Emma Amaize
2 December 2008
THERE was a mild drama at the Federal High Court, Otor-Udu in Delta State, last week, when an accused person, Tina Okorodudu rejected a private legal practitioner based in Asaba, hired by the Attorney General of the Federation to defend her in a charge filed against her by the State in preference to a lawyer from the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Delta State, which offered her free legal aid after visiting her in the Federal Prisons, Warri.
Curiosity on the matter started when an assistant legal officer, Mrs. O. M. Omonemu announced her appearance for the state, only for the private legal practitioner, who said he was briefed by the government to also announce his appearance for the accused person who the CDHR was already representing free- of -charge in the court.
Presiding Judge, Honourable Justice Ebiowei Tobi did not find the development funny following the battle of representation by the counsels, he ordered the three counsels to address him on the legality of the Federal Attorney General assigning criminal cases to private legal persons that were standing trial.
Ruling on the suit with charge No:OUHC/5C/2008, The State versus Tina Okorodudu, Justice Tobi declared that the Hon Federal Attorney General of Justice lacked the constitutional powers to assign criminal cases to private legal firms to defend accused persons as the powers of the Federal Attorney General under section 174 of the 1999 Constitution is to initiate, continue and discontinue criminal proceedings against any person in any law court in Nigeria.
He said that it amounted to an aberration for the Federal Attorney General to prosecute and at the same time, defend an accused person whom his office is prosecuting.
The CDHR, Delta state chapter had during one of its visits to the Federal Prisons, Warri in September offered Tina Okorodudu free legal services under its CDHR legal aid programme and had appeared consistently for the accused in court in the above charge when the Federal Attorney General suddenly assigned same to a private legal practitioner in Asaba, Delta state to defend the accused at a fee to be borne by his office.
Responding to the ruling, weekend, chairman of the CDHR in the state, Barrister Ikimi said he was amazed that a case in which the human rights group was handling free -of -charge for an accused person that was being prosecuted by the government was contracted at a fee to a private legal practitioner by the same government to defend the accused person.
He said the CDHR was not charging the accused person any money and took up her case in court because of its belief in the fundamental human rights of every Nigerian, saying the court had by its ruling justified his bewilderment as to why the government would pay money to defend the same case it has charged a person to court for.
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