Three senior lawyers convicted and barred from practicing in Nigeria over their alleged professional misconduct have got temporary reprieve from the Supreme Court with the setting aside of their convictions.
The apex court on Friday in separate judgements voided and set aside the disciplinary measures meted on them for having been done in breach of provisions of laws guiding disciplinary issues.
Justice Ejembi Eko who delivered the unanimous judgments in the matters via Zoom held that the actions of the LPDC panels which led to punishment of the three lawyers were not consistent with provisions of the law.
The three lawyers were sanctioned by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for various misconduct in the discharge of their professional callings.
The three lawyers are Mamman Waziri, Olayori Muideen and Dr Osaretin George Izegbuwa who were said to have been found wanting in the professional conduct and sanctioned.
But the supreme court which looked into their appeal for review of their sanctions found that they were denied fair hearing as required by law.
Eko faulted the conviction of the lawyers based on the composition of the panels.
Some of the panel members who signed the verdict against the lawyers were found not to have participated in the whole proceedings as required by law.
Having set aside the conviction, Justice Eko ordered that the three lawyers be made to face different panels to be constituted by the LPDC.
