D Independent Attorneys

20/02/2026

Victor Osimhen stole the spotlight as an Italian legend sent him a crucial message ahead of Galatasaray’s second leg against Juventus. Details in the comment.

19/02/2026

19/02/2026

Court reserves judgment on DSS’s N5bn defamation suit against SERAP

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Maitama, on Thursday reserved judgment on a N5 billion defamation suit filed by two officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) against the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

See details in comment section

19/02/2026

Mavin, DMW, Chocolate City… 11 labels secure court order freezing MCSN copyright levy funds

Mavin Records, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW) and Chocolate City Music are among the 11 record labels that have secured an interim court order preventing the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) from accessing or disbursing copyright levy funds.

Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, justice of the federal high court, Lagos, granted an interim Mareva injunction on Thursday, restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and over 20 commercial banks from disbursing any copyright levy funds intended for MCSN.

17/02/2026

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06/02/2026

Ali Bello Alleged 10bn Fraud: Court Orders Police, DSS to Investigate Court Registrar, Defendant for Alleged Tampering with Evidence

Justice J. K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, On Thursday, February 5, 2026, ordered the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, and the Department of State Services, DSS to investigate his court Registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu as well as the 2nd defendant in an alleged N10billion fraud, Daudu Sulaiman for alleged tampering with Exhibits N and O.

The directive followed a discovery and disclosure by the judge that Zubairu confessed to him that Sulaiman approached him to use a code to wipe off some significant messages contained in Whaptsapp chats of the second defendant in a telephone set deposited with the court.

Justice Omotosho played Zubairu's confessions in the open court and further directed him to tell the court what transpired between him and the second defendant.

Addressing the court, the judge said: “I have to disclose it because that is what the Chief Judge told us, to ensure we disclose such a thing as early as possible. We have a policy of discovery and disclosure at the Federal High Court. We have zero tolerance for this kind of attitude. The person involved is here, I will call him so that you will hear from the horse’s mouth.”

Zubairu went ahead to tell the court how he was approached by Sulaiman. According to him, the second defendant asked him what he wanted and he told him that he had accommodation challenges. “I was asked to delete some certain information, some Whatsapp messages in the exhibits” on the promise that I will be given a house.


Justice Omotosho also allowed the prosecution counsel, Director of Public Prosecution, Mr, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, to direct the Investigation Officer, Muhammed Audu Abubakar, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to present before the court if indeed the chats were deleted from the phone.

Abubakar told the court that information contained in Exhibits N and O, including chats on several dates from 2020 to 2022 had been deleted. Earlier, Justice Omotosho asked the Registrar the specific chat he deleted but told the court that he could not remember but he knew he opened only two chats. “I can't remember but I opened only two chat”, he said.


To confirm that many of the chats had been deleted, Oyedepo told the witness to go through exhibit N, particularly the conversation involving the Director General, Government House.

The witness informed the court that chats between December 3, 2020 and December 28, 2020 had been deleted. “There was no chat on 23 December, it stopped on December 22 and continued on 29 December, 2020.

He was also asked to check page 196 of the exhibit, that is on 13 January, 2021, he informed that court that the chat there is “Abdurasheed will bring it to Abuja now"

“On 22 January, 2021, the chats "Hudu will bring it now” was deleted. There is nothing here on the phone it has been deleted. What we have on 27th January is “Hudu is bringing it” has been deleted.” The witness added. The witness further informed the court that he came across the chat in the course of investigation. “I came across this chat at the time of investigation.”


“On 26 Jan, 2021, Hudu is bringing N100m, has also been deleted,”

The witness informed the court that there is no chat on 26 January, 2021.

On 30 Jan 2021... “N60m is on transit from Friday... they are on their way coming”, has been deleted.

“ Hudu is on his way to Abuja... he is also coming with N30m”, has been deleted.



30 August 2021, “Mr Ododo has collected N50m and will be coming tomorrow to Abuja “, has been deleted.

While on page 296, the chat “Hudu is on his way, coming with N93m, N7m for TJ and for 2 Jan 2022", has been deleted.

Oyedepo said that, "on page 297, there was a reference to Rabiu, that is on 28 February 2022” the witness said, “it is not here my Lord. It has also been deleted”

Abubakar went through other chat records and confirmed that vital information contained in the exhibit( the phone) had indeed been deleted.

