By Johnmary Chukwukasi Jideobi, Esq.

corruptio optimi pessima

INTRODUCTION:

In Suit NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/1313/2021 BETWEEN A.G ABIA STATE & 35 ORS V. PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA & 42 ORS, the Federal High Court of Nigeria (presided over by the Honourable Justice I. Ekwo), on the 25th day of March, 2022 delivered a judgment wherein it dismissed the suit filed by the Attorneys-General of the thirty-six (36) states of the Nigerian Federation which sought – in the main – to stop the payment of the cumulative sum of Four Hundred and Eighteen Million United States Dollars ($418, 000, 000. 00) as judgment sum due to some of the Defendants – especially the 9th and 19th Defendants – on diverse grounds including, inter alia, lack of jurisdiction on the part of the court, lack of locus standi on the part of the Plaintiffs to institute the suit and that the entire action is abusive of the processes of court. The Plaintiffs were represented by the following Learned Senior Counsel on record: S.I. Ameh, SAN, Dr. Garba Tetengi, SAN, J.S. Okutepa, SAN, Ahmed Raji, SAN and A. O. Akinboro, SAN [henceforth in this discourse simply referred to as the Plaintiffs’ Senior Counsel].

Shortly after the delivery of the Sacred Judgment of the Federal High Court referenced above, the Plaintiffs’ Senior Counsel issued a CAVEAT EMPTOR on the 28th day of March, 2022 on the said judgment in these words:

“RE: $418, 000, 000 PROMISSORY NOTES ISSUED IN FAVOUR OF ALLEGED PARIS CLUB REFUND CONSULTANTS. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. CAVEAT EMPTOR!!! The General Public and all financial institutions in Nigeria and abroad are hereby advised that the matter is subjudice and accordingly are further advised to desist from dealing with the Defendants in the suit, particularly the 9th to 19th Defendants … with respect to promissory notes issued to them and intended to be discounted and given value from funds due to the states of the Federation Account, in respect of London/Paris Club refund contracts, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal. Be it known that any person or persons who takes steps in respect of the promissory notes in the face of the pending appeal does so at his or her own peril”

The present article is to interrogate the propriety or otherwise of the CAVEAT EMPTOR entered or issued by the Plaintiffs’ Senior Counsel on the Judgment of the Court against which there existed/exists no stay of execution at the material time. I shall contend that the said caveat emptor was issued in bad faith, contemptuously of the Federal High Court and poses a threat to due administration of justice in Nigeria hence the urgency of x-raying the impugned conducts of the Learned Senior Advocates before the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) and Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) – both of the Body of Benchers so as to arrest – timeously – the drift the scandal is likely to precipitate in the Legal Profession and the Nigerian legal order generally as the impugned conduct of the Learned Silks is an unwholesome attempt at nibbling at the grain of Section 287(3) of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN).

BACKGROUND FACTS:

Before I lay out the facts, let me quickly state that I am one of the Lawyers who have been representing the interest of Dr. George Uboh and Panic Alert Security System [PASS] who were sued as the 15th and 16th Defendants by the Plaintiffs in Suit NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/1313/2021 quoted earlier. I have participated in drafting of processes, filing and appearances before the Courts. From this position therefore, it would not be immodest to state that I am abreast of the history of the London/Paris Club Refund Contract case and I have come in contact with and studied almost all the documents touching on the case particularly as it relates to the defence of the interest I represent jointly with other Senior Lawyers. Now, let us go to the background facts.

On the 15th day of June, 2014, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum [NGF] wrote a letter and addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of PANIC ALERT SECURITY SYSTEMS [PASS] titled “LETTER OF APPOINTMENT AS CONSULTANT TO THE FORUM ON COURT JUDGMENT PREMISED BY ILLEGAL DEDUCTION BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS”. In the said letter of appointment, the scope of work as a consultant was spelt out for PASS in these clear terms:

“We hereby:

  • Appoint you as Consultant to the Forum on the underlying court judgment premised upon illegal deductions by the Federal Government from all Local Governments (see attached judgment)
  • Admonish you to analyse the judgment and all pertinent documents, prepare a report for the Forum, and be ready for invitation by the Forum for a formal presentation to all Governors of your report: and
  • Strongly advise that your investigations and reports shall protect the interest of all parties involved in the Court judgment so as not to run afoul or breaking any law on any decision they decide to take on this matter.

