The Law firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co has denied authorizing a letter from a partner in the firm, Adekunbi Ogunde Esq to an expatriate company, Saipem SPA, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, promising that the Chairman of the firm, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, will use his position as Chairman of Body of Benchers to influence Judges and switch things in favour of the company in a $130 million case between the company and Rivers State Government.
In a letter signed by two associates of the firm, James Adesulu Esq and Quam Bisiriyu Esq, the firm disassociated itself from the email, expressing disgust and regretted that it emanated from a partner in their firm who acted without authorization.
Olanipekun quickly retracted the letter and apologized to the law firm of Ajumogobia and Okeke headed by former minister of state for petroleum, Odien Ajumogobia SAN, whose firm was already representing Saipem SPA, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited.
This was after Ajumogobia insisted that the law firm own up to their distasteful act and issue an apology to him and Saipem.
Ajumogobia, who said his firm’s clients brought the correspondence to his attention, expressed disappointment and utter disillusionment that such a letter should emanate from Olanipekun’s chambers, given his stature at the Bar generally and as the current Chairman of the Body of Benchers, in particular.
He added that the letter also contained false and misleading statements with several defamatory imputations of and concerning him and his firm.
Adekunbi had written a letter titled, USD 130million claim in Nigeria – Rivers State Government vs Saipem SPA, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited and Ors, to Saipem Nigeria Limited.
In the letter addressed to Mr Francesco Caio of Saipem, Adekunmi attempted to take the Saipem case from the law firm of Ajumogobia & Okeke for her law firm Olanipekun & Co.
Reacting to the issue in a statement, Ogunde whose responsibility is to secure business for the firm, admitted to sending the email without the alleged consent or knowledge of either the founding partner or the managing partner of the firm, Mr Bode Olanipekun SAN.
She said, “It was based on this commitment, and perhaps with great enthusiasm and exuberance, that I wrote an email to Saipem on 20th June, 2022, without the consent or knowledge of either the Founding Partner or the Managing Partner of the firm, Mr. Bode Olanipekun SAN. I found out about the Saipem matter through an online article, and I unilaterally reached out to Saipem about the said matter, which unknown to me, was no longer before the court.
“My limited knowledge about the litigation space came to bare because had I consulted with other persons conversant with the recent happenings in the litigation circles, I would have been informed that the matter between Saipem and the Rivers State Government had been settled out of court about two (2) months prior to my email of 20th June, 2022. Therefore, as at the time of writing the said email, there was no such pending matter before the court.
Ogunde
“Further, I made certain careless representations and inferences in my email of 20th June, 2022, that could have been easily interpreted to mean that the firm could help secure some advantage in the court for Saipem.”
“I must therefore retract such representations and state categorically that, since joining the law firm in December 2021, I have never seen any person at the firm (including its Founding and Managing Partners), engage in any unwholesome or unethical practice, in the manner that will suggest that the firm can somehow ‘influence’ judicial outcomes by improper means,” she added.
Olanipekun & Co. earlier apologised to Ajumogobia and Ajumogobia & Okeke firm, saying the letter was sent without the knowledge or consent of the management of the law firm.
The firm said it would take internal measures “to address and redress this very unfortunate situation”.
It had added, “Our Principal, without being immodest, has never been known to indulge himself in the type of practice portrayed in the letter under reference. He is a very sober and humble person, and we believe learned Silk, H. Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR can attest to this. He stands for the best in the profession, in terms of ethics, honour, integrity, discipline, character and carriage.”
See below her correspondence with Saipem
Nigerian lawyers have equally expressed dismay over Olanipekun’s unethical law practice which they described as a violation of Rule 39 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, prohibiting self-advertising and solicitation by Nigerian legal practitioners. The attorneys said what the company did was “a serious breach” that needed to be addressed to safeguard the integrity of the profession.
Lawyers are unanimous with their concerns that the disclaimer from Olanipekun fell short of expectation, was incredibly offensive, derogatory and extremely disrespectful and beyond the pale to Ajumogobia a SAN, that two junior associates signed a letter addressed to him rather than his fellow SAN.
They were also of the opinion that if the matter was left without reprimand, it will open a floodgate for all sorts and it won’t be long before the profession is destroyed by funny people.
This won’t be the first time Olanipekun has been in the eye of the storm over his unethical ways of practising law.
A few months ago, Lucius Nwosu, a fellow SAN, petitioned the Nigeria Bar Association to restrain Olanipekun from bidding for the position of chairman of Benchers, a professional body concerned with the admission of prospective students into the Nigerian Law School. The body also regulates the call of Law School graduates to the Nigerian Bar and the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria.
In a letter addressed to Olumide Akpata, the NBA president, Nwosu accused Olanipekun, who clocked 70 in December, of engaging in unprofessional conduct contrary to the provisions of section 3 of the Legal Practitioners Act Cap L 11, which provides that a BOB member should be of the highest distinction in the legal profession.
According to Nwosu, Olanipekun has unfortunately, over the years, progressively carried on a practice, which has culminated in his condemnation in unanimous decisions of the Supreme Court and final court of the land in the strongest of terms particularly where Olanipekun sought for a review of the Supreme Court judgement on the Bayelsa State governorship election of 2019.
Olanipekun and Afe Babalola SAN, who both represented David Lyon, the Bayelsa governorship candidate and the All Progressives Congress (APC), were fined N30 million by the apex court over the application.
Olanipekun according to Nwosu, defiantly refused to pay the fine, adding that his refusal is even more complicated, given the fact that the Chief Justice of the federation and all the learned law lords of the Supreme Court are statutory members of the Body of Benchers, including all the heads of strategic courts in Nigeria.
This and many more, Nwosu considered an act of indecency on the part of Olanipekun, enough for him not to even think of applying to sit as chairman of the highest policy body where ethics and regulation of the legal profession will be discussed and formulated.
But the NBA was past caring and Olanipekun eventually emerged chairman, Body of Benchers.
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