Date Published: 02/18/10

17 February 2010

Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN)

President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)

NBA Secretariat

Victoria Island, Lagos State

Dear Sir,

OPEN LETTER TO THE NBA PRESIDENT

SOKOTO APPEAL PETITION JUDGEMENT; BULLYING AND BLACKMAIL OF THE JUDGES OF COURT OF APPEAL TO PAVE WAY FOR PDP VICTORY.

Sir, it is important at this point in time to call your attention as an erudite and incorruptible President of the Nigerian Bar Association to the ongoing scenario as regards to the pending Judgment of the Court of Appeal on Sokoto election. Your intervention at this crucial period is germane and highly imperative in view of your position as one of the moral conscience of the Nation.

Alhaji Aliu Wammakko in a rally at Sokoto on Monday, 15 February 2010 bragged openly that nothing can unseat him from his illegally occupying position because everything in Abuja has been “settled”. He went further to assert that the Judgment has already been written in his favor because of his close association with the CJN and Senator Umar Dahiru, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary. Once again, we should be reminded that the people of Sokoto and the entire Nigerian citizenry are waiting and watching with keen interest in the matter.

In a desperate move to perpetuate the fraudulent and illegal occupation of the Sokoto Government House, it was learnt that plans have already been concluded to manipulate the judgment of the Court of Appeal. An unconfirmed source said that arrangements are currently underway by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Aloysius Katsina-Alu, to order the removal of the Judges presiding over the Sokoto election appeal petition because of the inability of the PDP to manoeuver them in their favour. The reason for their removal will be based on the purported petition written by Alhaji Wammako of the PDP alleging that some of the Judges have collected bribes from the opposition.  As an interested party, we cannot dismiss this rumor because of the antecedent of the ruling PDP Government. However, it is our great conviction that the Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan will correct the wrong of the past by allowing Justice to reign once again in Nigeria.

It shall be recalled that the Sokoto people have been denied justice several times despite Alhaji Wammako’s obvious ineligibility to contest in the 2007 election and the consequent nullification of his election (with a mandatory fine of fifty thousand Naira awarded against him).  There is no doubt in the fact that the immediate removal of these incorruptible Judges was the only option left for the CJN after all attempts to bribe and unduly influence the President of the Court of Appeal failed. It is also rumored that Hon. Justice Isa Ayo Salami, President of the Court of Appeal has refused all entreaties and monetary inducements to pervert the course of justice; he has firmly stood his ground against all these moves by the ruling party.

In addition, there has been tremendous pressure from Senator Umar Dahiru, a PDP Senator from Sokoto State and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary. Alhaji Wammako has contracted the Senator representing the Sokoto State North-West Senatorial district to use his influence as the Senate Committee Chairman on Judiciary to ensure that the decision of the Court of Appeal is in favour of the ruling party.  Senator Dahiru claims that he was instrumental in the appointment of Justice Ayo Salami. According to him, it’s payback time.

Alhaji Wammako has escaped justice several times based on his strong connections with Mr. Michael Aondokaa, notoriously corrupt former Attorney-General of the Federation, who used his position to influence the judgment at the election tribunal. Although Aondokaa is no longer in a position to directly influence the Court of Appeal ruling – he was sent out of the cabinet last week - his Uncle and close senior associate, Aloysius Katsina-Alu, current Chief Justice of Nigeria may be well placed to complete the dirty deal in favour of Wammako. Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu was sworn in as the CJN under controversial circumstances in December 2009; it is widely acknowledged by some section that his swearing in was illegal.

It was noted that Alhaji Wammako resorted to this option of blackmailing the Judges as a last option after all avenues to influence the judgment had been exhausted to no avail. The petition to the Nigerian Judicial Commission (NJC) will serve as an excuse for the removal of the Judges by the CJN since they could not be influenced in any way.  Alhaji Wammako quickly petitioned the, NJC alleging without any concrete proof that the presiding Judges have received bribes from the opposition.  The CJN never set up any committee to investigate this matter but will rather go ahead to remove the presiding Judges from the case in order to pave the way for the appointment of corrupt Judges that will play their game.

It is very important to remind the CJN that the entire world is watching carefully and any attempt to tamper with Justice may further destabilize our already heated political system. It is also important to call the attention of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to this current issue because this is a challenging opportunity for Dr. Jonathan to write his name in gold by changing the ‘do or die’ political orientation of the PDP and allowing the rule of law to prevail in our polity.  It is the responsibility of our Judiciary to ensure that justice is done to everyone irrespective of political party affiliations and social status. 

The question on everyone’s lips is this: will Sokoto people get justice like their compatriots in Edo and Ondo States? The answer to this lies in the hands of the judges of the appeal court who will determine the fate of Wammako and the entire people of Sokoto State. The Nigerian judiciary has played a very important role in the sustenance of our fragile democratic process by upholding the truth as exhibited by those courageous judges involved in the landmark judgments involving Anambra (in the case of Peter Obi v Ngige of the PDP), Edo, Rivers and Ondo States, even at the peril of their personal lives. The entire world is waiting on the case of Sokoto to see whether these judges will make history by writing their names in gold and laying an enduring judicial legacy for our frail democracy. “Their names will not be forgotten in the history of their Land; those who ruined it and those who saved it”.

There is no gainsaying that a Court of Appeal ruling in favour of the Sokoto people will be a big relief for the good people of Sokoto State. As victims of Wamakko’s years of brigandage they have watched helplessly with anger and frustration the open rape of their state by these marauding gangsters, but kept their collective faith in the courage of the judiciary to dispense justice without fear or favour and the resilience of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) to defend the legitimate mandate given to its gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Mohammadu Maigari Dingyadi in the April 14, 2007 election.

On the contrary, a judgment in favour of Wammako will be a tragic abortion of justice: not only would this wrongdoer go unpunished he would also reap bountifully the fruits of his unwholesome labour - a five-year term comprising a standard four-year term plus the 12 months of illegal tenure he enjoyed during the prosecution of the petition against his illegal return at the 14 th April 2007 election. Effectively, while those candidates who legitimately contested and won their elections as Governors in the 14 th April 2007 elections will vacate their offices in 2011, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko would remain Governor of Sokoto State for another year as a reward for being an unqualified candidate at that election. And come 2012, he would still be entitled to contest for another 4 years as Governor.  This must not be allowed to happen

Oludare Ogunlana,

Director Organization and Strategy for New Democratic League