Saharareporters has obtained the names of the five justices who will consider a lawsuit by Emmanuel Nnamdi (Andy) Uba seeking his reinstatement as Anambra governor.
A source within Nigeria’s apex court told our correspondent that the panel is to be headed by Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, with Justices Dahiru Musdapher, Mrs. Olufumlola Adekeye, Muhammad Muntaka-Coomasie and Mitchell Chukwuma Eneh as members.
Saharareporters revealed two days ago that Uba had offered huge financial inducement to members of the panel to ensure that they return him as governor.
A former domestic assistant to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Uba was declared winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship race that was marred by irregularities, including the exclusion of credible opponents, the use of police to intimidate voters, and the announcement of false ballot figures.
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There was nation-wide celebration on June 14, 2007 when a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court removed Uba from office. Since then, Uba and his proxy, Ifeanyi Okonkwo, have made several attempts to persuade the apex court to reinstall him as governor.
A source close to Uba said the former aide’s “luck” came when he hired a lawyer described as “extremely close” Katsina-Alu, reputed to be one of the court’s most corrupt justices. The source told Saharareporters that Uba is “perhaps the richest Nigerian alive.” He added that Uba decided to spend some of the fortune he accumulated in illegitimate deals during Obasanjo’s eight-year term to “buy back the Government House in Awka.”
He disclosed that Uba’s new lawyer was able to “negotiate” terms with Katsina-Alu and Justice Niki Tobi, who set up the original five-person panel to hear Uba’s latest appeal.
Saharareporters earlier reported that the panelists’ plan to return Uba to office had torn the Supreme Court apart. Several justices have warned that a verdict restoring Uba would be seen as a case of the court selling justice. One justice even complained that such a verdict was likely to shred the court’s already shaky image.
A legal correspondent in Abuja familiar with the Uba case told us that Uba’s only hope for a favorable verdict is on a “cash and carry” basis, implying the bribing of the panelists.
Our investigations revealed that Niki Tobi selected panelists who have a history of corruption or judicial weakness. Justice Katsina-Alu, who is related to controversial Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa, is notoriously open to inducement.
Before being elevated to the apex court, Justice Muntaka-Coomasie headed a panel of the Court of Appeal that received a massive bribe from Uba to deliver a widely criticized verdict that enabled Uba to characterize himself as “governor-in-waiting.” In the wake of legal outcry generated by their scandalous ruling, the Muntaka-Coomasie panel refused to release the full text of the verdict. It later issued a statement clarified that their ruling did not confer “governor-in-waiting” status on Uba. Given his infamous role in that case, a Lagos-based legal luminary told Saharareporters that Muntaka-Coomasie should never have been allowed to sit on another case brought by Uba.
Justice Adekeye played a pivotal role in the judgment that played "politics" with Rotimi Amaechi as governor of Rivers.
Justice Musdapher was one of the two justices – the other being Katsina-Alu – who coordinated Umaru Yar’adua’s “settlement” of the justices who upheld the legitimacy of Yar’adua’s election – despite overwhelming evidence of electoral fraud.
One Abuja-based lawyer said that Justice Eneh may not be as corrupt as the other panelists, but he described the jurist as “quiet and weak in personality, the kind of man who can easily be bamboozled to go along with an atrocious judgment.”
A source in Abuja told us that the Supreme Court justices became jittery following our expose of their corrupt plot to “award” the governorship of Anambra to Uba. He told our correspondent that one of the justices who opposed the panel’s plan was heard arguing that Katsina-Alu and Niki Tobi had allowed Uba’s blind ambition to “thrash the reputation of the court.”
Saharareporters will be following up on developments in the case as they unfold.
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