Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), urged lawyers and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday to collaborate with law enforcement organisations to prevent the financing of terrorism and money laundering.
He made this call at the NBA’s Annual General Conference, which was held at the Velodrome of the National Stadium in Abuja, according to a statement released on Tuesday by ICPC spokesman Mrs. Azuka Ogugua.
Prof. Owasanoye, who participated in a panel debate on the ethics and professional behaviour of attorneys, praised Yakubu Maikyau, the NBA President, and his leadership for taking the effort to bring up important issues.
The discussion highlighted the role that the legal community plays in the war against vices and focused on the new NBA rules and regulations on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.
The head of the ICPC claimed that given the perception of a lack of cooperation between legal professionals and anti-corruption organisations, debates on the ethical behaviour of solicitors have to be brought up.
He cited Rule 74(3) of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners (RPC) when he said that solicitors have a duty to report illegal activity that might be money laundering or otherwise linked.
His advice was to “Say something if you see something.”
The source of a client’s wealth, and consequently the source of their legal expenses, could no longer be disregarded by legal professionals, he continued.
Asserting that the public interest must always come first and take precedence over personal gain, he added that lawyers must exercise caution and consideration when interacting with public officials and politically exposed individuals.
He also made reference to Rule 60 of the RPC, which gave attorneys the authority to freeze the assets of anyone on the UN watch list.
He claims that Nigeria has a comparable blacklist and that it is still the responsibility of solicitors to report any clients to the NBA anti-corruption unit, which is required to pass this information on to law enforcement.
Owasanoye pleaded with the NBA leadership to use the internal risk assessment policy as a set of principles to establish its own rules in determining what is ethical and what is not, emphasising that any anti-corruption or anti-laundering committee must avoid the pitfalls of bureaucracy to avoid complicity when a law enforcement agency takes action against a client.
In his last submission, he counselled NBA members to forgo protecting suspect clients in favour of collaborating with law enforcement authorities to seek justice through their disciplinary committee.
“It is time to put workable measures in place to walk the walk,” he said.