Reacting to the deleted chats, Oyedepo demanded that “ this issue be investigated and the report brought to your lordship, there is a very urgent irresistible suspicion that exhibit N which contains crucial evidence have been tempered with. We apply that the lordship grant an order revoking the bail of the defendant and order forensic investigation of exhibit N.”

The defence counsel expressed shock at the development but urged the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation of the matter. “I will urge my lord to await the outcome of the investigation. “

In response, Justice Omotosho directed that the matter should be investigated by the Police and DSS and adjourned the matter to February 9, 2026 for continuation of the trial.

01/01/2026

Dear Family, Friends, and Valued Clients,

As we welcome 2026, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each of you.
To my family — for your constant love.
To my friends — for your uplifting presence.
To our clients — for trusting us to stand beside you.

May the coming year bring you peace, prosperity, and the joy of meaningful moments. Let’s step forward together with renewed hope, kindness, and purpose.

Wishing you and yours a bright and blessed New Year.

With appreciation,
A.T
D’ Independent Attorneys
Guiding with integrity. Standing with you.

28/12/2025

Congratulations to the legend of the game

28/12/2025

Jay-Z just went viral after revealing how he deals with family begging him for money.
“I never give my family members free money,” Hov said. “Every Thanksgiving it’s the same story somebody at the table pitching a scheme. Last year my cousin hit me like, ‘Yo Hov, give me $4,800 and I’ll flip it into $2 million.’”

Jay says he always hits them with the same answer:
“Naaaah, that’s not how it works, man. Then they act hat, like I don’t believe in their dreams. But the truth is, if you give them once, they’ll be back a few months later asking for more. You gotta learn how to say no.”

Social media is split some say Jay is “cold” for turning down family, while others argue he’s teaching them tough love. 👀💰

28/12/2025

Why the CJN must end abuse of power in judicial appointments

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

“A Judge who takes advantage of the judicial office for personal gain or for gain by his or her relative or relation abuses power…. such abuse of power profoundly violates the public’s trust in the judiciary.” Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Rule 8:3 (2016)

Eight and a half years ago, in May 2017, a viral audio clip circulated which was said to be a conversation between a male Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a female judge who, in the preceding year, presided over an election petition involving the Senator. In the sound-clip, both could be heard importuning one another.

The female voice asked the Senator to ensure that whatever he delivered, he must “make it in USD” and sought reassurance from him in securing a job for her daughter in the public service of one of the states of the Niger Delta. The male voice seemed deeply solicitous of her wishes in a conversation that did not leave much to the imagination in terms of both the subject matter and the quid pro quo.

It was believed at the time that the sound-clip involved a judge who served at the head of an election tribunal that dismissed a petition against the Senator in respect of a contest for a seat to the upper chamber of the National Assembly in one of the States in the Middle Belt of Nigeria in the 2015 general elections. A subsequent petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by some non-governmental organisations for an investigation into the sound-clip and its contents ultimately yielded little.

The principal characters in the dramatic sound-clip have since then gone on to prosper in a fashion that Nigeria uniquely makes possible. After being eventually extinguished from his seat, the distinguished Senator opted to read for a degree in law. The contents of the sound-clip were not an issue when in July 2025, first the Body of Benchers admitted him to the Nigerian Bar and then the Supreme Court duly enrolled him to practice as a lawyer in the country.

In February 2021, the judge widely alleged to have been the voice in the sound-clip rose to become the Chief Judge of a State High Court in one of the six states of the Niger Delta.
It appears the daughter mentioned in the sound-clip eventually got the promised job. Her career as a State Counsel prospered in meteoric fashion. 13 years into her life as lawyer, in the last quarter of 2025, she got promoted to become an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Justice. In the second week of January 2026, she will visit Abuja where a committee of the National Judicial Council (NJC) presided over by a senior Justice of the Supreme Court will interview her for the highly coveted position of a seat on the Bench of the Federal High Court. She goes in with insider advantage against a candidate ten years her senior at the bar and who, it seems, was actually was ahead of her on merit.