The judgment the NGF appointed PASS to analyse is that flowing from SUIT NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/130/13 as per the Judgment delivered by the Honourable Justice A.F.A. Ademola wherein all the Local Governments in Nigeria took the Federal Government to Court claiming multiple monetary reliefs that were granted by that Court.

After delivering on the mandate of his letter of appointment, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum failed to remunerate PASS whereupon it wrote a LETTER OF DEMAND addressed to the Chairman of the NGF dated the 5th day of September, 2017. In the said DEMAND LETTER, PASS specifically demanded for the “payment of Seven Million (7, 000, 000:00) U.S. Dollars and Forty-Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty-One Thousand and Ninety-Two (47, 821, 920: 00) U.S. Dollars within Fourteen (14) days of receipt of this letter.”

THE BEGINNING OF LITIGATION:

For failing to remunerate PASS despite its demand letter earlier referred to, PASS, on the 5th day of February, 2018, took out a Writ of Summons in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/123/2018, claiming, inter alia, against Nigeria Governors’ Forum as follows:

  1. A Declaration that pursuant to the letter of appointment dated 15th June, 2014, Plaintiff’s acceptance letter dated 7th October, 2014, and other verbal discussions between the Plaintiff and the 1st Defendant, the Plaintiff is contractually entitled to the payment of the sum of $USD47, 821, 9200.00 (Forty Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty Dollars) only being 10% commission of the sum of $478, 211, 925.89 (Forty Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Eleven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Five Dollars, Eight Nine Cents) wrongly and erroneously awarded to contractors (who were not parties to SUIT NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/130/13, Between: LINAS INTL LTD & 235 ORS –V- THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA & 3 ORS) but recovered by the Plaintiff at the instructions of the 1st

After being served with the Writ of Summons filed against it by PASS, instead of squaring up with the claims made against it, the NGF opted for Out-of-Court Settlement with PASS. In consequence, on the 29th day of March, 2019, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum entered into TERMS OF SETTLEMENT [TS] with PASS. The Terms of Settlement were signed by the Director-General of NGF, A.B. OKAURU, Esq. and its Counsel OMEOGA CHUKWU, Esq. and counter-signed by DR. GEORGE UBOH signed for the Plaintiffs with CHARLES UDE, Esq. as the Plaintiffs’ Counsel. In the Terms of Settlement, among others, parties agreed as follows:

“That in full settlement of this suit, the 1st Defendant has written to the Attorney-General of the Federation confirming the following:

iii) Parties agreed to recommend the Plaintiffs to the Office of Attorney General for verification and settlement”

THE CONSENT JUDGMENT:

To concretise their Terms of Settlement which they voluntarily executed on the 29th day of March, 2019, parties to the TS filed their Terms of Settlement at the Registry of the Federal High Court, Abuja on the 5th day of April, 2019 for adoption by the Court as a Consent Judgment. On the 8th day of April, 2019, the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by the Honourable Justice J.T. Tsoho (the current Chief Judge of the FHC) entered a Consent Judgment on the application of the parties through their respective Lawyers in the open Court in the following terms:

“AND AFTER HEARING Charles Ude, Esq. of Counsel for the Plaintiffs urging this Court to enter the Terms of Settlement dated 29th March, 2019 but filed on 5th April, 2019 as Consent Judgment.

AND Omeoga Chukwu, Esq. of Counsel for the 1st Defendant not to objecting but urging this Honourable Court to adopt the Terms of Settlement as the Judgment of this Court in this case.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

That the Terms of Settlement dated the 29th day of March, 2019 but filed on the 5th day of April, 2019 duly executed on behalf of the Plaintiffs and the 1st Defendant in this Suit is hereby entered as a Consent Judgment in this Suit on the following terms:

iii. Parties agreed to recommend the Plaintiffs to the Office of Attorney General for verification and settlement.”

