By  Innocent Anaba

LAGOS—A defendant, Tope Atobatele, standing trial before a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, has dragged Justice Lateefah Okunnu of a Lagos State High Court to court, for debriefing his lawyer appearing in the case before the judge and appointing another lawyer for him against his (litigant’s) wish.

Justice Okunnu had at the resumed hearing in the criminal case against Atobatele, debriefed his lawyer and appointed another lawyer from the Office of Public Defender, OPD, for him against his wish. Atobatele in the suit against Justice Okunnu joined the Attorney General of Lagos State, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, the Prosecutor in charge No ID/37C/2011 and one Temitayo Agbelu as defendants in the suit.

He is praying the court to declare as an imposition and a breach of his right to counsel of his choice the unilateral debriefing of his lawyer and appointment of another for him by the trial judge. The applicant is also praying the court to declare that the court does not have the power to debrief his counsel without his consent.

He is also praying the court to restrain the defendants in the suit from taking any further step in charge No ID/37C/2011 without the counsel of the applicant taking part in the proceeding. In a 14-paragraph affidavit in support of the suit, he averred that from the inception of the case, he had briefed Mr. Kabir Akingbolu to handle his defence, while his co-defendant in the criminal trial also approached Mr. Akingbolu to take up his defence.

According to him, the defence counsel, sometime in 2014, on behalf of the two of them filed an application asking the court to disqualify itself from the matter. “The court took the said application to disqualify itself since June 2014 and for reason known to the court, it fails to deliver ruling on the applications.

On March 15, 2015 when the matter came up before the court, my counsel Mr. Akingbolu was not in court but sent a letter for adjournment, informing the court of the demise of his father and mother and that he had traveled to Ekiti State for the burial which was scheduled to take place around that time.

“The court however, unilaterally appointed another counsel for me even when I informed the court that I do not need a lawyer, that I have my own lawyer who has sent a letter for adjournment to court, giving reason for his absence,” he averred. Justice Okunnu has since revoked the bail of the applicant and sent him back to prison custody following his rejection of the new lawyer from the OPD.