Labour Party petitions legal practitioners’ disciplinary body over lawyer’s TV comments

The leadership of the Labour Party has urged the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) to sanction a Nigerian lawyer, Monday Mawah, for allegedly misrepresenting judgements of the Court of Appeal regarding the party’s leadership tussle.

Factional chairpersons of the Labour Party, Lamidi Apapa and Julius Abure, are in a legal duel for the party’s soul. Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate, and other top figures of the party recognise Mr Abure as the national chair.

In a petition dated 29 August and addressed to the LPDC chairman, Labour Party’s national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh, accused Mr Mawah of misleading the public on Channels Television concerning two appellate court decisions on the party leadership crisis.

‘How Mr Mawah misled the public’

The Court of Appeal had, on 24 August, delivered the contentious judgement on two suits, one of which was instituted by one Basil Maduka against the Labour Party. The other is a cross-appeal against Mr Maduka.

Mr Ifoh said Mr Maduka, an Abuja-based lawyer “who is not a counsel in the matter and was not in court when the judgements were delivered, went on air on Channels Television” to comment strongly on the judgements.

The petitioner alleged that while Mr Mawah was on the television programme, he “falsely” said the Court of Appeal had affirmed “the Lamidi Apapa- led faction of the Labour Party…as the authentic leadership of the Labour Party.”

According to the Labour Party’s complaint, Mr Mawah further asserted “that the Court (of Appeal) had ordered that the names of candidates that emerged as winners in the purported primary election conducted by the Lamidi Apapa-faction be forwarded to INEC to be imputed as the candidates of the Labour Party for the 2023 Gubernatorial elections fixed for later in the year.”

Two off-circle governorship elections are billed for November in Kogi and Imo States.

“The said Mr Monday Mawah falsely stated in the interview that the Court of Appeal had upheld the decision of the trial court, which the court never did,” the petitioner also wrote.

The petitioner also maintained that the appellate court dismissed the appeal and held that Mr Maduka, who lodged the appeal, lacked the right to do so.

“In the Labour Party’s appeal, the Court held that the appeal was not necessary as the decision of the trial court was in its favour and that the mere comments of the trial judge in its judgement did not consist of an appealable decision and should be discountenanced,” the petition read.

Citing some provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct, the party official prayed the disciplinary committee “to immediately commence the process of disciplining Mr Monday Mawah for infamous conduct infringing on the provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct.”

It added that Mr Mawah’s alleged misconduct bordered on “trial publicity, instigating controversy and litigation.”

“…it is quite unbecoming that a lawyer of Monday Mawah’s apparent ripe years at the bar should be allowed to continue to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria after putting out such riotous lies, which has now had the far-reaching ripple effect of painting the judiciary as a confused institution.”