A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Kola Awodein, has reacted to news
making the rounds that he gave Justice Niyi Ademola of the Federal High
Court, currently standing trial for alleged corruption, the sum of
N500,000.00 at the behest of President Muhammadu Buhari, during the
contrived certificate issue affecting the then presidential candidate of
the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Awodein (SAN) describes the allegation as “malicious, utterly
ridiculous, and revolting,” in a statement released today.
Below is the statement by Kola Awodein (SAN), which shows that the
President was in no way linked with Justice Ademola at all:
“I am constrained to make in absolute good faith , in good conscience and
in the interest of justice and fair play the following very short
statement on account of the distorted news story currently being peddled
as affecting the person of Mr. President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria and my good and very noble self.
“The very simple and plain facts are as follows:
“I have known as a friend and for well over 35 years Mr. Justice Niyi
Ademola, a notorious fact known to majority of lawyers who have practiced
especially in Lagos for over that same period more or less and also to so
many other professionals of other disciplines and other prominent and not
so prominent Nigerians.
“It is a fact that the sum of money mentioned was personally paid by me as
a friend to Mr. Justice Ademola as a personal gift, as our custom well
recognizes and demands, on the occasion of his daughter’s High Society
wedding solemnized at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos, on
the 9th of May 2015, which I attended in person.
“I was fully convinced then, as I remain today, that I could do no less as
a friend of longstanding to fairly reasonably support him on that
memorable occasion of his daughter’s wedding.
“Anyone and everyone who knows me would readily and unquestionably testify
that I am and have always been a man of impeccable integrity on and off
the Courts and that such a record speaks always loudly for itself.
“I would conclude by stating categorically and without any equivocation
that ANY link whatsoever with Mr. President, or any court case or cases,
of my personal gift from my personal resources delivered to Justice Niyi
Ademola by myself on that occasion or any suggestion whatsoever that it
was anything but such a gift or that it ever came from Mr. President or at
his instance or that I was acting, under any circumstances, on his behalf
is most malicious, utterly ridiculous and in very very poor and revolting
taste and most undeserving of any further comments.”