You can default in every arm of government, but you dare not default in the judiciary. That’s where God himself sits on the throne. You are, therefore, representing Almighty God Himself, as you sit on that throne.


Justices at the Osun State First Election Petitions Tribunal seem to be turning a deaf ear to all the preachment as they manifest signs that they have been compromised by agents and lawyer of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Mr. Kunle Kalejaiye, a senior advocate. As far as evidence can go, the judges have been cosying up to the lawyer, speaking regularly with him on phone and, in fact, plotting with him to ensure victory for Oyinlola at the expense of the petitioner, Engr. Rauf Aregbesola, governorship candidate of the Action Congress in the 18 April 2007 election.


According to Rule 34, Rule of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners (2007), "a lawyer should not do anything or conduct himself in such a way as to give the impression or allow the impression to be created that his acts or conduct are calculated to gain or have the appearance of gaining special personal consideration or favour from a judge."


Where there are regular telephone conversations and exchanges of text messages (SMS) between a judge handling a case and a lawyer for one of the parties, lawyers argue that it can only lead to a conclusion that there is personal affinity bordering on some form of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, thereby contravening provisions of Section 36 of the Constitution.


But how did the judges of the Osun State First Election Petitions Tribunal, namely Thomas Naron, Sa’adu Mohammed, Joy Akpughunum, A.T. Badamasi and J. E. Ekanem slip into the cesspool of scandal by their very regular telephone calls to Kalejaiye, the lead counsel to Governor Oyinlola?

TheNEWS investigations at MTN Nigeria showed that Justice Thomas Damar Naron was actually the first to call Kalejaiye. Checks conducted by this magazine covering the period between 1 October 2007 and 21 May 2008 showed that the Plateau-born Naron opened his "telephone account" with Kalejaiye on 1 December 2007. On that day, the judge, who is the Chairman of the tribunal, sent two text messages to Kalejaiye.

The first text message came in at 1.37 p.m, while the second came in at 8.46 p.m. The judge reached Kalejaiye using his (Naron’s) line 08037035105, registered with MTN Nigeria. For his first text message to Kalejaiye, Naron did not get a reply, but the unyielding judge got the instant reply he badly needed after he sent Kalejaiye another SMS at 8.46 p.m. The lawyer’s reply, according to available evidence, came in at exactly 8.47 pm on 1 December 2007.

The impatient Naron was keen to establish a strong rapport with the lawyer handling a governor’s brief. So, on 2 December, 2007, the judge caused Kalejaiye to stagger out of bed when he sent him a text message at 5.31 a.m. To this, the jurist got a reply. Yet, the judge sent another text message at 8.57 p.m. to Kalejaiye and was charged N14 having exceeded 160 words. With both men having established a strong link, via SMS, they soon began communicating regularly via voice calls. Naron’s first voice call came on 2 December at 6.54 a.m, shortly after the judge had sent a text message at 5.31 a.m. to Kalejaiye’s line: 08034062075.

Between 1 December 2007 and 14 April, 2008 Naron called Kalejaiye 46 times, using his (Naron’s) MTN line: 08037035105. On his MTN line 08034062075, Kalejaiye sent the judge several text messages. On 14 April, the beginning of a very important week in the tussle at the tribunal, Kalejaiye sent two SMS to Naron. The first came in at 6.35 a.m, meaning Naron did not have the monopoly of making telephone calls so early in the morning. The text message was registered as two pages and it was to Naron’s line: 08037035105 registered with the MTN as the judge’s line. The next day, Kalejaiye also sent the judge a text message at 1.18 p.m.

Later on, Naron acquired a new line. And immediately, Kalejaiye and the judge demonstrated a preference for communicating on the new line: 08073160534. Between 17 April and 30 May, 2008, Kalejaiye sent 53 text messages to the judge on the new line. Between both men, there was certainly evidence of increased activity on the new line.

