Obla is a friend to the Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minster of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke(SAN), from whom he (Obla)
allegedly got the information.
Obla had denied having or leaking the information and had dragged
Oluyede before the Legal Practitioner Disciplinary Committee for
fabricating the story to make his client’s story look good.
He had said he could never had had and shared such information with
Oluyede, whom he said was not more to him that a professional
acquaintance.
The controversy started with a petition dated April 15, 2015, which
was authored and sent to the National Human Rights Commission by Oluyede
on behalf of Kashamu.
Oluyede had stated in the petition that Obla leaked the information to him while they were both on a flight from Abuja to Lagos.
Oluyede had stated in the petition that Obla leaked the information to him while they were both on a flight from Abuja to Lagos.
Following Obla’s denial of leaking the information, Oluyede again
reacted insisting that the information was unsolicited when Obla offered
the information to him as a “whistle-blower”.
Oluyede said in a statement, “I have just seen Mr Obla’s reaction to
the letter written by my firm to the NHRC. I assume from the tone of the
rejoinder that Mr Obla is under fire for leaking this information to me
and am therefore not surprised.
“It is true that Mr. Obla and I are only acquaintances and this was
the reason I thought him a conscientious and honorable whistleblower
when he gave me this unsolicited information.
“I had, in the matter he referred to in his rejoinder, begun to admire his candour and independent thinking. Even at that time, he was very open about his candid views about the facts of that case. “I naturally informed my client about the information as soon as Mr Obla offered it and when the matter developed, I had no hesitation in confirming it to debunk the growing impression that he was merely imagining the matter.
“I had, in the matter he referred to in his rejoinder, begun to admire his candour and independent thinking. Even at that time, he was very open about his candid views about the facts of that case. “I naturally informed my client about the information as soon as Mr Obla offered it and when the matter developed, I had no hesitation in confirming it to debunk the growing impression that he was merely imagining the matter.
“I sympathise with Chief Obla if my duty to my client has brought him
discomfort. I however see his resort to abusive language and threats as
totally unjustifiable and untenable.”
Oluyede stated in the petition to the NHRC that Obla told him that as
a friend to Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,
Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), he (Obla) witnessed an occasion when former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, a political adversary to Kashamu, was
mounting pressure on the AGF to ensure the extradition of the
Senator-elect to the USA.
But Obla said in his petition to the LPDC, accusing Oluyede of
fabricating the story, that he didn’t know beyond what was reported in
the media about the personality of Kashamu.
He said he had “never had any connection, nor shown any particular or
special interest beyond the media effects of consistent reportage, on
the person of Kashamu and his associates, including the said Prince
Ajibola Oluyede, his lawyer, with whom I only had a brief encounter in
court in the year 2013 in the course of my professional duties in suits
totally unconnected with Kashamu.”Meanwhile, a group, Civil Society Network Against Corruption, has also petitioned the LPDC accusing Kashamu’s team of lawyers of abuse of judicial process.
The petition, dated May 11, 2015, arose from what the group perceived as multiplicity of suits filed by Kashamu’s lawyers to scuttle any purported moves to extradite the senator-elect to the US to face alleged illicit drug charges.
The group stated in the petition dated May 11, 2015, “In a suit, Mr. Kashamu sued the Attorney General of the Federation at the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court .
“In the said suit, the plaintiff challenged the moves to extradite him to the United State to stand trial for drug trafficking. In spite of the defence of the AGF that there was neither a request for extradition of the plaintiff by the United States nor was the Nigerian Government planning to surrender him for extradition, the trial judge, Justice Okechukwu Okeke (now retired) ruled that Mr. Kashamu should not be extradited.
“Dissatisfied with the decision of the FHC, the AGF appealed to the Court of Appeal. Upon hearing the matter, the Court of Appeal set aside the judgment of the FHC on the ground that the allegation that there was a plan to extradite Mr. Kashamu was speculative and mere hearsay. The decision of Justice Okeke was therefore set aside by the Court of Appeal.
“In a bid to tarnish the image of the Court of Appeal, Mr. Kashamu and his lawyers filed another application at the Court of Appeal, urging it to set aside the judgment on ground of bias on the part of the Presiding Justice, Justice Amina Augie, whom he said had influenced the panel. The scandalous application was dismissed.
“In another development, Mr. Kashamu appealed to the Supreme Court, praying the apex Court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal and restore the judgment of the FHC. Although, the matter is pending at the Supreme Court, Mr. Kashamu has in a fresh suit filed at the Lagos judicial division of the Federal High Court, asked the Court to stop his extradition to the United States.
“To give the impression that this is a fresh suit, Mr. Kashamu sued the Inspector-General of Police and Heads of 10 other agencies of the Federal Government. But since the AGF had been sued by the plaintiff on behalf of the Federal Government in an earlier suit, it is clear Mr. Kashamu cannot sue the Heads of the agencies of the Federal Government again.”
The group said another fresh suit had been filed “at FHC while the appeal pending at the Supreme Cour, on the same subject matter, has not been determined.”
“Having exposed the judiciary to ridicule, by abusing the judicial process” on behalf of Kashamu, Suraju said the lawyers “ought to be disciplined by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee and the Nigerian Bar
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