Senate Breaks Silence On Imasuen’s Alleged Disbarment From Practising Law In The U.S.

The Senate has officially broken its silence regarding the disbarment of a senator representing Edo South District, Neda Imasuen, from practising law in the United States.

Naijaonpoint reports that Imasuen, who is a Nigeria-trained lawyer and serves as the chairperson of the Senate Ethics Committee, has faced public scrutiny following reports about his disbarment in the U.S. in 2010.

Imasuen was reportedly disbarred from practising law in the U.S. in 2010 after a petition was filed by an American client, Daphne Slyfield, who accused him of failing to represent her in a court case despite being hired and paid for the job.

Slyfield had submitted the complaint to the Supreme Court of New York, and the Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts of the Court handled the case.

The grievance alleged “professional misconduct” against Imasuen. A special referee, George Friedman, was assigned to investigate and report on the matter.

The document stated that Imasuen was served with the petition in July 2009 and was given 20 days to respond. However, he failed to file his response within the required timeframe or request an extension, leading the committee to consider the charges as established.

Following his disbarment in 2010, Imasuen returned to Nigeria, where he later worked as a consultant for the European Union’s State Reforming Institutional Programme.

He served as the Jigawa State coordinator. In 2023, Imasuen emerged as a senator representing Edo South District in Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber. He is a member of the Labour Party (LP), which is one of the opposition political parties in Nigeria.

Senate’s Position On Imasuen’s Disbarment

The Senate’s spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, in an interview with Premium Times, addressed the situation on Saturday, stating that the upper chamber had not discussed Imasuen’s disbarment because the issue had not yet been officially presented before it.

He said, “So, we cannot be debating on something that’s not before us.

“Again, there has not been any local, national or international report against the senator before us,” Mr Adaramodu, also a senator, said.

“You can ask for my personal opinion on that. But the opinion of the Senate is that something that’s not before us, we cannot just go to plenary and start debating or talking about it.”

When reminded that the disbarment had been widely published in many Nigerian media, he responded: “Are we going to pick allegations from the media?”

The spokesperson, who represents Ekiti South District, suggested that the disbarment was immaterial given that Imasuen is “a Nigerian senator, not an American senator.”

Adaramodu stressed that Imasuen was unlikely to be punished over the disbarment because the senator was duly elected after the INEC, the Labour Party, and Nigerian security agencies cleared him.

“After contesting (and being declared p winner), are we going to set another bar for him? We are not going to set another bar for him.

“But if there’s anybody who has anything genuine against anybody for which a senator is not supposed to be where he is, the person can bring it up,” he stated.

Premium Times asked Adaramodu if he believes that the Senate is not duty-bound to confront Imasuen over the disbarment issue, which has been trending in the media.

“So we will now ask him about something based on hearsay? Was the senator accused on the floor of the Senate? No! Did his constituents file any complaints to us? No.

“Did the Nigerian government complain to us that something has happened to a senator before us and that we have to look into it? No,” he responded.

The spokesperson said if there were any formal petition or complaint against Imasuen regarding the disbarment, the Senate would have determined whether or not the issue was in violation of any Nigerian law before taking action.