Investigate Justice Dawodu,others for corruption practices,NOPRIN tells CJN

At a conference on judicial reform in Abuja sometime in 2014, Her Lordship Justice Alomar Muktar, expressed serious concern about corruption in the judiciary, and the role played by some Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who colluded with some corrupt members of the Bench to undermine the dispensation of justice in the country. Her Lordship had said that her observation was based on her personal experience when some judges accused of corruption and who appeared before a panel headed by her stormed the panel with a retinue of SANs who came to defend them.

No doubt, corruption by SANs and Judges erode public confidence in the judicial system and the rule of law, and leaves frustrated victims who feel shortchanged by the judicial system with no option than to resort to self help.

CJN, Mahmud Mohammed

It is against this backdrop that the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed against Hon. Justice K.O Dawodu, Seyi Sowemimo (SAN) and Mr. Wale Adesokan concerning a lingering case involving Tunde Adjoto, a victimized staff of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, his employers, Shell.

“Due to this dangerous state of affairs which is now pervasive and poses a threat to society, especially ours which is still struggling for revival from the ills of this cankerworm, that NOPRIN writes to bring to Your Lordship’s attention, the lingering case involving Tunde Adjoto, a victimized staff of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, his employers (Shell) and their lawyers O.S. Sowemimo SAN, Barrister Wale Adesokan and Justice K.O. Dawodu of Igboshere High Court 53, Lagos.” NOPRIN petitioned.

Adjoto’s appointment was said to have been wrongfully and maliciously terminated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited nine (9) years ago after over 15 years of meritorious service.

“For the past 9 years, Adjoto has been put out of job following the wrongful and malicious termination of his appointment by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited after over 15 years of meritorious service. He, as a staff in the security department of Shell was sometime in July 2007 victimized through unjust and illegal dismissal by one Mr. Uche Onyejekwe, a corrupt and dismissed police officer who later found his way to Shell’s security department as Spy Commanding Officer. 

After several fruitless efforts by Tunde to get Shell to call Mr. Onyejekwe to order and to reverse his unlawful and malicious action against him, Tunde instituted a suit against Shell, Onyejekwe and 4 others in 2009 at a Lagos High Court. But due to the 3^rd alteration to the 1999 constitution which removed from the High Court the jurisdiction to entertain labour matters, Tunde then filled a fundamental rights enforcement action, in suit no M/1090/2012 before the Lagos high court and the case was assigned to Justice Femi Adeniyi’s court at Igbosere, Lagos.” The petition read.

Folakeinvestigates learnt that the matter was later transferred to Justice K.O. Dawodu’s Court at the same Igbosere High Court Lagos. Shell’s counsel then in the matter was J.K.Gadzama SAN. Mr. Uche Onyejekwe was represented by Barrister Wale Adesokan while the four (4) others (Shell operatives who were implicated in the abuse of Adjoto’s fundamental rights) had no legal representation.

 According to information gathered by Folakeinvestigates, the case went on with series of adjournments until April 7^th, 2014 when Justice K.O. Dawodu delivered his ruling on the preliminary objection filed by Shell and Uche Onyejekwe challenging the jurisdiction of the court. The Learned Judge dismissed the application by Shell and Onyejekwe and awarded a cost of fifteen thousand naira (N15, 000) against the defendants and fixed the hearing of the substantive suit for May 14^th, 2014.

  

“I have carefully considered Exhibit FA8, Hon. Justice S.O. Nwaka did not in any way say that this honourable court has no jurisdiction to entertain fundamental human right matter. I therefore agree with the submission of the learned Counsel to the Applicant that this court has jurisdiction to hear matters predicated on fundamental human rights as provided in section 46 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended”. Justice Dawodu ruled.

Folakeinvestigates also gathered that throughout the duration of the pendency of the case, neither Shell nor Onyejekwe appeared personally in court except their legal representatives while the other defendants to wit, Robinson Elerubo, Joseph Ekuru and Ifeakaonye Nkechukwu, who had no legal representation, occasionally showed up personally in court.

Also in September 2014, Judgment in Adjoto’s other suit NICN/LA/575/2012 at the National Industrial Court was delivered in his favour, by Justice K.I. Amadi. In his judgment, Justice Amadi ruled that Adjoto’s employment with Shell still exist as he was employed directly by Shell SPDC and therefore ordered that he resume work with immediate effect. He ordered that his salaries be paid from October 2008 to the date of judgment while Shell was also to treat him as her staff with the full employment benefits.

But rather than obey the Court's Judgment and do justice to Adjoto, Shell dropped J.K. Gadzama SAN and brought in Seyi Sowemimo SAN to take over the matters at both courts.

Seyi Sowemimo after taking over the case was said to have thrown integrity and professional ethics to the winds and resorted to legal rigmaroles and scheming with a view to wasting the time of the court and thwarting Adjoto’s effort at getting justice and to enjoy the fruits of the judgment.

Shell on the other hand began to send a representative to court in the person of Mrs. Ozor. Enobong while Seyi Sowemimo SAN started raising another preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the court on the fundamental rights suit in connivance with Mr. Wale Adesokan, Uche Onyejekwe’s lawyer, who also filed a similar frivolous objection.

