By Bertram Onyebuchi
Controversy has trailed the recent appointment of Justice Ishaq Bello as the new Chairman of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC). The former Chief Judge of the High Court of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who had upon his retirement on the bench, made an unsuccessful attempt to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) bench, replaces Mr. Emmanuel Ukala SAN, who recently resigned from the position.
However, it was gathered that members of the Body of Benchers (BoB) are not comfortable with the procedure, which brought about the emergence of Justice Bello.
Some who spoke on the issue argued that they were neither consulted in the process leading to the appointment nor given the opportunity during the plenary to ratify Bello’s nomination.
They also said due process was not followed in the appointment, stressing that the immediate past BoB Chairman, Justice Olabode RhodesVivour merely announced the appointment of the jurist towards the end of the last meeting of the body.
According to a member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the practice had been that while the headship of the LPDC rotates between the Bar and Bench, both groups must reach a consensus on the choice of the candidate to head the all-important (BoB) committee.
The member said: “Sadly, that did not happen this time. “Due process was not followed; instead, a fait accompli was foisted on the body. That is not the precedent we are used to. The appointment is inchoate.
“I do hope that the new chairman of the Body of Benchers will seek the earliest opportunity to present the nomination of Justice Bello for ratification at the plenary. Otherwise, it will be a bad signal for both the committee and the Body of Benchers.”
The Body of Benchers and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Mr. Olumide Akpata are yet to respond on the matter. Recall that LPDC was recently in the news, following the resignation of Ukala and two other members of the committee over alleged interference by the Body of Benchers, The Trumpet gathered.
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The two members who threw in the towel were the current Chairman of the NBA Section on Legal Practice, Chief Ferdinand Orbih (SAN) and Boma Ayomide Alabi (SAN). Ukala had in his resignation letter dated February 22, 2022 cited the complaint by senior lawyer, Mr. Lucius Nwosu SAN, who died recently, over a prima facie finding by the committee, noting that most members who spoke on the subject “were against the intervention of this august body (benchers) in the matter for very sound and obvious reasons including the fact that the matter was subjudice and that this august body has no jurisdiction to review any matter including the issue of prima facie finding which is already before the LPDC.
“Surprisingly, the Chairman, the Honourable Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, ruled against the overwhelming views of the majority in favour of the minority views of mainly three members, namely; retired Justice James Ogenyi Ogebe, the Honourable Justice Ejembi Eko and R. A. Lawal-Rabana SAN, This, senior lawyers said, portends grave danger to the maintenance of discipline in the Legal Profession since it opened up judicial proceedings before LPDC to the administrative review of the Body of Benchers.
