Disrobing a SAN: the Aondoakaa’s case
By Felix Adewumi
Background
A precedent was set when the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee slammed a two-year ban on Michael Aondoaaka, former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and stripped him of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)
Before this, the issue of SAN had generated a lot of controversies for a long time and came into fore front when Pa Tunji Gomez, an Octogenarian called for the abolition of the title at the 2009 annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Many believed that the SAN title has been compromised and felt it should be scrapped to give a fair landing to the legal profession while others believed it should be left as it is.
The ban given to Aondoakaa and its implication on the
SAN as a demigod
The SAN title was borrowed from the British where they have the Queen’s Counsel (QC). This started when
It is the highest title that legal practitioner could have, it is most celebrated and have certain advantages, they wear silk gown, sit in the front row in court and have their cases heard first.
This honour was even sometimes accorded to them by the judge as some of the judges were sometimes accused of swaying judgement to the sides of the SAN handling the matter.
The SAN title is so revered that some lawyers with the SAN title now see it as an equal footing with the power that be. It is not uncommon to see a Senior Advocate coming to court with an array of about 13 young lawyers all following him from behind and carrying over 100 giant law books, constitutions, law reports and rules just to show their status.
It is also not uncommon to see a senior advocate stand up before a judge and say, “My Lord, I don’t have much time here since I have other cases to handle so I ask for adjournment” and despite the protest of the other lawyer who is not a SAN, the judge will go ahead and grant the adjournment to the convenience of the SAN.
It will also be foolhardy for a younger lawyer to try and ask for adjournment when the Senior Advocate is ready to go on in any matter.
This discrepancy had been one of the factors responsible for the call for the abolition of the silk title with younger lawyers feeling they ought to be given the same privileges as the senior advocates.
Professor Akin Oyebode, former vice chancellor of the
“You now need a godfather to be a SAN and many of the people being given the title did not command the respect of their peers. Look at somebody like Gani, it became almost too late before they decide to honour him with the title, look at Femi Falana, how can you mention 10 names in the legal profession today and omit Femi Falana? then that list is not complete. And the people are watching” he said
He pointed out that
Moreover, Chief Abiodun Dabiri, former Chairman, Lagos branch of the Nigerian Bar Association and member, National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Disciplinary Committee of the NBA, said lots of people are going for this title not because they are competent or qualified or they want to improve the image of the profession or they want to develop the law or whatever it is but because they are going there for pecuniary reasons
“They are thinking that if I become a SAN, I will be getting money, people will be calling me SAN and then when a case comes, I will charge them N10 million, that is what they are going there for.
Abusing the SAN title: between Bayo Ojo and Aondoakaa
Adding the position of the attorney general of the federation to the title of a SAN may actually give a personality to position of a demigod going by happenings in the legal system since the advent of democracy in
Chief Bayo Ojo, a senior advocate and a former attorney of the federation during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime as the president certainly escape the watching eye of Nigerians with the way he used his two positions to influence events during his time.
Ojo infamously ordered a status quo to remain despite a court order which has removed Alao Akala as governor of
He was also instrumental to the Anambra case and some other cases where after a court judgement, he try to dare the judgement by issuing a statement saying the Federal government is still studying the judgement.
When Aondoakaa came on board at the Yar’Adua regime, he started playing the role left behind by Chief Ojo.
Mr Aondoakaa was better known as an attorney for corrupt ex-Governor and found himself in the exalted position of both the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Nigeria.
Since assuming the office as the number one law officer for Nigeria, he has systematically under the guise of upholding the rule of law, dismantled the little gain Nigeria has made in the effort to control corruption in public places.
He has sought to weaken the hands of progressive institution in
From the beginning, Aondoakaa did not hide his ambition to severely clip the wings of EFCC and Nuhu Ribadu, its then chairman.
His move started barely a month after his appointment in July 2007, when he submitted a memo to the President requesting “that all agencies involved in the prosecution of criminal offences such as the EFCC and ICPC should report and initiate criminal proceedings with the consent and approval of the Attorney-General of the Federation as specified in relevant sections of the Constitution.”