“Shell’s former counsel, Mr. J. K. Gadzama and Onyejekwe’s counsel, Mr. Wale Adesokan had previously and variously filed this same preliminary objection before Justice Dawodu and were both dismissed with a cost on April 7, 2014. It was this same objection which was dismissed by Justice Dawodu that Mr. Sowemimo and Wale Adesokan filed again before Justice K.O. Dawodu. Curiously, the same Justice Dawodu, who had earlier dismissed the objections and assumed jurisdiction on the matter, suddenly, in his second ruling on the same matter on May 12, 2015 declined jurisdiction and ruled in favour of Shell and Onyejekwe. The question then is what changed? What happened? The petition read further.

However, according to NOPRIN, after the matter had suffered several adjournments with Justice Dawodu until the 12^th of May, 2015, the matter was fixed for ruling via a phone call to Adjoto’s counsel; Isaac M. Boro of Isaac Boro & Co but the matter was not listed on the course list for that day.

“On that Tuesday May 12^th, 2015, when Adjoto arrived Justice K.O. Dawodu’s court that morning, he went to check the cause list for his number for the day, but to his amazement, his case was nowhere to be found on the list. He immediately drew the attention of one of the court Registrars, one Mrs E.O Ajayi to this curious and anomalous development. The Court Registrar told Adjoto that the Court was aware of that fact but that the matter will still come up for ruling.” NOPRIN petition stated further.

Justice K.O. Dawodu was said to have, in his characteristic manner, came to the court room late at some minutes to eleven o’clock a.m.

“He quickly dealt with few cases and virtually all the counsel and most people were out of the court room. However, so soon after, one Mrs. Folashade Moyo-Folayi (another Shell Staff coordinating the affairs for the day’s scheme) came into the court room with some of the respondents, including Nkechukwu Ifeakaonye, Robinson Elerubo and Joseph Ekuru. She placed a call through to Sowemimo SAN whose office is a walking distance away from Justice K.O. Dawodu’s Court informing him (Sowemimo) that they were ready in court.

“Soon after, Seyi Sowemimo walked into the court room with two of his lawyers- Shola and Remi Coker followed by the only male Registrar, Mr. Kayode in Justice K.O. Dawodu’s Court armed with a piece of paper. The Male Registrar, Mr. Kayode walked straight to Dawodu, whispered to him, and then handed over the piece of paper to his female colleague who was the Clerk for the day.

“The female registrar Mrs E. O. Ajayi stood and mentioned the case- suit no. M/1090/2012 and passed the files together with the piece of paper (which Tunde Adjoto seriously believed was the ruling as prepared by Seyi Sowemimo SAN) to Justice K.O. Dawodu who read out the ruling in a very incoherent and fidgety manner. As a matter of fact, the ruling delivered by Justice K.O. Dawodu was prepared by Seyi Sowemimo, as he relied entirely on the arguments and submission by Sowemimo and Adesokan in the purported ruling.

“Justice Dawodu overruled himself this time on a matter he himself had earlier ruled on way back on the 7^th of April, 2014 wherein he assumed jurisdiction, but this time he declined Jurisdiction.

“In his second Ruling, he contradicted himself in page 6 thus: “In view of the above authorities, I find and hold that the subject-matter in this suit falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court”.  The petition explained.

The petition also noted that after the ruling, in an unwarranted and unprofessional display of burden of conscience, Justice K.O. Dawodu in a session of explanation, trying to rationalize why he had to make a volte face.

According to him, he was not saying that it is not a case of an abuse of Fundamental Human rights as he was the same person who earlier gave a ruling on 7^th of April 2014 assuming Jurisdiction over the matter. He however said that sometimes, it does happen when a judge will suddenly cease to have jurisdiction on a matter he had earlier adjudicated upon.

This action of Justice K.O. Dawodu contradicts a recent court judgment involving the Ekiti State Governor. In Governor of Ekiti State Vs Oyedele (2014) All FWLR (Pt 751) 1424 at 1444 – 1447 cited by Adjoto’s counsel during argument where the court of Appeal had held that a matter once litigated upon cannot be litigated again either due to lack of diligence  of the prosecution counsel or otherwise.

This all important point of law according to NOPRIN, was what Justice K.O Dawodu corruptly threw to the trash, subverted justice and shortchanged Adjoto without minding the psychological trauma, physical pains, health challenges, hunger, economic hardship that Adjoto and his entire family had gone through and still going through for a company he has diligently served with his youthful fifteen (15) years.

As if that was not enough, Sowemimo (SAN) and Wale Adesokan has continued with the highest level of unethical conducts in the bid to overturn an order to enforce the judgment by further appealing on a labour matter to the Supreme Court with the utmost aim of wasting the precious time of the court and ultimately denying Adjoto the fruits of his life-long labour for Shell, knowing well that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to entertain appeals on labour matters as provided in section 243 (4) of the 1999 Constitution as Amended.

It is for these reasons that NOPRIN is appealing to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, to order a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation into the conduct of Justice K.O. Dawodu, Seyi Sowemimo SAN and Wale Adesokan on this case with a view to determining their culpability, with Shell, in corrupt practices, to subvert justice and give a bad name to the bench and bar.