Lawyers have abused use of wigs, gowns –Jimilehin

[Mirror]

Chief Oladipo Jimilehin is an urbane lawyer and he was the National Publicity Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) during the tenure of Mrs. Priscilla Kuye as the President. Called to the English Bar in 1977, he was a former Secretary, National Constitutional Conference Commission in the mid-1990s. In this interview with WALE IGBINTADE, he speaks on justice delivery system, corruption in the judiciary, the law-making processs, and the future of Nigerian judiciary, among others. Excerpts.

How do you combine your legal practice with politics?

I am a lawyer, that's my first constituency, but I am a politician by calling. Like it's postulated in England, the legal profession is a profession that can conveniently be combined with politics. But, I know the situation in Nigeria is far away from it. For instance, in England, most politicians in the House of Commons are lawyers. In the United States, we have Bill Clinton and Barak Obama who are lawyers. When you look at parliamentary procedure, it flows with the legal profession.

I was privileged to have attended my course in England and I belong to the generation of lawyers whereby it was only in England that lawyers were trained. But later we found out that lawyers could be trained in Nigeria.

It was very controversial when the Law School was introduced in Nigeria because people over there in England were opposed to it. The argument of those that were opposed to it was that all those that were behind it were trained in England. Why would they now go back to Nigeria, introduce Law School and insisted that even if you have been called to Bar in England, you still have to attend law school here in Nigeria. Their argument was that once you have been called to Bar in England, you should be exempted.

But, why would Nigeria set up a parallel Law School?

What they did at that time was to prevent the influx into the profession. At that time, it was becoming alarming, not to talk of what is happening to the legal profession today. I don't know of any university in Nigeria that has law faculty at that time, so you were forced to attend the University of London and for those who are privileged, they go to Cambridge, Oxford and after graduating you will attend any of the Inns of Court.

Look at the number of eminent lawyers at that time, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Adetokunbo Ademola inclusive. They all belonged to one Inn of court or the other. In fact, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola was the Chief Justice of Nigeria, when the Law School was introduced. They, in England, did not know the problem we had in Nigeria at that time. The whole idea at that time was to clamp down on the influx of Nigerians into the legal profession.

After I was called to Bar in England, I came back to Nigeria and was again called into the Nigerian Bar in 1977. It was a Friday, we were asked to enroll the following day (Saturday) at the Supreme Court and on Monday morning I appeared in court before Justice Candide-Johnson, who later became the Chief Judge of Lagos State. At that time, legal practitioners observed ethics of the Bar.

Could you compare lawyers back then with the class of lawyers we have today?

Back then, you are proud to be a member of the legal profession because there was decorum. Back then, lawyers either go into litigation, the ministry or go into companies and act as solicitors. But now, you find lawyers doing all sorts of jobs. When Prince Bola Ajibola was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, I was privileged to be a member the Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Committee and I was amazed at the kind of things lawyers were doing even at that time. If things were that bad at that time, what about today? I will leave it for you to draw you conclusions.

Today, there are cases in court involving lawyers who allegedly defrauded their clients. How do you see this trend?

I feel bad about it. I wonder what the Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) is doing about it, unless it has become a toothless bulldog. At the time when I was a member of the LPDC, there was a senior member of the Bar, who was once a minister. He was summoned to appear before the Committee. On the day he was invited, I saw him staying outside waiting to be called upon. When I went inside, the President of the Bar, Prince Bola Ajibola, said we must go on break but I told the President that we should attend to the senior colleague before we went on break and we called him inside.

So, I am not happy about what is happening today. It appears that the ethics of the Bar is not being followed. When you appear in your wig and gown, they are meant for use inside the court but immediately you step out of the court, you remove them and move into the robbing room and change your bib and collar and put on your tie.

It is then that you can go outside. But, on many occasions I have seen lawyers putting on their wigs and gowns on the road. I have had cause to stop some lawyers walking along Igbosere Road querying them if they were not trained at the Law School not to wear their wigs and gowns outside the courtroom. During our days, you dare not wear your bibs and collars in a taxi, but today, you see lawyers wear wigs and gowns on Okada (commercial motorcycle).

What is your take on the quality of judgements from our courts?

I know a number of judges who did not go into practice before they were appointed to the Bench. I know of a judge who was a legal adviser with a Local Government Council, I know of a judge who was a legal adviser in a merchant bank back then who was appointed as judge. You know the method of appointing a judge; it's either from the Ministry of Justice or from the private practice.

You can go and find out and compare the judgement of those who have been in active legal practice before becoming a judge with those who had not. That will tell you about the quality of judgements coming from our courts today. Definitely, there is a lot of difference. Judges back then displayed majority, but most colleagues who went into the Bench are nearing their retirement age. But, let me say without fear of contradiction that there are some judges today that deliver good judgements. They are serious and often address issues that are before them dispassionately.

Just recently, the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended the compulsory retirement of some judges on ethical ground. How do you see this exercise?

It goes down with what we have been saying ab initio that things are changing, and there is no more value in every sphere of life. When we were young, we heard of the practice whereby judges will never appear at public functions, but what do you have today? Judges are everywhere. Talking about discipline of judges, there is too much outcry about corruption in the judiciary particularly in election petition matters. In my view, the Chief Justice of Nigeria had no alternative but to sanction the affected judges. It is an attempt to restore the hope of the common man in the judiciary. The hope of the common man lies with the judiciary; this is because the common man has lost hope in the judicial system of this country.

