TRIBUTE TO THE LEGAL TEAMS OF THE PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU AND THE APC IN THE 2023 PRESIDENT ELECTION PETITIONS TRIBUNALS AND THE SUPREME COURT
Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN
My Learned Brother Silk, Dr. Remi Olatubora, , I adopt this speech of yours as mine in its entirety and also wish to add that the assemblage of the legal practitioners on the sides of the President and the APC remind me of the legal teams that prosecuted and defended the celebrated and locus classicus case of the impeachment of Inakoju & others v. Adeleke and anor, now known as Senator Rashidi Ladoja’s impeachment case.
The legal teams on both sides of the divide in that case paraded the best of the legal profession in Nigeria. May the good Lord continue to grant Chief Olatunji Ayanlaja, SAN eternal rest. Amen. He is the only person missing out in the present legal team. Aketi is very much alive and he is more than represented by his Partner, the super master of Advocacy, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, CON, SAN, and also without forgetting the absence of Kola Awodehin, SAN and Femi Falana, SAN.
The final outcome or the result of this epoch election petitions should not come as a surprise to anybody at all considering the additional injection of more seasoned advocates to those finest practitioners that Nigeria can boast of.
Let me say, Sirs,that this is the first time that I was opportuned to work under the supervision of the great Emmanuel Ukala SAN, Tani Molajo SAN, Tayo Oyetibo SAN, Alhaji Adebayo Adelodun, SAN, Koyinsola Ajayi SAN, Professor Dakas Dakas SAN, Solomon Umoh SAN, Bisi Soyebo, SAN, Mike Igbokwe SAN to mention a few of those great lawyers who were not in the impeachment case in no particular order.
No Client can get any better legal representation in Nigeria, and I make bold to say in Africa.
The only legal practitioner of note that is also missing in the super team is, of course, the legendary J. B. Daudu, SAN.
I must also not fail to recall for the purpose of paying tribute to that great legal team that defended Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu during his trumped up Code of Conduct trial which formed the nucleus or the fulcrum of the legal team that later metamorphosised and developed into the legal team which Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu assembled and raised for the defence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the then Vice-President when he was being harassed, victimised, oppressed and intimidated illegally and unconstitutionally by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo ahead of the 2007 presidential election in the habitual gangsterism and do-or-die affairs style of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It is to the eternal credit of that legal team that they used their sound knowledge of the laws, the Constitution and finest advocacy to save the erstwhile Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the autocratic and tyranical rule of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
That solid cast, intact and extant legal team has just scored another legal landmark with the most successful and unanimous endorsements of the Court of Appeal Presidential Election Petition Tribunal and ultimately, the Supreme Court both which unanimously ( both sitting as full courts) dismissed the vexatiously and maliciously prosecuted petitions of the Allied People’s Movement, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar & Peoples Democratic Party as well as that of the Mr. Peter Obi and the Labour Party .
I doff my hats and give kudos to all the seasoned, finest and thoroughbred legal practitioners in the combined legal teams of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC I am not unmindful of the exit from the team of yet another Master of Best Advocacy in the country, the all-rounder Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN who was appointed as the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice in the course of the petitions.
Finally, I want to acknowledge and appreciate all members of the legal team for complying with the strict directive of the overall leader of the team, Chief Wole Olanipekun, CFR, SAN that they must ensure fidelity to the ethics of the profession by not addressing the media in any form whatsoever while the petitions lasted. This is exemplary and commendable as it reinforces the age-long tradition of the Bar that seasoned Advocates conducted and argued their cases only in courts and not by playing to the gallery in the media.
Once again, congratulations to all members of the legal team without any exception. I make bold to say that I feel highly honoured, privileged and very proud to be a member of this great legal team. It is a worthwhile experience, and as my Hero, Principal , Leader and Benefactor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the father of the modern Oyo State of blessed memory was fond of saying, ” This experience would remain memorable , endurable and lasting in my emotional bank account deposit “.
First posted on the President Tinubu and APC Legal Team on Friday, 27th October, 2023 by:
JCI Senator Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN, a former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Oyo State.
Email: adebayoojo90@gmail.com
