{"id":16677,"date":"2017-11-23T12:57:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T12:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dnllegalandstyle.com\/?p=16677"},"modified":"2017-11-23T12:57:46","modified_gmt":"2017-11-23T12:57:46","slug":"usorogate-match-opnb-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/usorogate-match-opnb-2\/","title":{"rendered":"UsoroGate and the Match to OPNB"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wee hours of today, my sleep was rudely disturbed by a call from a very radical friend. He wanted to find out if I had seen the statement credited to Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu on the alleged bribery scandal involving Honourable Justice J. Agbadu-Fishim of the National Industrial Court. he told me the statement is all over the (political) whatsapp groups. I rushed to my phone to check out the statement. To put it mildly, the statement from Prof. Odinkalu was daring! In order to confirm what I saw, I immediately visited Prof. Odinkalu\u2019s social media platforms\/handle to confirm the authenticity of the statement. There was nothing. I concluded that it would have been some fabrications from PAU\u2019s political antagonist.<\/p>\n

I was wrong in my assumptions.<\/p>\n

Sometime in the late morning, I discovered that the statement had generated a lot of reactions in the whatsapp groups. In one of the groups where Paul Usoro SAN belongs, he came out to defend himself and it was only at that moment that I took Prof. Odinkalu\u2019s statement serious. I went back and read through carefully.<\/p>\n

Prof. Odinkalu alleged that<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever dreamt up this Paul Usoro project to lead the Bar is terribly misguided. The person wishes perdition on the Bar. It is worse than a bad dream and it has to be stopped.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Paul Usoro is charged with having bribed James Agbadu-Fishim, (I refuse to call him “Honorable Justice”), a judge of the National Industrial Court, with N800,000 paid in 3 instalments of N300k; N400k, & N100k. Paul Usoro\u00a0 himself admits to having given the judge at least N450k, claiming it was contribution towards his vacation.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In a sane country, Paul Usoro should be facing disciplinary proceedings at best & should have been disbarred. In Nigeria. Someone is parading him to lead our Bar. That Bar belongs to us all. No one has a right to even think about this.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This idea that a lawyer who admits to having bribed a judge is even considering himself for the office of President of the Bar while the judge that he bribed is being prosecuted & the payments he made to the judge are exhibits in the case is worse than a terrible joke. It is an insult to us all. We all have a duty to stop it. <\/em><\/p>\n

This Paul Usoro project for Presidency of the Bar has to end, fortwith.\u00a0 By all means let all lawyers of decent standing aspire for the Bar Presidency. I want to go on record: Paul Usoro has no standing in morality &, I would venture, in law to even consider aspiring to the Presidency of the Bar now or ever<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0He should bury his head in ignominy. The only right he has is to go before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee to clear his name or be disbarred. Period!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In a swift reaction, Paul Usoro SAN reacted to the allegations made by Prof. Odinkalu. In summary, Paul Usoro SAN\u2019s defence are that:<\/p>\n