You’re a liar, Osinbajo’s aide tells Bamaiyi

Aide to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande, has described Rtd General Ishaya Bamaiyi (rtd) as a liar with shifty recollections.

Akande was responding to claims made by Bamaiyi in his new book against the then Lagos State Attorney-General, Professor Osinbajo (SAN).

He said, “My attention has been drawn to claims made by Rtd General Ishaya Bamaiyi in his book Vindication of a General, where he alleged that:

“The then Attorney-General of Lagos State, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, the presiding Judge, (in the criminal case of his ‘involvement’ in the shooting of Alex Ibru) Justice Ade Alabi and the State Police Commissioner were called to Abuja and directed to convict us at all costs within six months.

“That Justice Ade Alabi asked for a N10m bribe through ‘one Mr. Martin’ to facilitate his bail application in the case, and that the National Judicial Council panel composed to investigate the bribery allegation, protected the Judge.

“Specifically that Prof. Osinbajo ‘brought what he said was the panel report during one of the motions. Unfortunately, pages one through twenty-nine of the report were not produced.”

Akande then said that while Osinbajo would take more comprehensive steps to address the insinuations made by the retired general, he had confirmed from him (Prof. Osinbajo), that he was never called to Abuja or at any time given any instructions on how to go about the case.

“This blatant lie arose only from the fertile imagination of the author.

“Equally, the shifty recollections of the retired General about Prof. Osinbajo bringing a panel report with pages missing is as ludicrous as it is incongruous. For instance, is the author saying the then Lagos State Attorney-General was responsible for the NJC panel report? That would be incredible and clearly a mischievous proposition.

“Or is the author suggesting that the then Attorney-General had anything to do with the work of the NJC panel: such as improperly influencing it? That certainly could not have happened considering the well-known personal commitment -over the times-of the Vice President to integrity and his forthright professional adherence.

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“In any case, the author himself listed in his book the names of the notable legal personalities that composed the panel and completed its work, finding that the author had only told nothing but lies concerning the bribery allegation against Justice Alabi.”

Akande cited the statement by Bamaiyi’s lawyer, Mike Okoye, who argued the bail application for Bamaiyi, confessing in open court and in several newspaper public notices as ordered by court that he lied against Justice Alabi.

He said, “The lawyer, Mike Okoye was indeed charged for contempt of court on the matter. Okoye actually had to read his confession and apology in the open court in a case that involved such prominent lawyers like Chief F.R.A Williams, who in particular pressed that Okoye be held fully responsible for his wild accusations. It is incredible that after all of this, the author went on to mislead the public. What impudence!

“These are facts that can be easily cross-checked. The records of the trial against Okoye and the referral of the matter by the then Lagos State High Court Judge, Mr. Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour-now of the Supreme Court- to the Disciplinary Committee of the Bar are all available in the Lagos State judiciary.

“It is unimaginable that the author would choose to openly lie about the facts of a matter and issue that Nigerians are well aware of, and for which the truth is not so far-to-fetch.”

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