UNICAL Dean Informs Court: ICPC’s Lawyer Suspended from Practicing

The suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, Prof Cyril Ndifon, brought to the attention of the Federal High Court in Abuja that the legal representative for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) lacks registration on the roll of legal practitioners in Nigeria. This revelation, according to Prof Ndifon, violates Section 2 of the Legal Practitioners Act, which mandates that a practicing lawyer must be duly listed on the country’s roll of legal practitioners.

The professor, currently facing trial on amended charges of alleged sexual harassment and gratification, also implicated his lawyer, Sunny Anyanwu, who was accused of harassing ICPC’s star witness and advising her to disregard the commission’s summons. Dr. Osuobeni Akponimisingha, appearing as legal counsel for the ICPC alongside Joshua Alobo, faced criticism for his alleged lack of registration as a legal practitioner.

In a motion filed by the suspended dean’s legal representative, Joe Agi (SAN), the court was urged to dismiss the sexual harassment and cybercrime charges brought against them by the ICPC, citing the incompetence of the amended charge presented by Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, who purportedly lacks registration as a legal practitioner. Furthermore, the defendants sought the court’s intervention to refer both Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha and Joshua E. Alobo to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for their actions, including appearing as legal representatives without proper credentials and potentially misrepresenting their academic qualifications.