VERIFICATION AND RECOMMENDATION BY THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL:

Armed with the Consent Judgment, PASS, through its Lawyers, approached the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation [AGF henceforth] seeking his consideration and approval of the payment of the sum of $USD47, 821, 9200.00 (Forty Seven Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty Dollars). Mention must be made that earlier,  the NGF itself wrote to the AGF on the 28th day of November, 2018 wherein it “attached a detailed matrix showing the individual claims of the Consultants and lawyers” In the said matrix prepared by the NGF itself, it listed “George Uboh/Panic Alert Security System” as number 12, affirmed it’s claim of $47, 821, 920.00 and further affirmed that it [NGF] requested out of court settlement and under the “TYPE OF SERVICE RENDERED”, it indicated “Consultancy” for PASS.

In verification of Panic Alert/Dr. Uboh’s claims, the AGF on the 29th day of December, 2019, wrote to the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in these terms:

“I seek to request the confirmation of your letter and its annexure dated the 28th day of November, 2018 in respect of the above subject matter. (Copies attached herewith)

Further to the above, please confirm the amount, sum payable and source of fund for the payment in respect of the subject matter under reference, particularly regarding George Uboh/Panic Alert Security Systems Claim. (Please see paragraph 12 of your detailed matrix showing individual claim of the Consultants/Lawyers).”

Interestingly, on the 9th January, 2020, the Governors’ Forum responded to the Honourable Attorney-General’s inquiry in this clear and lucid language, among others:

“In seeking a resolution of the aforementioned case, the parties reached an out of court settlement culminating in a Consent Judgment dated 8th of April, 2019 where it was agreed that the NGF would recommend PASS to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation for settlement.

The NGF appreciates the resolve of the Federal Government to settle all outstanding and lingering claims regarding the Paris Club and does not object to Panic Alert Security Systems/George Uboh being settled. As we look forward to a permanent resolution of this situation, accept the assurances of our highest consideration.”

The NGF’s letter was signed by its Director-General, ASISHANA B. OKAURU, Esq.

Armed with this confirmation by the NGF and its registration of “NO OBJECTION” to the settlement of PASS, the AGF, on the 11th day of May, 2021 wrote to the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning informing the Honourable Minister thusly:

“In view of the foregoing, the request for payment of the consultancy services under reference, having been cleared by the Office of the NGF is forwarded for your consideration and further action, please.”

As at today, the Promissory Notes have been issued to PASS. We pertinently point out that as at time of writing this article, no valid appeal against the Consent Judgment of the Federal High Court is pending before the Court of Appeal and there is no Order of either the Federal High Court of the Court of Appeal staying the execution of the said Judgment.

ORIGIN OF Suit NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/1313/2021:

Probably, after realising that there is almost no exit route of escaping from their already established indebtedness to PASS, the Attorneys-General of the 36 States of the Federation initiated Suit NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/1313/2021 seeking to set aside the payment of the sum due to the Consultants. As stated earlier, the Court dismissed the entire suit holding that the Attorneys-General of States appointed by their Governors cannot turn around to challenge the action of their appointors among other reasons on which the said sacred judgment of 25th March, 2022 was/is founded. The execution of the judgment the Federal High Court delivered on the 25th March, 2022 has not been stayed either by the Federal High Court itself or any other Court, at least as at 28th March, 2022 when the Senior Counsel for the Plaintiffs issued the caveat emptor.

THE IMPLICATION OF THE CAVEAT EMPTOR:

By their issuance of the vexed caveat emptor, the Learned Senior Counsel to the Plaintiffs are instigating the public to disobey, disregard, ignore and or treat with contempt; (a) the earlier judgment of the Federal High Court in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/123/2018; (b) the Judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on the 25th day of March, 2022 and (c) the UNAPPEALED Ruling of the Federal High Court delivered on the 13th day of December, 2021 vacating the ex-parte injunctive and restraining Orders made in favour of the Plaintiffs.

