PUBLIC STATEMENT
COSON LAWYERS FORCEFULLY CHALLENGE NCC
DIRECTIVES AT THE COURT OF APPEAL
Lawyers to
Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) have swiftly filed a new process at the
Court of Appeal, Lagos Division challenging the content of the letters from the
Nigerian Copyright Commission purportedly suspending the copyright licensing
activities of the society.
The Alliance Law
Firm headed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Uche Val Obi filed the process
within 24 hours of the receipt of the letters from the NCC. COSON has urged the
Court of Appeal to make suspensory or dispositive mandatory orders against the
NCC’s directives, pending the determination of the pending appeal.
In a letter dated
May 3, 2018 to the NCC Director-General, Mr. Afam Ezekude, the COSON lawyers
stated that the development at the Court of Appeal lawfully apprehends the NCC directives
suspending the licence of COSCON to operate as a royalty collecting
organization.
The full text of
the letter to Mr. Ezekude reads as follows;
We remain counsel
to Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and continue to act on its
instructions. The captioned letters, emanating from your offices have been
passed over to us by COSON, with instructions to respond to the same as
permitted by law.
Recall that in
our letter dated 16th April, 2018 and sent to you, via email, ezekude@aol.com, on 19th
April, 2018 and the hard copy received in your office on the 25th
April, 2018, you were reminded of the pending Motion on notice for injunction
pending the determination of Appeal at the Court of Appeal, seeking a number of
injunctive reliefs against your Commission, particularly, the prayer seeking to
restrain your Commission from acting in a manner that could embarrass the Court
of Appeal, alter the res, or otherwise overreaching and advising you against
acting in any manner that is capable of foisting a situation of complete
helplessness and fiat accompli on the Court of Appeal, prior to the hearing and
determination of that Motion.
We are shocked to
read that in spite of our guided advice, you led your Commission to act with
gross impunity against the Court of Appeal, when, according to your captioned
letters, you purportedly, on the advice of the Attorney General of the
Federation of Nigeria, suspended the operating licence of COSON, while the
Motion for Injunction, restraining your Commission from embarking on the same
act is still pending at the Court of Appeal. Could it be that the authorities
of Ojukwu V. Governor of Lagos State, as well as Iwuji V. Governor of Imo
State, recommended to you in our said letter of 16th April, 2018
were of no consequence to you? Your act is even more worrisome when you
attributed the impetus to so act to the approval of the Chief Law Officer of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Honourable Attorney General of the
Federation (HAGF), who is the Constitutional custodian of rule of law in
Nigeria. We wonder if you had indeed placed the full facts of this matter
before the HAGF in the first instance as it is doubtful that he would have
advised or supported your aforesaid acts and directives, given the
circumstances.
It might interest
you to recall that the reign of executive lawlessness and disregard for the
rule of law has since been consigned to our ugly past as a nation and we
consider it a reminder of that ugly and unfortunate past for any agency of
government to invoke or perpetrate any act, like your present act, which has a
semblance of that forbidden ugly past.
We have, on
behalf of COSON, a law abiding citizen, therefore filed another process at the
Court of Appeal, challenging the content of the two letters captioned above and
urging that Court to make suspensory or dispositive mandatory orders against
your Commission’s directives against COSON, pending the determination of the
pending appeal. This development therefore lawfully apprehends your directives suspending the licence of COSON as
a royalty collecting organization and stopping it from operating its bank accounts as a going concern, amongst
others.
It remains to
remind you that it is an established principle of law that a citizen lawfully
challenging an act or directive of an institution against it in a court of law
in exercise of its constitutional rights cannot be expected to comply or obey
directives, issued in the course of a pending proceeding and while a motion
specifically seeking to restrain such directives is pending. Consequently,
COSON has been legally advised that it is not bound in law to give effect to
your directives but to await the decisions of the Court of Appeal on the
pending applications for mandatory and interlocutory injunctions pending before
it in relation to your acts, pronouncements, order and directives, as to do
otherwise would be to sacrifice its constitutional rights on the alter of your
directives, acts, and orders which constitute an affront and disrespect to the honourable Court of
Appeal now seized with the subject matter, more so, as the appeal has already
been entered.
Having stated the
above, it is our candid suggestion that a high level meeting of representatives
of concerned parties to the matter be held as early as possible to explore an
amicable resolution of the issues relating to this subject matter in the
interest of all stakeholders. If this is acceptable, kindly let us know how
early we can have a kick off meeting.
Please be guided
accordingly.
Yours Faithfully,
Alliance Law Firm
Isaac
U. Obi, FIMC Fred
Obiejesi
Partner Senior
Associate
Cc: Hon.
Attorney General & Minister For Justice
Ministry
of Justice
Abuja
Cc: Copyright
Society of Nigeria (COSON)
COSON
House
41,
Oluwaleimu Street,
Off
Allen Avenue
Ikeja,
Lagos
Cc: Chairman, Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission
No. 5, Fomella
Street
Off Adetokumbo
Ademola Crescent
Wuse II, Abuja
