Question Tag: Agency Law

a. Adamu, a public officer whose duties relate to the administration of justice, was caught on camera corruptly requesting money from a person with a view to avoiding his duties to favor that person.

Required:

i. Under the Criminal Code, what offence could Adamu be charged for and what punishment is he liable to if convicted? (2 Marks)
ii. What would be Adamu’s punishment on conviction if his duties did not relate to the administration of justice? (2 Marks)

b. Thomas carried out a series of transactions on his bank account involving a frequency considered by the bank manager, Alhaji Adeyemo, to be unjustifiable or unreasonable. Adeyemo reported the transactions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, leading to the interrogation of Thomas. Thomas has now filed a civil action for defamation against Alhaji Adeyemo.

Required:

Advise Alhaji Adeyemo on possible liability for the action and his possible defence. (4 Marks)

c. George, who is the chief accountant of Digital Supermarkets, has reasons to believe that certain online lodgments into the supermarket’s bank account by one of the salesgirls were highly suspicious.

Required:

i. What steps should George take as the accountant? (2 Marks)
ii. Explain briefly what you understand by ‘electronic fraud’. (2 Marks)

d. Brenda, an agent who had instructions to sell her principal’s house in the open market, bought the house for herself using her brother as a front without informing the principal.

Required:

State TWO duties Brenda has breached as an agent. (2 Marks)

e. Ngozi retains part of the goods he was instructed to sell as an agent on the ground that the principal has refused to indemnify him for reasonable expenses incurred in the course of carrying out the agency.

Required:

State the condition under which Ngozi, as an agent, could lawfully retain the goods. (2 Marks)

f. Juliet is an officer of an auctioneer company with instructions to auction properties belonging to Adams, but the warehouse handlers displayed goods belonging to Mathias in error. Mathias has brought a suit against Juliet for negligence.

Required:

i. Advise Juliet on the defence or defences available to her, explaining briefly the rule of law for your advice. (2 Marks)
ii. State TWO necessary ingredients which must be proved by a plaintiff to succeed in an action for negligence. (2 Marks)