He started making use of his office when Ribadu made move to prosecute James Ibori, former Governor of Delta State, reputed to be a close friend of Aondoakaa, and the person who actually recommended him to President Yar’Adua for the position of Attorney General.
In February 2009, only weeks after Ribadu was dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force, Aondoakaa filed charges against him, before the Code of Conduct tribunal, alleging that he did not declare his assets upon assumption of duties as EFCC chief, as required by law.
Consequences
Following the removal of Aondoakaa from his position ans his subsequent sack by President Goodluck Jonathan, it all seems that the law of nemesis was ready to catch up with him,
A Federal High Court sitting in Calabar, Cross River State, had in early June, restrained Aondoakaa from holding the office of the AGF or any other similar public offices in the future in Nigeria.
It had, therefore, advised the government to always consider Aondoakaa unfit and incompetent to hold public offices because of his conduct while serving as AGF.
Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, who delivered the judgment, had also referred the ex-minister to the Nigerian Bar Association for appropriate disciplinary action.
The judgment was on a suit filed against Aondoakaa by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for Uyo Federal Constituency,
Besidres, the United States Government on July 1, 2010 confirmed that it had barred Aondoakaa, from entering its territory.
The US Embassy in
the judgment of the Federal High Court, and the declaration of his person as persona non grata for offences relating to corruption and the consequent revocation of his entry visa by the American Government earlier in the year was a factor leading to the suspension of his Silk title for two years.
Reactions
Barely days after the suspension, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) kicked against the suspension saying it did not follow due process and it was done by the wrong body.
Whgile calling for the reversal of the decision, NBA in a statement signed by Joseph Daudu its president, said the statutory body responsible for such disciplinary measures is the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) and not the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), which issued the suspension.
On the argument that the privileges committee possess powers to remove its appointees from office, just as it is empowered to appoint, the NBA stated that the Legal Practitioners Act, under the maxim Generalia Specialibus non derogant, displaces ‘the general' as it "does not envisage a withdrawal, removal or suspension of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria" citing Section 5-(1)-(8) and 6 of the Legal Practitioners Act.
The association stated that the rank of SAN is a leadership position, conferred only on persons who have shown exemplary character and, consequently it can only be taken away where another statutory body, the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, adjudges the person accused of infamous conduct or breach of any of the rules of professional conduct.
The NBA president said the LPPC, notwithstanding its eminent membership, "cannot and is not equipped to deal with matters of discipline."
He added that the LPPC's foray into "looking at matters of the discipline of a lawyer under the guise of suspending a person of the rank of SAN is ultra vires, illegal, unconstitutional and therefore null and void."
"We stand for the promotion of the Rule of Law and regardless of the personality of the person involved herein, we cannot acquiesce to a situation where a person, legal practitioner and senior advocate is punished even before the allegations are established against him, moreso by a body that clearly has no jurisdiction to inquire into matters of alleged breach of professional ethics," the NBA president said.
Corroborating the views of NBA, Chief Dabiri said the Privileges Committee has no right to suspend Aondoakaa.
Though Dabiri accepted that Aondoaaka’s antics are disgraceful but as far as the law is concerned, the committee have no power to do it.
According to him, it is only the Disciplinary Committee that can do that, if the Disciplinary Committee feels that his name should be struck out of the register and that is the end of his title.
“I know that Aondoaaka disgraced his office as AGF. He wasn’t a law officer at all. He was more of a politician and he carried it a bit too far, too far. At the same time, I am saying the Privileges Committee has no power to withdraw or suspend it” Dabiri said.
Conclusion
While Aondoakaa serve his two year-ban, the issue of the abuse of the SAN title also comes into focus. The call for the abolition of the title is gradually gaining momentum again.
It is important that the process of choosing the title should be looked into with the agitation for a reform in the way and manner that the selection is done.
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