By Rotimi Ojomoyela Ado-Ekiti—Counsel to Governor Ayodele Fayose of
Ekiti State, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, has replied the wife of President
Muhammadu Buhari, Mrs Aisha Buhari through her counsel, Mary Ekpere
& Co, saying the governor’s claim as regards her involvement in
the infamous Halliburton scandal was correct and justified in law.
Ozekhome insisted that there are documentary evidences to support
the governor’s claim that Mrs Buhari was indeed mentioned in the
scandal.
In the letter dated July 8, 2016, Ozekhome affirmed that the statement
made regarding the involvement of Mrs Aisha Buhari in the Halliburton
scandal was “correct and justified in law, having regards to a court
judgment convicting one Mr William Jefferson for bribery in the
Halliburton case.” Counsel to the president’s wife, Mary Ekpere
& Co had written to Governor Fayose on June 22, 2016, demanding a
retraction of the governor’s statement that the President’s wife was
involved in the Halliburton scandal, threatening legal action if the
retraction was not made within five days.
However, Ozekhome said the statement of Governor Fayose was correct
and justified, having been factually premised on an existing court
judgment. The letter read; “Our client has referred to us your letter
dated June 22, 2016, on alleged defamation of the character of your
client , Her Excellency, Mrs Aisha Buhari, the wife of Muhammadu Buhari,
GCFR, with firm instructions to reply to and reject same in its
entirety.
“Our client states and reaffirms categorically that the statement he
made as regards the involvement of Mrs Aisha Buhari, the wife of
President Buhari, in the Halliburton scandal, is correct and justified
in law; having regards to a court judgement convicting one Mr William
Jefferson for bribery in the Halliburton case. “Therein, the name of the
President’s wife featured conspicuously. At page 22 of the said
judgment delivered by the United State District Court, Eastern District
of Virginia, Alexandria Division, USA, in criminal No 1: 07CR209,
the said Mr William Jefferson was sentenced at 9.00 am on November
13, 2009, by Mark D, Lytle. Your client, Mrs Aisha Buhari was
specifically mentioned in the judgment. The judge referred to Exhibits
36-87 in the following words, for clarification; “See also Government
Exhibits 36-87 (6/26/02 $170,000 wire transfer from account in Nigeria
in the name of Aisha Buhari to an account in the name of The ANJ Group,
LLC, identifying “William Jefferson” as Beneficiary)… Given the age of
the defendant, the severity of the sentence calculated by the Probation
Office, the defendant’s frequent travel overseas and unexplained wire
transfers from overseas locations to financial accounts used by the
defendant, the defendant cannot rebut the presumption at sentencing that
he is a risk of flight.
“The said Williams Jefferson is currently serving a jail term in the
USA and to the best of our client’s knowledge; this judgment has not
been challenged, or set aside by any Appellate court of law anywhere in
the world.
“The statement of His Excellency, our client, is therefore correct
and justified, same having been factually premised on an existing court
judgment above referred to.” On the immunity enjoyed by Governor Fayose
against civil and criminal proceedings, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria
said; “Your attention is also hereby drawn to Section 308 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered, on
the immunity enjoyed by our client from civil or criminal proceedings
for the period that he occupies the office of the governor of Ekiti
State. “You may therefore advise your client to wait until after 16th
October, 2018, when our client’s tenure expires. When that happens, we
shall join issues with your client in a competent court of law, in the
event that your client does not have a change of heart.’’
Source: Vanguard