Edo Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Samson Osagie, has cautioned lawyers in the country against weaponizing social media.
Osagie also lambasted a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, over a viral video which alleged that he (Osagie) met with a Justice of the Supreme Court in Benin City over the pending appeal concerning the Edo governorship election.
In the video, the narrator alleged that Osagie and a Justice of the Supreme Court were seen leaving the Protea Hotel, Benin, on June 10, 2025.
Osagie spoke in Benin City at the June monthly meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch, held at the Bar House, Benin City.
He denied allegations of judicial interference in the ongoing governorship appeal and urged legal professionals to uphold ethical standards, especially in the use of social media.
The Edo Attorney-General urged legal practitioners to avoid weaponizing social media to harm reputations, saying, criticism must be based on “verifiable and unimpeachable facts.”
Osagie, who described the allegation as “wicked, malicious and unpatriotic vitriolic attack”, said there was “no meeting of any kind” with any judicial officer regarding the pending appeal.
He clarified a statement by the Supreme Court that the Justice in question was granted permission to attend a private social engagement in Benin City involving a former President of the African Bar Association.
“Assuming but not conceding that I was in the said facility how does that translate to meeting with the jurist?” he asked rhetorically.
Describing the video evidence circulated by Odinkalu’s associates as inconclusive and defamatory, Osagie said: “There is nowhere my image was shown such an attempt to undermine our joint image and professional standing is a conduct unbecoming of a lawyer of that status.”
