SAN lands in trouble, loses license over Oyinlola’s case

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Chief Kunle Kalejaye, has landed himself in trouble, and lost his license to practice law in Nigeria, over his handling of a case where he represented then Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the PDP at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, against Rauf Aregbesola of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Aregbesola had challenged Oyinlola’s victory in the 2007 poll.

A five-man panel of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) led by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, which conducted an investigation on the issue, disbarred him after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.

Kalejaye was said to have engaged in a “private and confidential telephone conversation” with the Chairman of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Thomas Naron, without the knowledge of the other party.

He allegedly engaged in the unprofessional act between March and June 2008 and Justice Naron with whom he committed the misconduct had since February 20, 2013 been compulsorily retired by the National Judicial Council.

The Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ekiti Division, Justice Paul Galinje, who read the directive (judgment of the LPDC), held that the prosecution, the Nigerian Bar Association, proved its three count complaints against Kalejaye.

The NBA was represented by Jibrin Okutepa (SAN).

He held that Kalejaiye violated the provisions of sections 1, 15, 30, 31, 34 and 55 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners (2007).

The panel directed the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court to delete his name from the roll (list) of legal practitioners in the country.

The committee also directed that its decision should be served on the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, the Chief Judges of all the states of the federation, the Chief Judge of Federal High Court, Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, the Inspector General of Police and all the states’ Commissioners of Police.

It also directed that the decision be published in the media.

Kalejaiye’s lawyer, Niyi Owolade, a former Attorney General of Osun State, had objected to the LPDC’s decision.

He said his client was about filing his appeal at the Supreme Court.

The LPDC rejected Kalejaiye’s defence to the effect that his telephone number was cloned.

The committee held that while Kalejaye was able to show, by expert evidence, that spoofing as a general phenomenon was possible, he failed to show that spoofing was possible on the MTN network on which owned the lines with which Kalejaiye and Naron communicated.

He was said to have only demonstrated such possibility with Etisalat and Glo networks.

The committee also faulted Kalejaiye’s documentary evidence, mostly newspaper publications (including advertorial sponsored by Kalejaiye), faulting the authenticity of the call log from MTN.

The committee said it would have been more helpful had Kalejaiye applied and got his call log from MTN to prove that the one tendered by the prosecution was not the actual one.

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