VIOLATION OF SECTION 287(3) OF THE AMENDED 1999 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA:

Section 287(3) of the 1999 Amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, makes it mandatory that “The decisions of the Federal High Court, a High Court and of all other courts established by this Constitution shall be enforced in any part of the Federation by all authorities and persons, and by other courts of law with subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Federal High Court, a High Court and those other courts, respectively” The Learned Senior Counsel to the Plaintiffs who issued the caveat emptor – the subject of the instant article – took the oath to defend the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended – inclusive of Section 287(3) – the day they were called to the Inner Bar as Senior Advocates of Nigeria. Have they (Plaintiffs’ Senior Counsel) got the powers to shove aside Section 287(3) of the Constitution or behave as if it does not exist? The answer is a resounding NO. Squaring up with them and meeting them full length, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, who deeply appreciated the contemptuous nature of the Plaintiffs’ Counsel conduct, wrote in his rejoinder of 31st March, 2022 as follows:

“With further respect to Plaintiffs’ Counsel, reference to Promissory Notes issued “to the defendants and intended to be discounted and given value…” in the advertisement, is self-defeating, as same relates to earlier “Judgment debts, arising from suits in connection with the London/Paris Club Refund Contracts…”, meaning that, by their advertisement, plaintiffs are instigating the public to disobey, disregard and disrespect earlier judgments given in favour of the defendants against them, as well as the latest judgment given by the Federal High Court on 25th March, 2022. Applying the language of the Supreme Court to this type of attitude by the plaintiffs, this is an invitation to anarchy, which should be condemned by all sundry.”

IMPLICATION FOR THE PROFESSION:

When it is remembered that the Plaintiffs’ Counsel who sanctioned the caveat emptor under review are all Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the Leaders/Elders of the Bar, one is worried as to how negatively this contemptuous conduct would rub off on the younger lawyers (including this writer) that they are meant to mentor to take over from them in the profession tomorrow and what that would mean for the future of law practice in Nigeria when this scandalous seed sowed on 28th March, 2022 germinates, grows and multiplies!

Fidelis Odittah, a Visiting Professor of Law, University of Oxford, QC, SAN, was called upon to deliver a lecture at the SAN Maiden Annual Lecture on 28 June 2018 at Intercontinental Hotel Lagos, Nigeria on the topic; “THE EVOLVING ROLE OF SENIOR ADVOCATES IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND NATION BUILDING”. The erudite Professor and seasoned litigation expert robustly rose to the occasion by delivering a 23 paged seminal treatise that stands as a testament to his professional expertise and appealing erudition. He meticulously identified five (5) principal roles a Senior Advocates owes justice administration in Nigeria. The third role as identified by the Learned Silk and erudite Professor of Law is mentorship of younger lawyers. His illuminating thought on that third role of a Senior Advocate has a defining impact on the fortunes of this work. I therefore take the liberty of this exercise to extensively quote him and I humbly invite the Plaintiff’s Senior Counsel to listen to him thusly:

“Third, as role models, senior advocates must mentor and groom younger members of the profession directly through mentorship schemes and indirectly through the example he provides. We know that many junior members of our profession look upon senior advocates as role models. They learn largely by imitation. They want to behave the way they see the seniors behave. If, as senior advocates, we are courteous, polite and measured in our approach to the practice of law, the juniors would imbibe these qualities and model their own practice after ours. If we show rudeness, gratuitous aggression and brashness or disrespect to the court or our colleagues or other court users, the juniors imbibe our wrong approach and build their practices on our bad examples. It behoves us as the leading lights of the legal profession to show excellence in our professional and personal lives and the highest professional and ethical standards at all times, so that through our example the younger members of our profession may learn, be moulded and guided.”

THE LEARNED SILKS CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD THE IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR ACTION:

For one, J.S. Okutepa, SAN was a Prosecutor for the Nigerian Bar Association in prosecuting Lawyers – accused of professional misconduct – before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee [LPDC]. From his benefit of this rare and vantage position, it should be taken for granted that he knows the Rules of Professional Conducts subsisting on all Nigerian Legal Practitioners – especially what constitutes infamous conduct unbecoming of a legal practitioner – in and out. Secondly, the same J.S. Okutepa, SAN understands the grave consequences of contempt of Court or instigating the public or a section of it not to obey Court Orders. In one example, he condemned in strong terms the refusal of Nassarawa State Government and its Internal Revenue Services Board to obey an Order of a Lafia Federal High Court. This is what the Learned Silk said:

