The Supreme Court has overturned the May 21, 2015 decision of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) which disbarred a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Kalejaye, for engaging in unprofessional misconduct.
Mr. Kalejaye, who was a lawyer to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was found guilty by the LPDC for engaging in confidential communication with the chairman of the 2008 Osun Governorship Election Tribunal, Justice Thomas Naron.
READ ALSO: Supreme Court Affirms Interim Forfeiture Of N2.4bn Linked To Patience Jonathan
In a unanimous judgment, a five-man panel of the apex court upheld Mr. Kalejaye’s appeal on the grounds that the trial procedure at the LPDC was flawed.
Justice Cletus Nweze who delivered the lead judgment upheld Mr. Kalejaye’s argument of being denied fair hearing in the course of trial before the LPDC.
Other members of the panel are Justices Musa Muhammad, Kumai Aka’ahs, Amiru Sanusi and Sidi Bage.
The LPDC had, in its directive issued on May 21, 2015, found Mr. Kalejaye guilty of professional misconduct and directed the Registrar of the Supreme Court to delete his name from the role of legal practitioners in the country.
Mister Kalejaye’s trial was predicated on the recommendation by the National Judicial Council, which investigated a petition against Justice Naron, then of the Plateau State High Court.
