In this report, Law & Human Rights examines the facts and the law as they affect the letter written by a lawyer in the Chambers of Chief Wole Olanipekun(SAN), Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde, to a foreign firm—Saipem, to take over a brief from the chamber of Chief Odein Ajumogobia, SAN, in order to deconstruct NBA’s petition that follows and the politicisation of the investigation process.
It all started on June 20, 2022. Ms. Adekunbi Ogunde, a United Kingdom-trained lawyer, sent a three-page letter to Saipem’s top executive, Francesco Caio soliciting for offer of legal services in a criminal case instituted by Rivers State Government against Saipem SPA, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited, Mr. Walter Peviana and four others.
The letter, Ogunde disclosed, was the outcome of a weekend research she did on a number of complex cases on-going in various law courts in Nigeria where she felt the services of Olanipekun & Co where she is a partner, could be required.
The document she emailed to Saipem’s Caio to scout for the brief later turned out to be a ‘letter-bomb.’
In the Saipem case, Rivers State Government had filed criminal information against the foreign firm of conspiring to cheat and with intent to defraud it of the sum of $130 million being advance payment for the construction of the OCGT power plant in Port Harcourt.
The charge was filed at the registry of the state High Court in Port Harcourt by an Abuja-based lawyer, Chief Godwin Obla, SAN, on behalf of Rivers State Government on November 19, 2021.
The law firm of a former Minister of Petroleum, Ajumogobia & Okeke, was briefed by the foreign firm and thus, represented Saipem SPA (first defendant), Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited (second defendant), Mr. Walter Peviana (third defendant) and Vitto Testaguzza (6th defendant) in the case.
The opposing parties in the matter did not waste the time of the court as they agreed to settle the case out of court in April, 2022 or thereabouts.
But in June 2022, after the case was long dead, having been settled out of court, Ms Ogunde, clearly oblivious of the status of the case, did a proposal to Saipem’s top executive, Francesco Caio, advising him on the need for a more influential lawyer/law firm to handle the criminal matter for them.
Ogunde plotting to hijack Ajumogobia’s brief
it was her argument
It was her argument in the emailed proposal that Saipem needed to consider using their firm (Olanipekun& Co) to prevent a huge pay out to the Rivers State Government.
She argued that a quick research about Wole Olanipekun & Co would reveal that the law firm was actually the leading litigation firm in the country with the track record of helping multinationals in sensitive and highly political matters in the past, adding: “The presence of our lead partner, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, OFR, in the matter will significantly switch things in favour of Saipem.”
According to her: “Chief Olanipekun, SAN, OFR is currently the Chairman of the Body of Benchers which is the highest ruling body in the Nigerian legal profession, made up of Supreme Court judges, Presiding Justices of the Court of Appeal and Chief Judges of all State High Courts including the Rivers State High Court. In other words, Chief Olanipekun, SAN, OFR is the Head of the entire legal profession in Nigeria.”
She thereafter listed few famous cases including MTN tax dispute, Shell Petroleum, and the Equinox (former Statoil) dispute, where her principal had demonstrated such capacity in the past.
She ended up saying: “We are aware that another law firm is currently in the matter but you will agree that highly sensitive and political matter requires more influence.”
The document titled: USD130m claim in Nigeria—Rivers State Government vs Saipem SPA, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited and Others, was also electronically sent to other key functionaries of Saipem including Merlo Silvia, Puliti Alessandro and Chini Simone.
Ms Ogunde emails has been the topic of interest in the last five weeks in the legal circle.
What the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners say on solicitation
Vanguard Law and Human Rights reports that although the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 does not forbid outright advertising and soliciting provided it is fair and proper in all circumstances and complies with the provisions of the Rules, yet Ogunde’s letter appears to have violated the provisions in section 39(2) (a) (b) (c) and (d) of the 26-page Rule book.
The said section 39 (2) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners 2007 specifically provides that a lawyer practising in Nigeria shall not engage or be involved in any advertising or promotion of his practice of the law which (a) is inaccurate or likely to mislead; (b) is likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession or the administration of justice or otherwise, bringing the legal profession into disrepute; (c) makes comparison with or criticises other lawyers or other professions/professionals; (d) include any statement about the quality of the lawyer’s work, the size or success of his practice or his success rate or (e) is so frequent or obstructive as to cause annoyance to those to whom it is directed.
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