I Got Death Threats Defending Abacha Over Kudirat’s murder

The name Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) is not new in the

legal profession. A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), J.B. Daudu as he is popularly called in the legal circles is a celebrated and eminent legal personality. He is specialist in criminal law, appeal, administrative law, constitutional law, election petition among others.

He has successfully handled notable cases in these key areas of law. In this interview with Abuja Metro he bares his mind on some legal and national issues including the controversial case involving Mohammed, the scion of the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, over the murder of Kudirat Abiola in 1996.

The Rule of Law Foundation of which you are the National Coordinator has consistently canvassed the need for reforms in the justice sector through workshops, seminars and enlightenment programmes. Beyond these programmes what else does the foundation plan to do to actualise its vision?
As you have rightly pointed out, the Rule of Law Development Foundation (ROLDF) is an interventionist mechanism designed to draw attention to rule of law infractions on the society by those in the corridors of power and authority. It also draws attention to the best practices of rule of law initiatives worldwide. You have already identified some of the vehicles through which the objectives of the foundation are executed. Other ways and means for achieving these objectives abound and they include the receipt of complaints and petitions from the public espousing and exposing rule of law violations in the three tiers of government in Nigeria.

These complaints are routinely forwarded to our website or by mail to our office. It may surprise you that we operate such an ombudsman initiative when as a private agency we do not have coercive powers to bring erring individuals and agencies of government to book for their misconduct but what must be noted is that even the Public Complaints Commission run by government has no implementation mechanism to execute its decisions made on complaints forwarded to it. For ROLDF we have several initiatives at our disposal such as public interest litigation done without charges, direct civil and non-violent actions etc. One point must be made before bringing the answer to this question, and it is that ROLDF initiatives or responses are very fluid and elastic in nature and responses and reactions are dependent on the varying circumstances of the facts in each individual case. They are therefore not limited to those identified above.

Notable members of the Bar and the Bench have consistently been advocating for laws that would fast track the administration of the criminal justice and remove some of the loopholes in the trial of criminal offences. Do you think the new Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 is a solution to these problems?
This is a starting point and to get to this point, it took several years. But it’s good to note that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act is even only applicable to the Federal Capital Territory [FCT].
Therefore, let us use it and be familiar with some of the changes that it has introduced before we can see whether it has solved the problem.

President Muhammadu Buhari was present at the last annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association [NBA] where he called on lawyers not to shield corrupt public officers from prosecution. As a senior member of the legal profession, what is your view on the president’s call?
The call is valid and it is simply that lawyers should not put road blocks on the path and cause of the wheel of justice and that lawyers should not engage in conduct that are prejudicial to the smooth determination of a case especially anti-corruption cases. The call by Mr. President is the fact that indeed, lawyers need to be responsible and work according to the ethics of the profession. Once you work according to the ethics of the profession, there would be no
need for the president’s call. Once you work within the code of professional conduct, then, a lawyer is home and dry.

One of the controversial cases you handled in your legal career is that involving the son of the late Head of State, Mohammed Abacha who was charged with the murder of Kudirat Abiola. Where you not afraid going into that high profile case given the public perception as of that time?
If you consider public perception, you will never do your work; first of all, you have been trained to practice your profession. If you are well schooled in what you are trained; in what you are doing then you will not look at public perception because public perception may be wrong, public perception can be manipulated by propaganda and other interest or media in uttering their view point, so it never worried me.

Once I am convinced that a case is a good case and that the client is innocent, no matter how much the element of heat may be, borne out of tribalism, religion, ethnicity, politics or otherwise going against your client, you are duty bound to defend him because if I had chickened away from such cases, would you today be talking to me? Then, I would not have done anything worth mentioning. You can take one of the run-of-the-mill cases that you go and do and there is nothing controversial about it.

So once you have the skill and knowledge, the strategy you can deploy in assisting humanity, in assisting people who the society has already convicted without placing them on trial, because God has put you there to do such a thing, you have to go on without fear. That is my viewpoint.