LEDAP WINS, TRADE MINISTER GIVES IN TO FG/UK LAWYERS’ PACT – CITY LAWYER MAGAZINE

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, has provided the Legal Defense and Assistance Project (LEDAP) with a copy of the controversial Trade pact between Nigeria and the UK.

CITY LAWYER It was established that the minister released the document following a lawsuit filed by LEDAP, a leading human rights organization.

The organisation took the Minister to court under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) after she refused to release the document following a request by LEDAP under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).

Meanwhile, the case was dismissed yesterday by Justice James Omotosho after the founder and Chief Legal Counsel of LEDAP, Mr Chino Obiagwu SAN, filed an application to drop the proceedings following the receipt of the controversial contract.

CITY LAWYER Recalls that LEDAP filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, seeking details of a bilateral agreement that allegedly would enable UK lawyers to practice law in Nigeria.

The case with case number: FHC/ABJ/CS/430/2024 first appeared on 13 May 2024. The defendants were absent and unrepresented.

Although LEDAP’s legal team informed the court that the defendants had received the necessary documents and that LEDAP was ready to proceed with the case, the court adjourned the case until June 3, 2024 for hearing.

In the application filed with the Court under case number: FHC/ABJ/CS/430/2024, LEDAP seeks an order requiring the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Trade to comply with a request for information on the law practice agreement, pursuant to the Access to Public Information Act 2011.

The relief sought by LEDAP included:
1. DECLARATION that the refusal of the Respondents to provide the information requested by the Applicants in their letters dated 14th February 2024 to the Respondents requesting copies of the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) Agreement on Legal Services between the Government of Nigeria and the United Kingdom and details of consultations held with relevant stakeholders in relation to the negotiations for the ETIP Agreement, including the Nigerian Bar Association, the General Council of the Bar or any other body competent to protect lawful trade in Nigeria, is a breach of Section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 and the Applicants’ right to such information under said section.

2. AN ORDER of the court directing the Respondent to disclose to the Applicant, within 14 days of the issuance of the order, the details requested by the Applicant in its letters dated 14 February 2024, namely: a copy of the Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) Agreement on Legal Services between the Government of Nigeria and the United Kingdom and details of consultations held with relevant interested parties in connection with the negotiations for the ETIP Agreement, including the Nigerian Bar Association, the General Council of the Bar or any other body competent to protect lawful trade in Nigeria.

The basis for submitting the application was:
1. The Applicant has the right to the information requested by the Applicant in its letter to the Respondents dated 14 February 2024 (attached to the statement in support of the application as Annexes B and C), under section 1(1) of the Access to Public Information Act 2011.

2. That the Respondents did not provide the Applicant with the requested information, without providing any justifiable reasons for withholding such information.

3. In 2011, the National Assembly passed the Act on Access to Public Information, which contains general provisions on requests for information submitted by “any” person needing such information.

4. The information that the Applicant requests from the Respondents does not fall within any of the exclusions provided for in Articles 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 of the Act or any other part of the Act.

5. The Honourable Court has jurisdiction to order the Parties to disclose the information requested under Section 25 of the Access to Public Information Act, 2011.

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