The Nigerian Senate has broken its silence on the disbarment of Neda Imasuen, senator representing Edo south, from practising law in the United States.
Imasuen, a Nigeria-trained lawyer, was disbarred in 2010 by the Supreme Court of New York following a petition filed by an American, Daphne Slyfield, who accused him of professional misconduct.
According to court documents, Slyfield alleged that after paying Imasuen to represent him in a case, the senator failed to appear in court or provide the required legal service.
The Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts of New York handled the matter, appointing George Friedman as a special referee to hear and report on the issues.
Imasuen was served the petition in July 2009 and given 20 days to respond but failed to file a reply or request an extension.
The committee subsequently deemed the charges against him established and recommended disbarment, which took effect in 2010—the same year Mr Imasuen returned to Nigeria.
Following his return, he worked as a consultant with the European Union’s State Reforming Institutional Programme and served as Jigawa state coordinator.
In 2023, he was elected to the Senate on the platform of the Labour Party and currently chairs the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.
Despite the matter resurfacing in Nigerian media in March 2025, Imasuen has not responded to any enquiries.
When asked about the issue, Yemi Adaramodu, spokesperson of the Senate, said the upper chamber had not deliberated on the disbarment because the matter was not formally brought before it.
“So, we cannot be debating on something that’s not before us,” Adaramodu told Premium Times on Saturday.
“Again, there has not been any local, national or international report against the senator before us.”
Responding to a reminder that the disbarment had been widely reported in the media, Mr Adaramodu asked: “Are we going to pick allegations from the media?”
He added that Imasuen is a “Nigerian senator, not an American senator.”
Adaramodu argued that the senator passed all the necessary checks by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Labour Party and security agencies before his election.
“After contesting (and being declared winner), are we going to set another bar for him? We are not going to set another bar for him,” he said.
The Senate spokesperson further noted that unless a formal petition is submitted, the chamber would not initiate action against Imasuen.
“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 said.
He added that any formal petition against the senator would be assessed to determine if it violated any Nigerian law before further steps are taken.
