‘Bogus’ charges in election litigation justified – Falola

Tunde Falola graduated from the University of Ilorin in 2000 and proceeded to the Law School following which he was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002. He had his early practice in the law chambers of Chief Adegboyega Awomolo from 2004 to 2009 before establishing his law firm, Tunde Falola & Co in Kwara State and has recently expanded to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. In this WhatsApp interview with ACTING EDITOR, MUMINI ABDULKAREEM, he talks about some contemporary issues in the legal judicial sector. Excerpts:
The chairman of the ICPC recently said the judiciary ranks top in the corruption index in the country from 2018-2020 with lawyers offering over N9bn in bribes. What is your take on this?
I want to respectfully disagree with the views expressed by the ICPC regarding the ranking of Judiciary in corruption index in the country. First and foremost, like any other sector of our national architecture, there is no doubt that there are bad eggs in the judiciary. In fact, we have instances where some of the judicial officers were dragged before the NJC, the body constitutionally empowered to discipline erring judges. Some of the affected judicial officers were either dismissed outrightly or were compulsorily retired. Similarly, few years ago, there were cases of lawyers being arraigned in court by the anti-corruption agencies, and in most cases, some of them were either convicted and sentenced accordingly or some being referred to the Legal Practitioner Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for appropriate action. In these few cases, the general public was satisfied that at least sanity is being restored in the justice sector.
There is a general belief that fees charged by lawyers especially the Senior Advocates and in most election matters are too exorbitant with some running into several millions and even billions at times for cases. How come some legal fees are so expensive and should there be a body that should regulate legal charges?
I don’t believe fees being charged by lawyers whether by SANs or other lawyers should be a subject of debate I say so because in arriving at a particular fees, a lawyer will put into consideration the nature of the briefs, its technicalities, the estimated length of time of each case, the level of research required to prosecute it, the nature of the skills expected etc. By the time you look at all these, you will agree that what people regards as “a bogus” fees may not be so after all particularly in Election Petition matters. By its very nature, it’s time consuming and the lawyer in charge must be both physically and mentally fit before you can dabble into it.
How can you compare and differentiate between practice in Ilorin and Abuja jurisdictions now that you have tasted both. Is it right to say lawyers must go out to places like Abuja, Lagos or Port Harcourt jurisdictions before they can make it in legal practice?
Well, in considering the difference between practice in Ilorin and Abuja, it depends on the angle you are viewing it. Generally both cities are relatively peaceful but the volume of litigations in Abuja is higher than that of Ilorin being the Federal Capital. Again, Abuja has a greater opportunity in terms of building clients and also being a metropolitan city, briefs in Abuja attract higher fees than in Ilorin, however, the cost of living in Ilorin is largely lesser and better than Abuja. Abuja also has more windows of opportunities that cut across various aspects of Legal practice than Ilorin. All the same, law practices in both cities are encouraging and rewarding.
Although, the court is not suppose to give credence or support to anything that can’t be proven like the belief in charms or diabolical things. But we have heard cases where lawyers who failed to heed the warning of their opponent and colleagues not to appear in court to defend a matter slumped and died in court even vomiting blood. What is your take on such practice its virility in jurisdiction and the legal sector?
Well, I don’t believe lawyers have to go to court with charms and if there are those who believe in that, I think it’s left for them to explain why. As for me, I have never experienced a situation where court threatens to search lawyers in court in my several years of practice.
But I don’t think there is reason for that in the first place. If a Judge feels uncomfortable handling a matter, prudence dictates that such judicial officer should send the case back to the appropriate authority for reassignment.