Supreme Court Suspends Nwabudike From Practicing Law For Six Months

The Supreme Court of Liberia has suspended the former Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) Boss A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, from the practice of law directly or indirectly in Liberia for six(6) months.

Delivering the ruling, Chief Justice of Liberia, Francis S. Korkpor said the Attorney General of the Ministry of Justice is instructed to take seize of the matter and proceed as instructed herein.

Chief Justice Korkpor noted that Nwabudike fate and status with the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA) will abide the action of the Attorney General of Liberia.

He ordered the clerk of the Supreme Court to inform the Attorney General of the Ministry of Justice, the Parties and all Courts in the Republic of this decision.

Chief Justice Korkpor stated that under the circumstances of this case, it would be wrong for Nwabudike to continue to practice law when quite clearly the documents he filed which necessitated his admission to the practice of law in Liberia are wrapped in inconsistencies and discrepancies to which he filed to specifically address himself before the Grievance and Ethics Committee (GEC) of the Supreme Court.

He said the Supreme Court with the authority to regulate the practice of law in Liberia, will take appropriate punitive action in such cases.

Chief Justice Korkpor pointed out that the ultimate disposition of this matter to its logical conclusion resets with the determination of whether Nwabudike Liberian citizenship was indeed obtained by fraud which conclusion can only be made after the Attorney General of Liberia has instituted Court proceedings in the matter.

Accordingly, he said the Attorney General of Liberia is hereby instructed to take seize of this matter and if he deems appropriate, institute proceedings to revoke and set aside the order admitting that Nwabudike to Liberian citizenship and cancel his certificate of naturalization.

On the other hand, Chief Justice Korkpor explained that if the Attorney General of Liberia finds that the order admitting that Nwabudike to Liberian citizenship was issued through a manifest error of law or fact that can be remedied by procedural means, Nwabudike should be allowed a reasonable opportunity to institute corrective proceedings in consonance with the Alien and National Law of Liberia.

It can be re-called the Liberia National Bar Association (LNBA) expelled Nwabudike, from forming part of the Bar and deleting his name from its record after months of contention regarding his Liberian citizenship, with fake documents filed on his date of birth.

“The purpose of this press engagement is for the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) to inform the Liberian people through the press about its findings and decision on the critical issue of the Liberian citizenship of Cllr. A. Nbudusi Nwabudike and his controversial membership of the Liberian National Bar Association,” Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe, President of the LNBA said at a presser at the weekend.

He added: “You will recall that during the Senate confirmation hearings of Cllr. A. Nbudusi Nwabudike for the position of Chairman of the National Elections Commission, the issue of the validity of his Liberian citizenship was brought into question and his woeful failure to convince members of the Senate, dominated the hearing and became the single reason for his outright rejection by the Senate and subsequent withdrawal of his nomination by the President of Liberia.

Therefore, the National Executive Council of the Liberian National Bar met and mandated the President of the LNBA to instruct the Grievance and Ethics Committee to launch a full scale investigation into this matter.

Cllr. Gongloe noted that “the LNBA wishes to emphasize that the legal profession is unique among the professions in Liberia because it is the only profession that is given protection by the constitution of Liberia.

On April 3, 2020, the Liberian Immigration Service wrote a letter informing the Grievance and Ethics Committee ofthe LNBA that it did not have any record on Cllr. Nwabudike legal residency status or naturalization in Liberia.

On April 6, 2020, the Committee obtained a clerk certificate from the Clerk of the First Judicial Circuit, Criminal Assizes “B” at the Temple of Justice, revealing that it had no record on Cllr. Nwabudike’s residency or naturalization status, Gongloe said

From documents obtained from the Senate confirmation hearings of Cllr. Nwabudike and the pleadings in the record of the Civil Law Court on a petition for declaratory judgment filed by him, the Grievance and Ethics Committee found the following inconsistent information, Clr. Gongloe explained.

He said a purported certificate of naturalization presented to the Liberian Senate by Cllr. Nwabudike showed that he was issued same by Criminal Court “B” at the Temple of Justice on May 13, 1982, when in fact that court was called the People’s Criminal Court “B” during the regime of the People’s Redemption Council (PRC), thereby creating more doubt.

The LNBA president narrated that a perusal of his various passports showed his birth dates as October 19, 1960, October 2, 1963, October 2, 1965 and October 2, 1969.

Gongloe said the expelled individual’s 2004 Liberian Passport carries his date of birth as October 2, 1963 and his name as A. Nkwuka Ndubuisi Nwabudike, instead of the name that appears on the roster of the Liberian National Bar Association and Supreme Court Bar which is A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike;

His Liberian National Identification card carries his date of birth as October 2, 1969 and his name as A. Ndubuisi Nkwuka Nwabudike.

But his application for marriage certificate dated January 22, 1992, filled by himself in handwriting, carries his name as A. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, while his date of birth is October 19, 1960 and his nationality as Nigerian.

“Hence, Cllr. A. N. Nwabudike is hereby expelled from the membership of the Liberian National Bar Association. His name is hereby stricken from the roster of the membership of the Liberian National Bar Association.

Meanwhile, Senator Abraham Darius Dillon of Montserrado County called for the intervention of the Liberian Senate in getting Cllr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike out of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) over controversies surrounding his Liberian citizenship.

Senator Dillon, wrote the Senate’s Plenary, indicating that Part IV Section 6.3 of the Act creating the LACC requires that only citizens of Liberia are eligible to serve as Commissioner of the anti-graft institution.

However, the President of Liberia, George M. Weah received the letter of resignation from Cllr. Nwabudike on Monday, February 1, 2021.

Senator Dillon said “Nwabudike, as Chairman, does not meet the criteria. We hold strongly that Mr. Ndubuisi Nwabudike, a Citizen of Nigeria by birth, has not demonstrated or proven to be a Liberian.

Dillon pointed out that his communication was intended to formally invite the intervention of the Senate over the issue of “grave national concern,” noting that his colleagues should take the proper and appropriate measure to uphold, protect, and defend the integrity and credibility of LACC.

“Therefore, the LNBA is under a moral obligation and degree of integrity and credibility to prove to the people of Liberia that the legal profession is worthy of this unique protection, because as the saying goes, ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’, Cllr. Gongloe stated.

He stressed that “the LNBA, therefore, could not ignore the issue of the citizenship status of one of its members when information provided by him created doubt over the authenticity and veracity of his claim of Liberian citizenship.”

In order to ensure that the investigation was thorough and meticulous, Gongloe narrated that the LNBA acted within the confines of legal speed by exhausting all means possible to provide Cllr Nwadudike his right to due process.

However, President George M. Weah received the letter of resignation from Cllr. Nwabudike on Monday, February 1, 2021.