Why the judge opted for a new line is unknown. Between 1 December 2007 and 14 May, 2008 Naron sent 28 text messages to Kalejaiye and the judge was billed N7 per SMS by MTN. When the two gentlemen chose to speak, their conversation was usually short and direct to the point. For example, on 2 December 2008 at 6.54 a.m, Naron called Kalejaiye and they spoke for just 25 seconds. However, on 7 April, 2008 when both men spoke at 1.53 p.m, they did for two minutes.

Many of these calls were made very early in the morning, sometimes before 5.30, and in the afternoon. Text mesages were exchanged anytime and were usually couched to address specific demands. TheNEWS has a record of Kalejaiye’s calls to his client, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and a pattern, whereby Oyinlola and Kalejaiye would speak on phone and then minutes later, the lawyer was on the line to Naron was established. An example will suffice on the governor’s line: 08034040588. On 19 March 2008, Kalejaiye called the governor at exactly 10:55am. Same day at 11:37am, Justice Naron called Kalejaiye. However, there is no record showing Oyinlola directly called the judge at any time, except if the governor used a different line.

TheNEWS investigations showed that the opening of phone conversations between Naron and Kalejaiye marked a turning point in the conduct of the Tribunal to parties in the governorship tussle. Analysts posit that before December 2007 when Naron and Kalejaiye began talking, the Tribunal was patently even-handed, even impressing the petitioners by its decision to allow them to use scientific means to prove the alleged rigging of the governorship election in the state. Even when the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, refused to allow forensic examination of the ballots by an order of the tribunal on 14 August 2007, forensic experts were allowed to examine and scan the electoral materials. However, by 1 December, when Naron and Kalejaiye began talking on phone, the tables turned against Aregbesola’s legal team. And the greatest evidence of this came on 18 February 2008 when the tribunal curiously disallowed the presentation of the results of the forensic examination it had ordered in the first place, a ruling described by a lawyer as "benefiting the offender and punishing the victim".

If the petitioner (Aregbesola) argued that he started getting the short end of the stick after Oyinlola’s lawyer and the judges began communicating, evidence shows that he would not be far from the truth. There is incontrovertible evidence too that from that moment, before key rulings were made, the judges made a duty of communicating with Kalejaiye. The lawyer usually sought advice on what moves to make. On the eve of key rulings, it was often Kalejaiye putting a call through to the judges. Those calls were often made late in the night, in the morning before sittings and during recess by the Tribunal preparatory to its ruling.

In the days leading to the tribunal’s ruling disallowing the presentation of the results of the forensic test, on the ground that the evidence was not in tandem with the clause that required such evidence only in extreme circumstances, Kalejaiye and the tribunal judges stepped up their conversations on phone.

On 15 February 2008, records show that Kalejaiye called Justice Ekanem four times: at 17:51p.m, 17.20 p.m, 17.20:59 p.m, and 10.24 a.m. The longest of those calls lasted 2 minutes and 53 seconds and that was the call made at 10.24 a.m. On the D-day, 18 February, just before the ruling, Kalejaiye called Ekanem twice at 12.36 p.m. and 12.47:20 p.m. The first call lasted 2 minutes and 42 seconds. The tribunal after all these, naturally ruled against the petitioner.

On 17 March, the same day the tribunal ruled against a stay of proceedings pending appeal on its ruling against Adrian Forty, the forensic expert, at 10.51:32 a.m, Kalejaiye sent Ekanem a text message. Three minutes later, Ekanem replied the text. Again, the ruling went against the petitioner. Before that day, Kalejaiye had called Naron on 13 March at 12.54 p.m.

On 7 April, 2008 the tribunal made yet another key ruling on the application for adjournment, pending determination of an application for stay at the Court of Appeal. That day, call records obtained by this magazine showed that Kalejaiye called Ekanem six times between noon and 7 p.m. The first call came in at 12.22 p.m, while the last came in at 7.07 p.m. That was not all, on Thursday 17 April 2008, the Tribunal ruled on mode of tendering documents from the local councils. The day before, Naron sent Kalejaiye text messages twice at 6.12 a.m. But there is no evidence that the messages were delivered, as Naron was not billed by the service provider.

