The Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) has fixed September 30 to deliver its ruling on a petition alleging professional misconduct against Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ikechukwu Ezechukwu, and two other lawyers, Smart Ukpanah and Hope Onyekwere. The petition accuses the respondents of criminal misrepresentation, forgery, perjury and other actions allegedly inconsistent with the ethical obligations of legal practitioners.

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The committee, chaired by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kalu Umeh, reserved its decision after hearing arguments from counsel to the respondents, D.O. Okolo, who urged the panel to dismiss the petition on the grounds that the petitioner, Kingsley Aneubuna, had expressed his intention to withdraw the matter. Okolo told the committee that Aneubuna had written to notify it of his decision not to pursue the case further.

However, Umeh rejected the application, explaining that the committee’s rules do not permit the withdrawal of a petition after issues have been joined. He ruled that the LPDC was bound to consider the petitioner’s filed processes before reserving judgment until September 30.

The petition arose from a dispute over Plot No. 713, Cadastral Zone B14, Dutse District, Abuja, where Aneubuna alleged he paid ₦51 million in 2018 for a terrace duplex after receiving assurances that the property had a valid title and was free from litigation. He later claimed to have discovered that the property had been the subject of a pending court case since 2018 and that his name had been included as a co-claimant without his consent. Aneubuna further accused Ukpanah of representing him in court without authorisation, Onyekwere of giving evidence on his behalf without approval, and Ezechukwu of tendering a forged agreement allegedly backdated to 2012 despite knowing litigation over the property was already pending. The petition was filed after Aneubuna successfully sought to have his name removed from the court case.