The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) has dismissed a petition filed against the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, ruling that no prima facie case was established against him.
The decision, contained in a Certified True Copy referenced BB/LPDC/1954/2026 and obtained by journalists on Wednesday, was signed by senior panel member Umeh Kalu, SAN.
In its ruling, the panel delivered a decisive verdict in favour of the Deputy Speaker, effectively bringing the matter to a close without requiring him to respond to the allegations.
The petition had been filed by lawyer John Aikpokpo Martins, who alleged that Kalu previously bore the name Benjamin Okezie Osisiogu before a legal name change. Martins also claimed that the lawmaker simultaneously participated in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme while undergoing training at the Nigerian Law School, an act he argued violated provisions of the NYSC Act.
According to the petitioner, the alleged dual participation amounted to false declarations that formed the basis of Kalu’s call to the Nigerian Bar on September 6, 2011, and his subsequent enrollment on the Roll of Legal Practitioners at the Supreme Court of Nigeria on October 5, 2011.
However, the LPDC held that the complaint was fundamentally defective both procedurally and substantively.
On procedural grounds, the committee noted that the petitioner’s Statement of Facts was wrongly addressed to the Chairman of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee instead of the LPDC Chairman, as required under Rule 4 of the LPDC Rules, 2020. Despite overlooking this procedural lapse, the panel maintained that the petition still failed on its merits.
More significantly, the committee ruled that the issues raised in the complaint—relating to participation in the NYSC programme, training at the Nigerian Law School, and enrollment at the Supreme Court—fall outside the jurisdiction of the LPDC.
According to the panel, the LPDC was established strictly to regulate the professional conduct of enrolled legal practitioners in the course of their duties to the public, as provided under Section 10 of the Legal Practitioners Act.
“The LPDC cannot interrogate the operations of the Nigerian Law School, the Council of Legal Education, the NYSC and the Body of Benchers,” the ruling stated.
The committee also observed that the alleged infractions, even if proven, occurred before Kalu was called to the Bar and therefore fell outside the disciplinary jurisdiction of the LPDC.
“No prima facie case is established,” the panel concluded, effectively clearing the Deputy Speaker of all allegations.
