Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, and another lawyer, Abang Mkpandiok, on Friday clashed on Friday at the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja over who is the official counsel of the Lagos State House of Assembly in the case presnett b impeached Speaker Mudashiry Obasa.
The clash started when Falana announced his appearance for the first defendant (the Lagos State House of Assembly), shortly after that Mkpandiok challenged Falana’s representation of the Lagos State House of Assembly
When the matter was called, Fashanu, appeared for Obasa, while Falana appeared for the state house of Assembly, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, represented Mojosola Meranda (the current Speaker of the Assembly), and Mr. Olu Daramola, represented parties seeking to be joined in the suit.
Mkpandiok said he had been briefed the previous night by the Assembly and had filed a motion for a change of counsel that morning, adding that the right to choose one’s counsel is a fundamental human right and asked the court to address his application first.
Mkpandiok told the court that the House of Assembly briefed his law firm just the day before to represent it in the suit, adding that he had filed the necessary documents, although they had not yet been served to the parties.
In a motion brought under Order 52, Rules 2 and 3 of the Lagos State High Court Civil Procedure Rules 2019, Mkpandiok asked the court for leave to replace Femi Falana of Falana & Falana Chambers with himself, Abang Mkpandiok, of Atlantic Law Firm, as the official counsel on record.
Falana rose against Mkpandiok’s submission, saying he had not been served with the application and remained the counsel on record for the Assembly.
According to Falana, he was still the authorised lawyer for the first defendant and had not been informed that he has been replaced. change counsel.
Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, who represented Mojosola Meranda (the current Speaker of the Assembly) also said he had not been served with the application.
Mkpandiok went ahead to serve the application to the other counsel in court.
After reviewing the court’s records, Justice Yetunde Pinheiro who is hearing the case, said the application for a change of counsel was not yet ready for hearing.
The court remarked, “As counsel himself has admitted, that application has not been served on all parties. I will defer it pending compliance with the rules of court.”
The court also ruled that the application for expedited hearing would not be addressed today.
