A legal practitioner, M.D Idris, has waded into the ongoing dispute between the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and Chief Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, SAN, stating that the fundamental issues the NBA President seeks to present as professional accountability are presently sub judice.
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In a letter addressed to the NBA President, Idris urged restraint and called on all parties to allow the court first determine the issues before it, warning that the petition to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee risks pre-empting the court’s decision and may amount to interference with the administration of justice.
Idris stated that the question at the heart of the dispute should be determined by the court, not through a petition.
“The question whether there was non-disclosure of material facts in Suit No. I/221/2026 is not one to be determined in the court of public opinion or through a petition, but one squarely within the province of the court before which the ex parte application was made,” Idris stated.
“It is the court, upon full presentation of the facts and arguments by all parties, that is competent to determine whether there was suppression, misrepresentation, or breach of the duty of candour.”
The legal practitioner expressed concern about the simultaneous petition to the LPDC.
“To elevate that same issue simultaneously before the LPDC, while the substantive matter remains pending before a court of law, raises serious concerns,” Idris stated.
“It risks pre-empting the court’s decision and, more importantly, may amount to an interference with the administration of justice.”
Idris invoked the doctrine of sub judice to support his position.
“The doctrine of sub judice exists to preserve the integrity of judicial proceedings and to prevent parallel processes from reaching, or appearing to reach, conflicting conclusions on the same subject matter,” he stated.
“Respectfully, this is a principle that should guide all of us, particularly at this level of the profession.”
The legal practitioner questioned whether the LPDC should entertain the petition at all.
“It is therefore a legitimate question whether, in these circumstances, the LPDC ought to entertain such a petition at all, when the issues underpinning it are directly in issue before a competent court of law,” Idris stated.
“The safer and more principled course would be to allow the court first determine whether any non-disclosure occurred and its legal consequences.”
Idris raised concerns about the propriety of actions taken while judicial proceedings are pending.
“Furthermore, with respect, the step taken by the Association—especially in linking the petition to consequential decisions affecting professional standing—may itself raise questions as to propriety,” he stated.
“Actions taken in the shadow of a pending judicial proceeding must be carefully measured to avoid any perception of institutional pressure or premature judgment.”
The legal practitioner insisted on the proper sequence of due process.
“This is not to diminish the importance of professional discipline. Rather, it is to insist that due process must be respected in its proper sequence,” Idris stated.
“The court must first be allowed to perform its constitutional role without parallel adjudicatory processes running alongside it on the same facts.”
Idris concluded by urging restraint and confidence in the judicial process.
“In the circumstances, I respectfully urge that restraint be exercised and that full confidence be reposed in the court to determine the issues presently before it,” he stated.
“I reserve the right to make a more detailed response as events unfold.”
The intervention by M.D Idris introduces a significant legal argument into the ongoing dispute between the NBA President and Chief Okutepa SAN — the doctrine of sub judice.
The principle that matters pending before a court should not be the subject of parallel adjudicatory processes is well-established in law. If Idris’s argument is correct, it raises fundamental questions about whether the LPDC can or should proceed with the petition while the same issues are before the High Court of Oyo State and the Court of Appeal.
The argument also addresses the broader concern raised by Okutepa — that the petition and its consequences (including his removal from the Body of Benchers reappointment list) constitute interference with pending litigation and premature judgment on issues yet to be determined by the court.
For the NBA President, Idris’s intervention presents a challenge: how to maintain that the petition is about professional accountability when the very issues raised in the petition are currently before the courts for determination.
For the LPDC, the sub judice argument may become relevant when considering whether to proceed with the petition or await the outcome of the court cases.
The dispute highlights the tension between professional disciplinary processes and judicial proceedings when both concern the same subject matter. The resolution of this tension will have implications not only for the parties involved but for the broader relationship between the LPDC and the regular courts in matters involving allegations of professional misconduct.
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