The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike, has challenged human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) over his qualifications and contributions to the legal profession in Nigeria.
Wike, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, in a statement on Monday, described Falana as an “arrangee and errand lawyer.”
The former Rivers governor faulted Falana’s remark that Wike is the only Life Bencher in Nigeria who has never handled a case in any trial or appellate court.
He said, “It is funny and ridiculous that in the mind of Falana, only those who have handled cases in trial court or appellate court are lawyers, and that a lawyer must have handled cases in trial or appellate court to be qualified for appointment as a Life Bencher.”
Pointing out that he got his membership of the Body of Benchers on merit, having contributed immensely to the advancement of legal education, Wike asked, “Apart from going on television to make noise, what has Falana contributed to the legal profession? Even the SAN that he got, was it not an afterthought. Was it not years after his mates had gotten SAN?
“As governor of Rivers State, Wike was instrumental to the establishment and infrastructural development of the campus of the Nigerian Law School in Port Harcourt, which is the best centre for legal education in Nigeria today. He also played major roles in the development of facilities at the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School by constructing a state-of-the-art 1,500-capacity hall and 200-bed male and female hostels, among other interventions.
“Now that he is FCT Minister, he is constructing a 10-unit housing quarters for the Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja. He has also provided operational vehicles to the school to improve its operation.
“The question is; what has Falana done for the legal profession? Even in Ekiti State, where he is from, he has not contributed anything.
“The Bar Centre in Ado Ekiti was built by Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) while the one in Ikere Ekiti was built by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN). Also, Aare Afe Babalola has been sponsoring the Nigerian Bar Association annual lecture for years and has been assisting lawyers in Ekiti with medical treatments in his Ado Ekiti Teaching Hospital. What has Falana done? Nothing!
“Did Falana not fail as a politician when he went to Ekiti to contest for governor and failed woefully?”
Wike also accused Falana of misleading the public and clients regarding recent legal decisions, particularly on issues related to the Rivers State House of Assembly. He referenced Falana’s comments on national television disputing the Supreme Court’s role in ruling on the defection of lawmakers, labeling his interpretation “deceptive.”
“It was on the basis of the Supreme Court judgment that Justice Emmanuel Obile of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt dismissed the suit filed by the Labour Party against the alleged detection, saying that the Supreme Court’s ruling had finalized the issue of defection.
“But Falana went on television to lie and deceive his client that the Supreme Court didn’t rule on the defection.
“The same Falana said three members of the Rivers State House of Assembly can carry out legislative functions despite the provision of Section 96 (1) of the 1999 Constitution that ‘The quorum of a House of Assembly shall be one-third of all the members of the House.’
“If as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you could tell your client that Section 96 (1) of the Constitution of Nigeria is useless and in a House of Assembly of 32 members, three can sit, questions need to be asked as to how exactly you qualified as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,” the minister said.
