A Supreme Court panel headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Legbo Kutigi, today in Abuja dismissed the controversial case brought before it by Emmanuel Nnamdi Uba, the former domestic aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The lawsuit, which had become an embarrassment to the apex court, was the second time the former presidential aide had approached the court since 2007 when Mr. Uba's reign as the governor of Anambra state was summarily ended on June 14 2007.
Recently, Saharareporters exposed a deal brokered by Mr. Uba’s lawyer, Bello Adoke, and Justices Nikki Tobi and Aloysius Katsina-Alu, to grant Uba’s request to be returned as governor in a ruling that would have shocked the world. A source within the court told our correspondent that it was our timely report that led the court to adjourn the case and to agree to a request by Governor Peter Obi’s attorney, Okey Ikpeazu, that a full panel of seven justices be constituted to decide the case.
Following our investigative reports, other sources within the court told us, Chief Justice Kutigi decided to take over the case “in order to permanently dismiss Uba’s efforts to bring the Supreme Court to ridicule,” said one source.
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At today's unanimous ruling, Justice Kutigi used strong language to censure Mr. Uba's new lawyer, J.B. Daudu (a senior advocate of Nigeria). The court warned Mr. Uba to refrain from approaching the court again with his frivolous appeal.
Apart from Justice Kutigi, the other justices on the panel were Niki Tobi, Dahiru Musdapher, Olufunlola Oyelola Adekeye, Mahmoud Mohammed, Francis Fedode Tabai, and Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed.
Justice Katsina-Alu, one of the arrowheads of the initial plot to re-install Uba, stayed out of the panel.
However, one source told Saharareporters that Chief Justice Kutigi had convoked a general conference of all fourteen justices of the court to determine where they stood on Uba’s appeal. A source within the court told our correspondent that only two justices, whom he would not name, voted to uphold Uba’s appeal. Justice Kutigi, who is due for retirement in January 2010, then disclosed his intention to preside over the case which threatened to taint the integrity of the court and to bring his reign to scandal.
Uba had initially hired Bello Adoke’s firm to handle his case because of Adoke’s closeness to Justice Katsina-Alu. One legal scholar described Adoke as “a weak lawyer who was elevated to the status of SAN on the recommendation of former Attorney General of Nigeria, Bayo Ojo.” The next year, Justice Katsina-Alu enthroned Adoke as a member of a privileges committee that decides which lawyers are to be made Senior Advocates. Katsina-Alu’s choice of Adoke caused widespread condemnation in legal circles in Nigeria.
Adoke had initially sent Taiwo Abe, a junior lawyer in his firm, to represent Uba. A source familiar with the case told our correspondent that the choice of Abe reflected Adoke’s confidence that Uba’s stupendous bribe money, not the points of law, would determine the outcome of the case. Shortly after our publication of the corrupt deal, Adoke and Uba decided to retain J.B. Daudu to take over as Uba’s counsel.
A source close to Uba told our correspondent that the former aide was “devastated” by today’s verdict. He said Mr. Uba had received “firm promises that he would be definitely returned as governor of Anambra,” a position he “won” at first thanks to a collusion between Mr. Obasanjo and Mr. Maurice Iwu, the fraudulent chairman of the national electoral commission.
Uba is a shady character who accumulated a huge fortune during the eight years he worked for Obasanjo. “He was President Obasanjo’s point man for looting,” said a source who served in Obasanjo’s cabinet. “He and Obasanjo made a lot of money in the oil sector, in the NNPC, in oil block deals, and through the importation of fuels,” the source added.
Our investigative report also exposed Uba’s certificate scams. Even though he holds only a high school certificate, Mr. Uba had misrepresented himself to Nigerians as a holder of a PhD. A friend who knew him in his days as a struggling businessman in California told Saharareporters, “Uba has never even peed in a graduate school bathroom much less earn a PhD.”
In dismissing Uba’s case today, the Supreme Court asked the appellant to pay N50,000 as penalty for wasting the court’s time.
Uba’s latest legal humiliation comes amidst revelations of embarrassing money laundering by incumbent Anambra governor, Mr. Peter Obi.
Police officers in Lagos recently apprehended Obi’s aides with a large cash haul of N250 million. The police are still investigating the scandal, but several sources in Awka told Saharareporters that Governor Obi always laundered his “security vote” every month.
Speaking to our correspondent from Awka, one member of the state assembly said “Uba’s defeat would have been sweeter for the people of Anambra if Governor Obi had not been unmasked as another corrupt politician who projected himself as Mr. Clean.” He added that most of the assembly members would now be more determined than ever to probe Obi’s security vote scam despite the governor’s efforts to bribe state legislators.
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