Do you think the National Assembly as presently constituted has the constitutional power to amend the 1999 Constitution?

Let me add to your question. Who then has the competence to amend the Constitution? I was privileged to be a member of the Constituent Assembly and the purpose was to review a new Constitution for the country. At that time, there was so much agitation and, up till now, they are saying it's not the peoples' constitution. The question is, where are the people to make the Constitution? If you have peoples' assembly and people are saying they cannot amend the constitution, who then is competent to do it?

People should look at it from two different angles; the National Assembly are the representatives of the people of this country. You'll recall that an attempt was made during the Obasanjo administration, which ended up in confusion over the alleged third term saga. Yet people said they lacked legitimacy to amend the constitution. If we agree that members of the National Assembly are the elected representative of the people, are we saying they don't have the requisite power to amend the Constitution? There is no other body that can do the amendment than the National Assembly, because they were elected by the people.

What is your take on a bill pending before the National Assembly canvassing immunity for the legislators?

I say no to their request for immunity, otherwise they will make a mockery of the process. In fact, the immunity granted the President and the governors are even questionable. I remember when we were at the 1988\89 Constituent Assembly, we were debating on the security votes, I remember telling my colleagues on the floor of the House that president and governors should account for security votes given to them. But, my colleagues resisted it, especially, those of them who knew they would soon become governors. Such a request is a mockery of the democratic system.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) recently barred politicians and political parties from embarking on campaigns for the 2015 election. How do you see this step taken by the Commission?

There is need for us to draw a line. There is a difference from campaign and electioneering campaign. There is no electioneering campaign going on anywhere.

But, what about posters of politicians for the 2015 election pasted in some states, especially the Federal Capital Territory?

Seriously speaking, there would be no way there wouldn't be a campaign. For instance, if a governor decided to organise a ward to ward assessment tour of his project, that is a campaign. Electoral law will not go against that. Many of the posters you talked about are being denied. The people whose photographs appeared in the posters are saying they don't know anything about it. The President said it, recently a friend of mine, the governor of Katsina State had his posters pasted around Abuja and some other States in the West. When I called him, he denied it saying the people behind it are being mischievous. I think the type of campaign INEC is talking about is electioneering campaign but you cannot stop politicians from campaigning.

How will you assess your colleagues in the National Assembly?

They are not making any impact. I will not be surprised if a non-lawyer is put as chairman, Senate Committee on legal matters. This is because some of the lawyers in the National Assembly may even decline to be in the committee, but will prefer to be members or chairman of Senate Committee on Petroleum.

What is your take on the crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors' Forum?

Governors' Forum is not an issue for the nation to divert us from the reality on ground. The Forum is an association. Ordinarily, parties are proposed to be on ideological divide. That is why governors were elected on the platform of PDP and governors were elected on the platform of ACN and other political parties. But, they want us to believe that there is a union within them at the Governors' Forum. They are merely using it to feather their nest. So, it is not an issue that we should allow to bother us.

I believe in collective responsibility, within the governors' forum, you have the PDP governors, you have the ACN governors, you have the APGA governors and the Labour governor, are you saying they are not outsmarting each other as far as their political parties are concerned? Don't you think a party has the right to take a stand on issues? Do you think it is morally right for any governor within that set-up to ignore his party's directive? That would be indiscipline? You are aware of the undercurrent surrounding the election purported to have been held by the governors. First, it was said that the election has always been by consensus and not by election. Secondly, they said it has always been on rotational basis. So, why would a governor want to sit tight? It is unfortunate that we have docile masses in this country.

How do you see the kidnap of some members of the family of a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour? What impact will this have on judges in determining matters before them?

I do not have the facts. The issues of kidnapping and Boko Haram are serious issues facing the country. It is unfortunate that it has happened to a senior member of the judiciary. But, I do not think it should affect the course of justice. A judge either at the lower court or higher court should be upright and dispense justice without fear or favour. Against all odds, a judge should continue to dispense justice without fear or favour.

How do you feel when you hear of allegations of corrupt practice among judicial officers?

One is disturbed because when you consider that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man and giving the sensitive nature of the institution. The judiciary is the last stable institution that we have. One is disturbed that if anything happens to weaken the integrity of the judiciary, then that will have impact on the credibility of governance in general.

How do you see the future of the law profession in Nigeria?

The future of the legal profession is very bright. Whatever challenges the profession is facing now will be corrected. There was a time in Nigeria, when you're called to the Bar, you either go into litigation or as a solicitor. But over a period of time, you find lawyers who having been called to Bar, you will not even see them in court. The number now is alarming simply because every family has at least a lawyer in the family. Today, almost all the military officers are lawyers, but all these things are being corrected.

What will be your advice for young lawyers?

Young lawyers should be conscious of professional ethics and they should adhere strictly to them. Lawyers should not meddle with clients' funds and they should advice their clients properly. We were taught in England that when you have a difficult case, you should be able to tell your client that ''this is a bad case, but I will do my best''. You are not supposed to reject a bad case and you are not to tell your client to twist or distort or pervert the course of justice.

National Mirror