“What a lawless country are we that people no longer respect court and court orders. The chairman of the Nasarawa State Internal Revenue Services has boasted that he is not obeying the order and the state govt is condoning this conduct in a democratic setting. Where are we heading to in this country that those who sworn to up holding and defending the constitution are the very one desecrating and abusing it. It is sad that impunity is reigning supreme in Nigeria. It is sad that the office of Attorney General is also impari delicto in this impunity. We cannot give up. Nigeria must return to part of rule of law and due process… The impunity of Nasarawa State Government and its Board of Internal Revenue Services is terribly unbecoming and we must rise to condemn this ugly trend.”

In another instance, the Learned Silk, Ahmed Raji, SAN had course to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to “facilitate immediate compliance with the ECOWAS Court decision.” This is what the Learned Silk said:

“The order of the court cannot be ridiculed and Nigeria, as a democratic nation, cannot afford to ridicule the court order in the interest of the corporate image of the country.”

See https://prnigeria.com/2016/10/06/dasuki-ecowas-court-order/

SUMMATION:

The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in the case of Hart v. Hart (1991) 21 N.S.C.C. (Pt. 1) 184 at 199, had/has these unkind words for those who denigrate Court orders;

“I would like to state that obedience to Orders of Courts is fundamental to the good order, peace and stability of the Nigerian nation. The ugly alternative is a painful recrudescence of triumph of brute force or anarchy, a resort to our old system of settlement by means of bow and arrows, machetes and guns or, now, even more sophisticated weapons of war. Disobedience to an order of Court should, therefore, be seen as an offence directed not against the personality of the Judge who made the Order, but as a calculated act of subversion of peace, law, and order in Nigeria society. Obedience to every Order of Court is therefore a duty which every citizen who believes in peace and stability of the Nigerian State owes to the nation. To allow Court orders to be disobeyed would be to tread the road toward anarchy. If orders of the Court can be treated with disrespect, the whole administration of justice is brought into scorn…If the remedies that the Court grants to correct wrongs can be ignored, then, there will be nothing left for each person but to take the law into his own hands. Loss of respect for the Court will quickly result in the destruction of our society”

In logging out, it needs be reminded that the Learned Senior Counsel to the Plaintiffs are Elders and Leaders of the Nigerian Bar who should lead the way – for both junior lawyers and citizens – in showing unwavering allegiance to the Constitution of the land and obedience to sacred Orders of legitimately constituted Courts such as the Federal High Court of Nigeria. Their rather unfortunate conduct in denigrating the Orders/Rulings/Judgments of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, spitting on Section 287(3) of the amended 1999 Constitution – which they all swore to protect – is extremely scandalous, smacks of infamous conduct unbecoming of a Legal Practitioner, shockingly nibbles at the very foundation of our constitutional democracy, smacks of grave contempt for the dignity of the Honourable Court capable of rudely shaking the confidence of a common man in the efficacy of reliefs which the Courts grant, capable of bringing the entire justice administration into disrepute and ruins and runs counter to the grain of the oath they took upon elevation to the coveted rank of Senior Advocates of Nigeria which is to DEFEND the Nigerian Constitution. Such a disservice to the Constitution of the land! The shocking recklessness exhibited by the Learned Senior Counsel to the Plaintiffs – to borrow the language of J.S. Okutepa, SAN – “is terribly unbecoming and we must rise to condemn this ugly trend”. In the words of Ahmed Raji, SAN, we are reminded that “the order of the court cannot be ridiculed”. We entirely agree! We go further to remind the Learned Silk too that “Nigeria, as a democratic nation, cannot afford to ridicule the court order in the interest of the corporate image of the country”. This is why and how it gives us worry that the corruption of the best is the worst of all – the English variant of the Latinism – corruptio optimi pessima. We choose to say nothing of the high possibility of the affected Learned Senior Advocates of Nigeria facing contempt proceedings before the Federal High Court whose judgment they have unabashedly exposed to public ignominy even as we find here a convenient place to stop.

 

JOHNMARY CHUKWUKASI JIDEOBI, Esq.

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