NBA petitioned over alleged legal impostors in anti-Kyari campaign

A prominent civil society organisation, Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative (EUYI), has filed a formal petition to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), urging disciplinary action against a group of lawyers accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against Mele Kyari, the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

At a press conference in Abuja on May 8, EUYI's leaders—Amb. Solomon Adodo, Comrade Danesi Momoh, and Igwe Ude-umanta alleged that the protests demanding Kyari's prosecution were "heavily financed campaigns of calumny" carried out by “hired hands,” some of whom allegedly impersonated legal professionals.

Adodo described the protests led by the so-called Guardians of Democracy and the Rule of Law as a “multidimensional mischief” lacking credibility.

“There is nothing in those protests other than mischief. The retraction and apology by Comrade Kabir Matazu exposed the campaign as blackmail,” he said, referring to Matazu's admission that he had been misled by a member of the House of Representatives.

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EUYI’s petition specifically named five individuals, Barr. Aminu Bello, Rotimi Adeyemo, Benjamin Theophilus, Emmanuel Agada, and Asika Raymond—alleging that they either falsely represented themselves as lawyers or acted unethically.

The group urged the NBA to verify their bar status and investigate the legitimacy of the Guardians of Democracy and the Rule of Law.

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EUYI warned that the misuse of legal attire and credentials to manipulate public opinion undermines the integrity of the legal profession.

“It is opprobrious to dress persons in lawyers’ attires to impersonate the legal profession,” the group said.

The petition ends with a call for swift NBA action and potential security agency intervention, stating, “There must be a limit to chicanery and madness.”