- A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Usoro, says there is nothing wrong with a judge accepting personal gifts
- The Senior Advocate of Nigeria says the Code of Conduct for Judicial officers permits judges to accept such gifts
- He also argued that such personal gifts were lawful as long as they were offered by the judge’s personal friends and relatives
Paul Usoro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, says there is nothing wrong in the acceptance of personal gifts by a judge, nothing that Rule 3 of the Code of Conduct for Judicial officers in its Paragraph F permits the acceptance of such gifts, The Punch reports.
NAIJ.com gathered that he argued that such personal gifts were lawful as long as they were offered by the judge’s personal friends and relatives “on such occasions as are recognised by custom.”
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According to a partner in Usoro’s law firm, Munirudeen Liadi, this argument was contained in a letter that the SAN wrote between October and November 2016 to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Usoro, according to Liadi, had written three letters to the EFCC while being questioned by the anti-graft agency as to why he sent a total of N700,000 to a serving judge of the National Industrial Court, Justice James Agbadu-Fishim.
Justice Agbadu-Fishim has been arraigned on 19 corruption charges before the Lagos state high court in Ikeja before Justice Raliat Adebiyi.
He was accused by the EFCC of unlawfully enriching himself by allegedly collecting gratification from no fewer than seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria, one other Lagos-based lawyer and one law firm between 2013 and 2015. Among whom was case was Usoro.
Usoro’s law firm in a recent statement, slammed former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, for allegedly accusing its principal of corrupt practices.
He described a recent publication by Odinkalu in which he allegedly attacked Usoro, as nothing but a hate campaign.
Usoro’s law firm insisted that the money sent to Justice Agbadum-Fishim was not a bribe.
According to Liadi, the various gifts which Usoro gave the judge was based on their long-standing friendship, which, started before Agbadu-Fishim became a judge.
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NAIJ.com previously reported that Senior lawyers in Nigeria have commended the recent judgement by the Appeal Court that a serving judge cannot be prosecuted until he has been forcibly retired or dismissed by the National Judicial Council.
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday, December 12, also struck out the corruption charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against a serving judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa.
This Day reports that the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oliseh Agbakoba (SAN), while reacting to the ruling said the court has once again upheld the separation of powers.
The EFCC stage a walk against corruption - on NAIJ.com TV.
Source: Naija.ng
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Thursday, 14 December 2017