The Nigeria Labour Party (LP) has taken a significant step by reporting lawyer Monday Mahwah to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee. In a formal complaint addressed to the committee’s chairman in Abuja, the LP accuses Mahwah of engaging in unprofessional conduct that undermines the party, a violation of the 2023 rules of professional conduct’s Part IV and V.
The petition, which has been obtained by journalists, is signed by the Labour Party’s national publicity secretary, Obiora Ifoh, on behalf of the party. It alleges that Mahwah is tarnishing the party’s reputation through the dissemination of falsehoods across various mass media platforms.
While a stringent opposition to our party’s candidates’ emergence is expected in a democracy, we have been taken aback by the nature and origin of these attacks,” the petition reads.
The LP expresses surprise that a member of the esteemed legal profession would resort to spreading false news that brings both the legal profession and the judiciary into disrepute.
The controversy centers around Mahwah’s actions on August 24, 2023, when the Court of Appeal in Abuja delivered judgments in Appeal Numbers CA/OW/CS/200/2023 and CA/OW/CS/201/2023. Despite not being a counsel in the matter and not present in court during the judgments, Mahwah, a legal practitioner of Templum Solicitors, went on Channels Television to reportedly disseminate inaccurate information. He allegedly claimed that the Court of Appeal had declared the purported Lamidi Apapa-led faction of the Labour Party as the authentic leadership and ordered that the faction’s primary election winners be submitted to INEC for the 2023 Gubernatorial elections.
The LP’s petition seeks the immediate initiation of disciplinary proceedings against Mahwah for his alleged violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, specifically Part V (Relations with Court) and Part IV (Improper Attraction of Business). The party cites various rules, including those pertaining to a lawyer’s duty to court, trial publicity, and candid and fair dealing.
