The 2023 Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has said the independence of the judiciary in the United States, US, led to President Bola Tinubu’s ultimate defeat at the Northern District of Illinois court.
Atiku was reacting to the order by Justice Nancy Maldonado to the Chicago State University to release all of Tinubu’s academic records to Atiku.
He lambasted Tinubu’s lawyer and former National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Babatunde Ogala, who had described the US court victory as of no consequence.
Ogala had also compared the victory to masturbation, insisting that the judgement would have no consequence on Atiku’s appeal against Tinubu’s victory at the Supreme Court.
However, Atiku said rather than deliver justice on the merits of the case, judges in Nigeria had continued to give Tinubu victory based on technicalities, a development which had led to over 20 dubious victories.
He said Tinubu had continued to evade justice since 1999 when the legendary human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), first blew the lid on his alleged certificates scam.
Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said it was unfortunate that the Nigerian judiciary had failed to live up to expectation as the last hope of the common man.
He said, “Justice Maldonado who has spent less than one year on the bench and who sat on this case for barely a month, has been able to do what the Nigerian judiciary could not do for 23 years. This explains why the Nigerian society is on the brink of slipping into the state of nature, which Thomas Hobbes described as short, brutish, and nasty.
“Ordinarily, we would not have responded to the words of a legal Lilliputian who has never won any landmark case in court and whose growth in the legal field is tied to the apron strings of a Chicago Bagman. However, the truth needs to be said for the sake of posterity.
“It is unfortunate that Ogala glorifies technicality instead of justice. Ogala claimed that the victory was meaningless. So, why did his principal try to block the release of his credentials if he had nothing to hide? Why did he also appeal the initial judgment? The Bible says only the wicked run when no one chases them. Why has Tinubu been blocking the release of his academic records for nearly 30 years?”
Atiku’s aide said Ogala’s outburst was based on his desperation to receive an appointment from Tinubu, having failed to make the cabinet.
He claimed that, “Ogala was lobbying to be the Attorney-General. He believed it was his birthright after defending Tinubu in court on several occasions.
“However, having only received the title of senior advocate two years ago without any remarkable or landmark cases under his belt, Tinubu opted for the more experienced Lateef Fagbemi.
“Since then, Ogala has been trying to ingratiate himself to Tinubu and is now standing logic on its head just to please his master. How pathetic!”
