Keyamo fails to get SAN rank, Banire, others successful

Lagos lawyer Festus Keyamo again failed in his attempt to get the rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria as the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee conferred the rank on 21 lawyers on Friday.

The successful lawyers include, National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Muiz Banire, Dr. Oladapo Olanipekun, who is a son of a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun, and Emeka Etiaba, a son of a former Deputy Governor of Anambra State, and Mrs. Virgy Etiaba.

Also benefited were Legal Services of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Ibrahim Bawa; Edward Ashiekaa, Benson Nwankwo, Joseph Bamigboye, Patrick Okolo, Prof. Maxwell Gidado, Dr. Tahir Mamman, and Dr. Akinpelu Onigbinde.

Others were Samuel Zibiri, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, Aderibigbe Adedeji, Emmanuel Aguma, Abimbola Akeredolu, Olumuyiwa Akinboro, Gordy Uche, Uchechukwu Obi, Kehinde Eleja and Prof. Paul Idornigie.

Gidado, Mamman‎, and Idornigie were of the academic category while the rest of the 18 lawyers were conferred with the rank as advocates.

‎The only female among the 21 successful lawyers, Akeredolu, was one of the three females in a total of 124 applicants that applied for the rank when the application entry opened in January.

Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court and Secretary to the LPPC, Ahmed Saleh, announced the name of the successful lawyers at a press conference on Friday.

He said the rank was conferred on the 21 lawyers at the 119th general meeting of the LPPC on Friday “as a mark of excellence to the under listed members of the legal profession.”

The 21 lawyers were selected after an interview of the 50 shortlisted candidates held on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Keyamo was shortlisted for the final interview last year but did not make the final list. ‎This made the second time he got so close to getting the rank after previous attempts that failed to earn him an opportunity for the final interview.

Also, a former National Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olusola Oke, who is now an APC member, was also shortlisted for this year’s final interview but failed to make the final list.

The LPPC secretary, while briefing journalists, said 124 applicants applied for the rank.

Saleh said the 21 lawyers would be sworn in on September 21 at a special court session marking the beginning of the 2015/2016 legal year.

The new SANs will join 408 lawyers both living and dead who had been conferred with the rank since its inception in 1975.

Keyamo fails to get SAN rank, Banire, others successful

Some SAN seek IG dismissal

Some Senior Advocates of Nigeria including Olisa Agbakoba, Yusuf Ali and Niyi Akintola, have called for the removal of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, over his refusal to acknowledge Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Abba Suleiman, New Inspector General of Police

In his  reaction, Akintola (SAN), said the IG erred by saying that it was wrong to recognise Tambuwal as the Speaker, on the excuse that the matter was in court.

He said, “The IG cannot turn himself into a court of justice to be interpreting the law. It is left for the court to interpret it one way or the other; it is not open to anybody. I think the attitude of the IG calls for concerted effort of all Nigerians to put him in check. The impunity and the derogatory remarks of the IG, if allowed to go unchecked, he will extend it to the President of the Senate, he will extend it to the CJN and he will even extend it to the Vice President.

“So to me, it is not even Tambuwal that is affected and it is very unfortunate because I would have expected that by now members of the National Assembly should have relieved him of that position. The IG is simply not mature enough to lead an organisation like the Police. All Nigerians should rise up against the impunity of this man called Abba.”

He added that the issue was not about Tambuwal but about democracy.

“And I am of the opinion that members of the National Assembly should rise up to the occasion and the man should be sacked, anything short of that, they should all go back to their respective homes until the man resigns,” Akintola added.

Also, Yusuf Ali, (SAN), said though both the Nigeria Police and the IG were supposed to be insulated from politics, Abba had demonstrated beyond any doubt that he was partisan.

“For whoever is the occupant of that office to be partisan, it is dangerous for our democracy. And that is part of the problems that we have in this country, we don’t have institutions. We only have government departments and loyalists, not to Nigerians but to individuals in government.

“It is quite unfortunate that the number one police officer in this country took it upon himself to assume the position of the court of law that pronounces the seat of the Speaker vacant and it is even more disappointing and pathetic that he is a lawyer, who is expected to know better.

“What happened yesterday was arrant insubordination,” Ali said.

For Agbakoba, the IG was wrong because the court had to pronounce the question of the Speaker’s resignation and until the court makes that pronouncement, clearly the Speaker would be entitled to be addressed as the Speaker.

“The IG was also wrong to have caused the raid of the National Assembly, so I think altogether, the IG has been acting as if he is politically-motivated and it is very dangerous. The IG was wrong to say he could not recognise the Speaker because the matter is in court.”

Also, the members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, on Thursday insisted that the action of the police was a clear invitation to anarchy and that the continued denigration of the legislature was dangerous being the most important symbol of democracy.

The Acting National President of PASAN, Mr. Mohammed Bala, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja, therefore advocated a constitutionally empowered Sergeant-At-Arms, who would be solely responsible for the security of the legislature.

Some SAN seek IG dismissal

SAN: LPPC drops Keyamo, confers rank on 17 lawyers

THE Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, LPPC, yesterday, said it had awarded the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, to 17 legal practitioners in the country.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court who doubles as the Secretary of the LPPC, Mr. Sunday Olorundahunsi, said the rank was conferred on the 17 lawyers “as a mark of excellence”.

Olorundahunsi stressed that the committee had at the end of a general meeting it held yesterday, decided to drop five of the lawyers that were initially shortlisted for the rank.

He, however, insisted that the selection was carried out with strict adherence to the provisions of the legal practitioners’ guidelines.

Besides, he disclosed that a total of 109 lawyers across the federation had applied to be elevated to the rank, adding that whereas 23 of them were academicians, he said that three of the applicants were women.

However, he regretted that though two of the law lecturers passed the screening process, none of the female applicants succeeded.

Meantime, among those the LPPC declined to award the rank yesterday included Lagos based lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo.

Olorundahunsi further disclosed that the new SANs would be administered oath on September 22, a day the apex court will mark its new legal year.

He gave the names of the new SANs as Dr. Olu Onagoruwa, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, Olusola Olaseni Idowu, Dr. Ernest Maduachi Ojukwu, Ahamefula Ikechukwu Eke Ejelam, Chike George Onyemenam, Tawo Eja Tawo, Olatunde Oluranti Adejuyigbe, Sylvanus Aghumele Ogwemoh.

Others are Dr. Adewale Adedamola Olawoyin, Dr. Joshua Olukayode Olatoke, Teslim Olatunde Busari, Kelvin Chukwudi Nwufo, Dr. Amuda-Kannike Abiodun, Oluwakemi Mufutau Balogun, Hakeem Olatunde Afolabi and Gerald Godwin E. Ezeuko.

 

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SAN: LPPC drops Keyamo, confers rank on 17 lawyers