• Takes leave of absence from legal profession
• Exonerates Olanipekun, says firm took necessary action over email
• Decides to engage in community, social wok with NGOs
Citing endless controversy over an email she sent to SAIPEM Contracting Nigeria Ltd for legal brief, a partner in the law firm of Wole Olanipekun SAN & Co, Ms Adekunbi Ogunde, has stepped aside from legal practice, saying that she has decided to take a leave of absence from legal profession.
She added that she would henceforth get involved in community and social work pro bono with a few selected NGOs.
Ogunde stated this in a statement signed by her and made available on Wednesday.
She also said that she is stepping aside on the grounds that she is at the centre of the controversy and avoidable collateral damage arising from her unilateral email without due consultations.
The statement is titled: “Re: My email correspondence of 20th June, 2022 and subsequent events.”
The embattled lawyer also stated that in the interim, she would undergo necessary courses to equip herself better in dealing with professional and life issues.
According to her, she will return to legal practice after some time and in consultation with her parents, senior colleagues and well-wishers.
Ogunde has stirred the hornet’s nest on June 20 when she unilaterally sent an email to Saipem, seeking for legal brief from the contracting firm on alleged grounds that the founder of Wole Olanipekun & Co has more “influence” with judges across all courts.
But the chambers of Odein Ajumogobia is the one handling the legal brief of Saipem.
A complaint of professional misconduct was later filed against Ogunde before the Legal Practitioners Privilege Committee (LPPC) while the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olumide Akpata, urged the Chairman of the Body of Benchers (BoB), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) to recuse himself from his position on the grounds that Ogunde is from his legal firm.
But Olanipekun has fired back, saying that Body of Benchers does not interfere with the proceedings of the LPPC.
The legal luminary also said that the BoB does not influence the outcome of matters brought before the LPPC.
Olanipekun said, “The Body of Benchers does not and will not interfere with any of the proceedings or outcome of such proceedings before the LPPC.
“It is important to point out that the LPPC is not an avenue for dealing with perceived enemies or ventilation of grievances against fellow lawyers on personal issues.
“The decision of the LPDC is known as direction and any appeal against the direction goes directly to the Supreme Court.”
Here is the full text of Adekunbi Ogunde’s statement:
“The email which I sent to Saipem SPA (‘Saipem’) on 20th June, 2022, has, for several weeks, become the subject of discussion, debate and diatribe among lawyers and the general public on various social media platforms.
“My public statement issued on 27th June, 2022, which was aimed at expressing remorse for the anguish the said email caused to Ajumogobia & Okeke, my firm, Wole Olanipekun & Co., and my parents, and also to debunk the wrong conclusions drawn by many lawyers that the partners and/or associates at the firm knew about or consented to the content or delivery of my email did not, in the opinion of some people, also achieve the purpose.
“Since I issued that public statement, like everyone else, I have read online, a complaint filed against me at the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee by the First Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and the subsequent letter written to my firm’s Founding Partner, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, OFR, that he should recuse himself from his position as the Chairman of the Body of Benchers.
“I cannot deny the fact that I am at the centre of every main or collateral issue that has arisen out of the said email.
It may appear as if neither Wole Olanipekun & Co. nor me has taken any concrete step to ameliorate the effect of the email by way of discipline, education, reform and rehabilitation concerning me.
“I wish to state that the firm took such steps but did not believe that its actions should be for the attention of the media.
“Unfortunately, the matter has now become rather complicated and has not only affected me psychologically, but also Wole Olanipekun & Co. and my family. It has bred bad blood and, to my great pain, thoroughly embarrassed the firm’s Founding Partner, the innocent and dignified Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, OFR and as well as everyone else at the firm.
“As the one through whom all these have arisen, I have consulted with my family and the firm, and after a deep and thorough examination of all the facets of this hydra-headed problem, I have decided to take the following steps:
1. I will take a leave of absence from legal practice and get involved in community and social work pro bono, with a few selected NGOs.
2. I will also during this time undergo necessary courses to equip myself better in dealing with professional and life issues.
3. I will return to legal practice after some time, in consultation with my parents, senior colleagues and well-wishers.
This statement is issued to enable me move to the next stage of my life. I will no longer be issuing any public statement.
“I thank all those who have helped me to pass through this very trying period, particularly my parents, partners and associates of Wole Olanipekun & Co., my friends and my parents’ friends.
God bless you all.
Signed
Adekunbi Ogunde
TheIdeal recalls that the Rivers State Government had preferred charges against Saipem over allegations of $130 million fraud.
But in spite of being aware that the law firm of Odein Ajumogobia SAN is handling the matter, Ogunde asked SAIPEM to consider hiring Olanipekun & Co, adding that the BOB chairman has more “influence” with judges across all courts.
Reacting to the development in a letter addressed to Olanipekun, Ajumogobia said the move was in breach of essential mandatory rules.
But Olanipekun has since apologised to Ajumogobia, saying that he never approved the email sent by Ogunde.
Clarifying the issue in a statement, Ogunde, whose responsibility is to secure business for the firm, admitted that she sent the email “without the consent or knowledge of either the founding partner or the managing partner of the firm, Mr Bode Olanipekun SAN”.
She then said, “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 retracted her statement where she claimed Olanipekun had influence with judges.
She said, “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.
“My email of 20th June 2022 (although done in exuberance, but in good faith and with altruism) has caused great distress, embarrassment and trauma to the people I hold and will continue to very dearly – the founding partner of the firm, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, OFR, the managing partner of the firm, Mr. Bode Olanipekun SAN, and my dearest parents, Mr. Oluwemimo Ogunde SAN and Mrs. Yinka Ogunde.
“In order to remedy the situation, I reached out personally to H.Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, OFR, via email and WhatsApp messages sent to the learned silk on 24th June 2022, to apologize to him for this error of judgment.”
Ogunde also disclosed that apart from the apology issued by the firm, her father who is also a senior advocate, has reached out to Ajumogobia to apologise on her behalf.
