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Nigeria: Esho Demands Inquiry Into Osun Tribunal Scandal

Tunde Sanni

12 July 2008

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Ibadan And Yinka Kolawole Osogbo — Eminent jurist, Justice Kayode Esho yesterday demanded for an immediate inquiry into allegations of compromise by judges presiding over the Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal as reported by a weekly news magazine on Monday.

Also yesterday, a civil society group, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), staged a protest in Osogbo against the continuous sitting of the Justice Thomas Naron-led tribunal in Osun State.

The magazine had in its recent cover story titled: "A Mega Scandal" reported alleged telephone conversations between one of the counsels to Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Otunba Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), and judges of the tribunal, concluding that the action amounted to compromise and could affect the outcome of the tribunal due for delivery next Tuesday.

Esho, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court at his opening speech at the public presentation of three books written in honour of the legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola as part of activities marking Babalola's 45th year at the Bar and 21 years as Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the controversial news story had put the judiciary and the press on trial.

Esho, during the launch of the books in Ibadan, said: "In the current case, the judiciary, the bar and the fourth estate of the realm - the press - are involved. They are on trial, serious trial."

Continuing, he said: "If the problem is with the judiciary, it must be punished in such a way to deter others. If it is with the bar, the lawyer must be punished equally in a manner to vindicate the bar. And if it is the press, the press must be mulcted in aggravated damages to deter it from such libel of the judiciary and the bar."

He called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba and President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to swing into immediate and meaningful action.

But lead counsel to Governor Oyinlola at the tribunal, Mallam Yusuf Alli (SAN), declared that the on-going media issue on the controversial telephone conversations between Kalejaiye and judges of the tribunal would not impact on the outcome of the case.

Alli, who spoke with newsmen, remarked that the issue of the parties not getting justice because of the publication does not arise. "It was not stated there that it was sponsored by anybody. So, you can only be making conjectures and insinuations. As far as I'm concerned, the publication has nothing to do with any of the parties," he said.

Alli postulated that all counsels in the petition had concluded the case, while addresses had been filed before the controversial telephone conversations. He said it was therefore not possible for any of the counsels to know the content of the judgment of the tribunal.

Alli stated: "Cases are decided on the facts of the law. People can make allegations and in any case, the allegations you are talking about are made by a newspaper and not by the parties. The publication was from a press house and not by any parties to the petition."

He said he was happy that the call for dissolution of the tribunal did not come from any of the counsels to the parties in the case, affirming that the magazine's allegations would not affect the verdict of the tribunal.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. John Moronike, yesterday disrupted the protest march organised by the CACOL against the continuous sitting of the tribunal. CACOL said 85 members of the group were arrested.

A similar protest march was held in Ibadan on Thursday at the premises of the Court of Appeal, where CACOL activists similarly presented a letter of protest demanding the disbandment of the Osun tribunal for alleged corruption practices.

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