Nigerian Senate speaks on disbarment of its ethics committee chair from practising law in US

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The Nigerian Senate has finally broken its silence on the disbarment of Neda Imasuen from practising law in the US.

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Mr Imasuen, who represents Edo South District in the upper legislative chamber, is a Nigeria-trained lawyer.

He is the chairperson of the Senate ethics committee.

Disbarment

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Imasuen was disbarred from practising law in the US in 2010 following a petition from an American, Daphne Slyfield, who accused him of failing to represent him in a court case after he hired and paid him for it.

According to the document, Mr Slyfield had petitioned the Supreme Court of New York on the matter.

The Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts of the Court handled the matter.

The petitioner accused Mr Imasuen of “professional misconduct.”

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As a special referee, George Friedman was referred to hear and report on the issues raised.

After being served with the petition in July 2009, Mr Imasuen was asked to file a response within 20 days.

The committee had informed him that failure to file his response would compel it to deem the charges against him, as outlined in the petition established.

The document said Mr Imasuen failed to respond to the petition within the permitted time or apply for an extension of time.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Imasuen returned to Nigeria in 2010, the same year he was disbarred.

He later worked as a consultant for the European Union’s State Reforming Institutional Programme, serving as the Jigawa State coordinator.

However, in 2023, Mr Imasuen, an indigene of Edo State, emerged as a senator representing Edo South District at Nigeria’s upper legislative chambers.

The senator is a member of the Labour Party, one of Nigeria’s opposition political parties.

The All Progressives Congress is the country’s ruling political party.

According to our findings, an attorney suspended or disbarred or whose name was stricken from the Roll of Attorneys and Counselors-at-Law upon conviction of a felony may apply to be reinstated to practise.

Such an application for reinstatement after disbarment or removal may not be made until the expiration of seven years from the entry of the order of disbarment.

It is unclear if Mr Imasuen applied for reinstatement after his disbarment. If he did not, his disbarment remains active.

Mr Imasuen has yet to respond to enquiries from media outlets in Nigeria, including PREMIUM TIMES, since the story of his disbarment began to trend in the country in March 2025.

Report of Imasuen disbarment not before us – Senate speaks

Yemi Adaramodu, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Senate, told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday that the upper chamber had not debated on Mr Imasuen’s disbarment because such a report was not yet before it.

“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 Mr Imasuen is “a Nigerian senator, not an American senator.”

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

“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 Mr Adaramodu if he believes that the Senate is not duty-bound to confront Mr 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.

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“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 Mr Imasuen regarding the disbarment, the Senate would have determined whether or not the issue was in violation of any Nigerian law before taking action.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension

Mr Imasuen, the chairperson of the Senate ethics committee, was involved in the recent suspension of the Kogi Central senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment.

After receiving a report from Senator Imasuen-led committee, the Senate, presided by Mr Akpabio, suspended Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan for six months over alleged misconduct and refusal to comply with the chamber’s sitting arrangement during the plenary on 20 February.

Mr Akpabio referred the senator’s sexual harassment petition to the Senate ethics committee.

The chairperson of the committee, Mr Imasuen, ruled that the petition was “dead on arrival” and would not be entertained by the Senate.