bringing the legal profession to ridicule and shame.”
Also in the affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Anyanwu, he said the grant of the application would aid the cause of justice and also aid the mandates of the ICPC established to fight corruption in all spheres of our nation.
According to him, it will be in the interest of justice to allow the reliefs sought, having regard to the entire circumstances of this case.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ndifon was, on Jan. 25, re-arraigned alongside Anyanwu on an amended four-count charge bordering on alleged sexual harassment and an attempt to perverse the cause of justice.
Anyanwu, who is one of the lawyers in the defense, was joined in the amended charge filed on Jan. 22 by the ICPC on the allegation that he called TKJ, the star witness, on her mobile telephone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her.(NAN)
