By Baron Chymaker
It was a very tough day for me yesterday because in a conference call with lawyers from other jurisdictions, one of them asked me if Senior Lawyers were really in court in Nigeria making legal arguments in support of @officialABAT to continue as President of Nigeria ?
I said, that’s what’s happening.
Most of them couldn’t believe it
One said, he’d read a lot about the case how Tinubu forfeited money in the USA years ago, filed a fake degree to the electoral body, lie about dual nationality on the prescribed election form etc and wanted to know exactly what his lawyers were arguing in court.
I was speechless and was so ashamed
I recalled many years ago, we had a case of a guy who stole a British Birth Certificate and applied for a British Passport. He got the passport and was making use of it Unfortunately for him, 8 years down the line, HMPO started investigating him without his knowledge
The sad part of this story is he used the Passport to travel out of the UK and back at ease
We were his second legal team to take over conduct of the matter because the previous
legal team had advised him to go for an early guilty plea as the evidence against him was overwhelming
He refused and insisted on taking his chances in court (by the way, he’s originally from Nigeria) and they recused from the case.
When we met him for the first time at HMP Wandsworth, he went on about how that was his passport and he was born at Sutton. Both of parents were white British and he wasn’t adopted. It sounded weird and unbelievable.
What we weren’t also aware at the time was, HMPO was also making every effort to contact the real owner of the brith certificate he used to secure his British passport
We had considered withdrawing from the case if he wasn’t willing to take our advice of an early guilty plea but had to do it in court, so he can be given more time to get a new lawyer
On the first day of the hearing et Inner London Crown Court, the CPS served us some new disclosure with the statement of the real owner of the Birth Certificate.
It turned out that the real owner of the Birth Certificate had relocated to Holland, changed his nationality and he was willing to attend court to give evidence.
Armed with this new disclosure, we immediately had conference with the client, showed him those evidence, and told him that his only option was an early guilty plea for a lesser sentence.
He had no choice than to throw in the towel because again the Judge had warned, if his legal team withdrew again, he may have to proceed with no legal representation.
What’s happening at the PEPC in Nigeria is nothing like I’ve seen or experienced before and it embarrassing.
Every Nigerian should be appalled by what Tinubu and his legal team are doing to the office of the President, the Constitution, our Court and the legal Profession.
This case is not about him but the sanctity of the office of the President and precedent on who can occupy that Office
Baron Chymaker is a UK Based Legal Practioner
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