The Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the three-year suspension imposed on Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Joe-Kyari Gadzama, by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC). The court declared the enforcement of the disciplinary decision unconstitutional. Justice Obiora Egwuatu barred the implementation, publication, transmission, or enforcement of the LPDC’s July 29, 2026 decision against Gadzama.
Gadzama had challenged the suspension over allegations of professional misconduct arising from the long-running Zaki-Biam compensation dispute. He insisted that the LPDC failed to establish his personal culpability. The court also restrained the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court from making any disciplinary notation against Gadzama pursuant to the LPDC decision.
The court’s decision followed a suit filed by Gadzama against the Body of Benchers, the LPDC, the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, and Chris Alashi. The complaint was filed by Alashi against Ocha Ulegede and another person and arose from a dispute concerning the administration and distribution of compensation connected to litigation over the 2001 Zaki-Biam massacre.
Gadzama had maintained that he never had a professional relationship with Alashi and never received instructions from him. He told the court that he was separately instructed by some of the judgment creditors involved in the case. The disciplinary proceedings resulted in the LPDC imposing a three-year suspension on Gadzama.
Gadzama’s lawyers argued that there was no effective statutory mechanism through which the senior lawyer could appeal the LPDC decision. They relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Ben Mene-Ejegi and a letter from the Body of Benchers dated August 13. The lawyers consequently argued that enforcing the decision as a final disciplinary determination raised fundamental constitutional questions.
One of the grounds raised by Gadzama concerned the LPDC’s finding that Exhibit JK2 was forged. The committee noted that the document bore the signature of Zaki Kaduna Mazan dated May 22, 2015, although Mazan died on September 11, 2010. Gadzama’s lawyers argued that the existence of a document bearing a signature dated after the purported signatory’s death did not establish that Gadzama forged the document.
The disciplinary case arose from a long-running dispute over compensation for victims and survivors of the 2001 military operation in Zaki-Biam, Benue State. The military operation followed the killing of 19 soldiers by suspected Tiv militia members. Survivors and families of those killed subsequently sued the Federal Government over deaths and destruction of property.
Key points
- The Federal High Court in Abuja nullified the three-year suspension of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joe-Kyari Gadzama, by the LPDC.
- The court declared the enforcement of the disciplinary decision unconstitutional.
- Gadzama was accused of professional misconduct related to the Zaki-Biam compensation dispute.
