A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr Paul Usoro has explained the circumstances in which he gave N450,000 to a judge of the National Industrial Court, Justice James Agbadu-Fishim. He said it was a gift, not a bribe.
Usoro, who is aspiring for the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA presidency, was reacting to a statement credited to a human rights lawyer Prof Chidi Odinkalu.
Odinkalu said Usoro admitted “bribing” a judge and should not be allowed to run for the office.
“It is an insult to us all. We all have a duty to stop it (Usoro’s bid)… In a sane country, Paul Usoro should be facing disciplinary proceedings at best and should have been disbarred,” Odinkalu was quoted as saying.
But, Usoro, in a statement by a Partner in his firm, Munirudeen Liadi, said he and Justice Agbadu-Fishim had been friends and were known to each other long before His Lordship joined the Bench.
Why I gave N450,000 gift to judge, by SAN
