Lawyer asks s’court to strike out SAN’s name from legal practitioners’ roll

Onyechi Egwuonwu, an Abuja-based lawyer, has asked the supreme court to strike out the name of Kyari Gadzama, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), from the roll of legal practitioners in the country.

In a motion filed at the supreme court, Egwuonwu accused Gadzama of violating extant rules of professional conduct for legal practitioners.

According to The Nigeria Lawyer, the applicant filed a 43-paragraph affidavit and 21 exhibits attached in support of the originating motion, detailing how he and his other learned colleagues, including Gadzama, entered into a contingency fee agreement with Petro Union Oil & Gas Coy Ltd.

He said the case was prosecuted in suit no. FHC/ABJ/M/104/2012, where they successfully obtained “mandamus orders” compelling the defendants to return to the company the £2,556 million imported foreign capital in custody of both the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN).

The lawyer said both banks appealed the judgement in March 2014.

The applicant said he had approached Johnny Egwuonwu, a SAN, to be the lead counsel in the appeals, but he rejected it on the basis of the same surname.

He said the senior lawyer had recommended Gadzama as the lead counsel.

Egwuonwu said he engaged Gadzama as the lead counsel in the appeals in his capacity as instructing solicitor to first respondent and under specific terms and conditions which never included the collection of money judgment sum of £396,778,681.46 and the 15 percent accrued interest from either the UBN and or the CBN.

“That against the terms of his engagement and in exhibition of crass infamous conduct in a professional respect unethical conduct and without my knowledge first sought and obtained, the Respondent wrote to the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and the Managing Director of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc demanding the payment of the Judgement sum into his Chambers account,” the motion read.

“I know as a fact that in compliance with the provision of the Irrevocable Power of Attorney donated to us by the company, one Mr. Kingsley Okpalaeze who became a director of the company in 2015, much after we have secured the money judgment sum of £2,556, 000,000.00 in favor of Petro Union Oil & Gas Coy Ltd, wrote the Respondent, rectifying his engagement by me as the Instructing Solicitor.

“It is the law that having secured a money judgment of 2,556, 000,000.00 under contingency brief, Applicant and his team of lawyers have acquired an attorney’s lien in the judgment sum from the date of the money Judgement in favour of the company and another counsel does not take over the Brief until and unless the legal fees of Applicant counsel and his other colleagues is settled and paid in full. The case of ISMAIL &ANOTHER V.. RICHARD BUTLER(1996)2 ALL ER 506 was cited and relied upon.

The applicant prayed the supreme court to strike out Gadzama’z name “from the Roll of Legal Practitioners in Nigeria for being guilty of infamous conduct in professional respect pursuant to Section 13(1) of the Legal Practitioners Act, CAP L11, LFN, 2004.”

He asked for a declaration that all and or any other letter of instruction or engagement issued to Gadzama or his law firm outside the previous one from him should be null and void.

The lawyer also asked for a court declaration stating “that the Respondent is guilty of infamous conduct in professional respect…”