That seat is one of 14 judicial vacancies in the Federal Hight Court to be filled in the first quarter of 2026. In all, the NJC committee is reportedly scheduled to interview 28 candidates over a period of three days. 24 of the candidates are from twelve states and territories in Nigeria, namely: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The NJC Committee will include at least two retired Justices of the Supreme Court; a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal; the current president of the Nigerian Bar Association, and one of his more recent predecessors. The Committee will also interview four candidates from Nasarawa State, which has two vacancies.

The Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) did the shortlisting for the 28 candidates. That stage of the process involved, among other evaluations, a computer-based test (CBT) and an aptitude test in relation to both of which each candidate is scored but the scores are not published. It is no surprise that such an opaque process lends itself to deserved controversy around three issues.
First, some “unsuccessful” candidates have accused “judicial authorities of manipulating results and shortlisting candidates who allegedly failed the qualifying examination.” It is claimed that some of the candidates on the final shortlist of 28 scored as low as 30% or even 25%. One person alleged specifically that “the name of the person who scored the highest in the test was excluded from the list”, claiming that the person was a candidate from a state in south-east Nigeria. This will not be a first time that such an allegation will be made in relation to judicial appointments into the Federal High Court. As long as the FJSC and the NJC remain unwilling to publish the scores of all the candidates, it is impossible to discount these allegations.

Second, at its 108th meeting on 29-30 April 2025, the NJC decided that “henceforth, the FJSC, all judicial service commissions or committee of the FCT, shall publish the names of all candidates recommended for judicial appointment. The primary objective of this initiative is to solicit comments from the general public regarding the integrity, reputation, and suitability of these candidates for judicial office.”

At the time, this seemed impressive. In reality, it was a sleight of hand. The grounds for public input at this impractical stage defined by the NJC are limited to issues of “integrity, reputation, and suitability” of the recommended candidates. But if a decision has been made to recommend a candidate, then these issues would already have been considered. In effect, by the time a candidate is “recommended” for judicial office, the effective opportunities for public objection have in fact been foreclosed.

Third, therefore, the only viable ground at this stage for objection to the process would be the integrity of the appointment process itself. This is arguably the most important issue engaged by this present appointment round into the Federal High Court Bench. Rule 11(iv) of the Judicial Code of Conduct requires that “in the exercise of his administrative duties, a Judicial Officer should avoid nepotism and favoritism.”

Yet, it is difficult not to look upon the short-list that the NJC committee will be interviewing next month as anything other than an advertisement of nepotism and favoritism. The list is rich with children or candidates of serving or retired senior judges, some of them involved in the process.

The judicial daughter mentioned earlier in this piece is by no means the only insider on the list. The candidate to be appointed from Kaduna State, for instance, is guaranteed to be a second generation judge; both candidates to be interviewed from the state are scions of former judges. Of the two candidates from Abia State, one is the child of a serving judge.
Akwa Ibom State also features a preferred candidate who works with and is adopted by a serving senior judge who may himself even be involved in the interview process. Taraba State has a similar story and these are just random examples.
This pattern populates the entire shortlist without disguise or shame.
Humanity elsewhere does not know a thing like the judicial gene. It only exists in Nigeria. One tweep describes what passes for judicial appointment process in Nigeria as “filiality via conjugality.”
It seems evident that Nigeria’s process of judicial appointments has become largely performative, rigged to the pre-determined end of preferring children into judicial hereditaments occupied or recently vacated by their parents or patrons. Rather perversely, the so-called reform decided upon by the NJC in April 2025 of publishing the names of candidates “recommended” for judicial office is designed entirely to lend legitimacy to a pre-determined process in clear violation of the Judicial Code of Conduct.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) has an opportunity in this present round of hires to the Federal High Court Bench to course-correct. As a first step, she should publish the scores of all candidates throughout the process. That will reassure the public about her commitment to liberating judicial appointments in Nigeria from continuing abduction by the forces of capture, conjugality and abuse of power.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at [email protected]

28/12/2025

“Mistakes have been made in the past. I apologise to Doris Ogala, and I’m kneeling down in front of everyone and the church to say please forgive me, i'm will to make a restitution to anybody that will come forward to say i have ofended them.”

— Pastor Chris Okafor goes on his knees as he finally apologises to Nollywood actress Doris Ogala, assuring his church members that his life has changed since the new fathers of faith came into his life.