Babatunde Adepoju, a Department of State Services (DSS) operative, has alleged that Kola Adewoyin, counsel to President Muhammadu Buhari, gave Adeniyi
Babatunde Adepoju, a Department of State Services (DSS) operative, has alleged that Kola Adewoyin, counsel to President Muhammadu Buhari, gave Adeniyi Ademola, a judge of the federal high court Abuja, N500,000 while the president’s certificate forgery case was before him. Ademola is one of the judges who was arrested by the DSS. He is currently standing trial alongside Olubowale, his wife, and Joe Agi, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).Agi on his own told him that the money was given to Ademola during the wedding of the judge’s daughter. Adepoju said though he did not carry out any investigation, it would be speculative to say the money was given to Ademola to influence the forgery case. The DSS operative also said Agi admitted that a gift of N30million was given to Ademola.
In a swift reaction, the Presidency has said that there is no truth in the reports that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kola Awodein, gave Justice Niyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, currently standing trial for alleged corruption, N500,000.00 at the behest of President Muhammadu Buhari during the certificate issue affecting the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, recalled that Buhari challenged the elections of 2003, 2007, and 2011, up to the Supreme Court and was never named as trying to compromise any judge. He said any attempt to sully that reputation was bound to fail. The presidential spokesman said even Awodein himself had denied the allegation.
Adesina then reproduced Awodein’s statement on the matter in parts, “I would conclude by stating categorically and without any equivocation that ANY link whatsoever with Mr. President, or any court case or cases, of my personal gift from my personal resources delivered to Justice Niyi Ademola by myself on that occasion or any suggestion whatsoever that it was anything but such a gift or that it ever came from Mr President or at his instance or that I was acting, under any circumstances, on his behalf is most malicious, utterly ridiculous and in very very poor and revolting taste and most undeserving of any further comments.”
Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe, an Abuja-based lawyer, had filed a suit to challenge the veracity of Buhari’s WAEC result. Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe had said Buhari did not meet the educational requirement to contest for the highest office in Nigeria. He accused Buhari of lying about sitting for the Cambridge West African School Certificate (WASC) in 1961. At the hearing of the suit on May 26, 2016, Buhari through his counsel had raised an objection to the suit, challenging the mode of service of the originating summons on him. He insisted that he ought to have been served at an address in Kaduna instead of by substituted means at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja. The court upheld the service of the originating court processes on Buhari. The judge held that the service of the court’s processes on the president through the secretariat of the APC was in order as the court summons would get to him even though it was delivered at his party secretariat.
Dissatisfied with this ruling, Buhari through his legal team has filed a notice of appeal at the court of appeal, Abuja judicial division on seven grounds of appeal. Buhari had hired 13 SANs, and 10 other counsels. Apart from Awodein, some senior lawyers in the case were Wole Olanipekun, Lateef Fagbemi, Akin Olujinmi, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Kola Awodein, Taiwo Osipitan, Charles Edosomwan, Emeka Ngige, Femi Atoyebi, Femi Falana, Funke Aboyade, H.O. Afolabi, and Muiz Banire.
PUNCH
