A federal high court in Abuja has reported two senior advocates of Nigeria, Abdulwahab Mohammed and Adeola Adedipe, to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for investigation and possible sanctions over alleged professional misconduct.
Mohammed and Adedipe represent Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, in a criminal case brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
During proceedings on Wednesday, Presiding Judge Emeka Nwite ruled that the senior lawyers had shown disrespect to the court by failing to produce their client as promised. However, the judge indicated he would consider any application they might file for a variation of the ruling.
Adedipe also notified the court of his application to withdraw his representation of the defendant, which Nwite granted.
The EFCC seeks to prosecute Bello on 19 counts related to alleged money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds amounting to N80.2 billion. However, Bello has not appeared in court on any of the adjourned dates.
Bello, who selected Ahmed Ododo as his successor, has been shielded by state security agents since an unsuccessful EFCC attempt to arrest him.
TheCable reports that the EFCC has issued a Red Notice for Bello to Interpol, based on a warrant of arrest from the federal high court in Abuja. A Red Notice requests law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or surrender, meaning Bello can now be arrested in any Interpol member country he visits, except for Micronesia, North Korea, Palau, and Tuvalu, which are not Interpol members.
Cable