Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential contender for 2023, claims that President Bola Tinubu’s ultimate loss at the Northern District of Illinois court was caused by the independence of the judiciary in the United States, US.
Atiku was responding to Justice Nancy Maldonado’s directive to Chicago State University to provide Atiku access to all of Tinubu’s academic records.
He criticised Babatunde Ogala, Tinubu’s attorney and the former national legal adviser of the All Progressives Congress, for saying that the US court victory was of no relevance.
Asserting that the ruling would have no bearing on Atiku’s Supreme Court case against Tinubu’s victory, Ogala had also compared the triumph to masturbation.
Atiku, however, claimed that courts in Nigeria had continued to award Tinubu victory based on technicalities rather than render justice based on the case’s merits, a practise that had resulted in more than 20 questionable triumphs.
He claimed that since 1999, when renowned human rights attorney Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) initially revealed his alleged certificate scam, Tinubu had persisted in eluding the law.
Atiku expressed regret that the Nigerian judiciary had fallen short of expectations as the last bastion of the common man in a statement made through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu.
In his words, “Justice Maldonado, who has served on the bench for less than a year and who presided over this case for little over a month, has been able to do what the Nigerian judicial system has been unable to do for 23 years. This explains why Nigerian society is in danger of reverting to the short, brutish, and unpleasant state of nature that Thomas Hobbes once described.
“Normally, we wouldn’t have responded to the comments of a legal Lilliputian whose advancement in the legal profession is dependent upon the apron strings of a Chicago Bagman and who has never won any major cases in court. But for the benefit of history, the truth must be spoken.
“It is regrettable that Ogala exalts technicality rather than fairness. Ogala asserted that the triumph had little significance. If he had nothing to conceal, then why did his principle want to prevent the release of his credentials? Why did he also contest the first ruling? Only the wicked, according to the Bible, flee when no one pursues them. Why has Tinubu fought to keep his academic records private for almost 30 years?
Ogala’s outburst, according to Atiku’s assistant, was motivated by his eagerness to be appointed by Tinubu after failing to make the cabinet.
“Ogala was lobbying to be the Attorney-General,” he alleged. After repeatedly defending Tinubu in court, he thought it was his birthright.
“However, Tinubu chose the more seasoned Lateef Fagbemi because he had only obtained the rank of senior counsel two years prior and had not yet handled any noteworthy or historic cases.
Since then, Ogala has been attempting to win over Tinubu, and he is now turning logic on its head in order to appease his boss. How pitiful!”