Perhaps it was for this reason that Ekanem opted now to go for voice calls, talking directly to Kalejaiye. That day, a very busy one for the three men, Kalejaiye sent two text messages and made three voice calls to Ekanem. Realising that the stakes were becoming very high, Kalejaiye also sent two early morning text messages to Naron. The first was sent at 6.12 a.m.

On 15 May 2008, the tribunal rejected police report on the election in Osun State , declaring that it was marked secret. However, before that ruling, Kalejaiye had sent 11 text messages to Justice Naron.

The most scandalous discovery of all is that some of the text messages exchanged among the trio of Naron, Ekanem and Kalejaiye came in during the tribunal’s sittings, as the men desperately found a way to make crucial communication on the floor of the tribunal. With the backing of the judges, Kalejaiye knew exactly when to object to any issue thrown up by the rival lawyer and there was no prize for guessing what the action of the tribunal members would be. The lawyer was literally chaperoned during the sittings by the tribunal members, led by Naron.

There was probably some form of competition between Naron and Ekanem, a judge from Akwa Ibom State , for Kalejaiye’s heart. Both judges regularly punctuated Kalejaiye’s sleep with voice calls and SMS and the lawyer never failed to reply the men who hold the key to his client’s victory at the tribunal.

Investigations showed that the telephone contact between Kalejaiye and Ekanem was established on 8 January 2008, when Ekanem sent his first text message to Kalejaiye at 7.15 a.m. He followed this up with another one at 10.32 a.m on his line 08034105705. By 27 June, 2008 the end of the period covered by TheNEWS’ checks at MTN Nigeria, Ekanem had either called or sent text messages to Kalejaiye 213 times! He regularly called Kalejaiye on the lawyer’s line: 08034062075. This is the lawyer’s most preferred line, one of the two phone numbers boldly printed on his call card and through which most friends and professional colleagues communicate with him.

Investigations showed that so obsessed with pestering the Osun Tribunal judges was Kalejaiye that he ensured at least a credit balance of between N80,000 and N100,000 on his phone. That way he can send text messages as well as call the judges any time he pleases. For example, on 22 May 2008, Kalejaiye had a balance of N97,264 on his phone. There are also hints that Naron may have obtained favour from Kalejaiye. For example on 18 April 2008, the judge sent a text message to Kalejaiye, saying: "OK, I’m grateful." The message came in at 5:12 p.m. There were many other messages of similar language.

An attempt to speak with Naron was futile. On the phone, the judge said: "By virtue of my position as a public servant, I cannot talk to you. I can’t. The ethics of my profession forbid such. I wish you luck." But how did the dalliance between Kalejaiye, who defended Senator Iyiola Omisore when he was charged with the murder of former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, begin? Nobody in Oshogbo last week could say with certainty. But those familiar with goings-on at the tribunal credit Oyinlola’s aides with working hard at penetrating the rearguards of the experienced judges, who were drawn from Kano, Rivers, Borno, Akwa Ibom and Plateau state ministries of justice.

"When the tribunal ruled that Aregbesola’s lawyer could use scientific means to prove rigging in Osun State , they were taken aback. They knew they had to work real hard at winning the judges over, so they stuck at it," an Oshogbo-based lawyer said last week.

A very dependable source told TheNEWS that it became easier to penetrate the judges after the former tribunal interpreter was replaced with a certain Ms Sade Alaba Adewunmi.

Sade, who got the job last September, regularly makes sorties to Royal Hotel, Ilobu, where the tribunal members are quartered. Justice Naron’s call record is generously sprinkled with calls from phone number: 08066572719, Sade’s line.

Indeed, between 16 January 2008 and 15 May 2008, Naron called Sade 33 times and sent her text message 13 times! Evidence also abounds that even Kalejaiye regularly contacts Sade, via voice calls, SMS or MMS. Even now, tongues are still wagging about the mysterious death of the former assistant secretary of the tribunal, Alhaji Suleiman Omolabi, an Ilorin indigene, on 4 October 2007. The deceased was noted for his incorruptible nature. His death still rankles many in the Osun State capital, especially AC supporters, who suspect that he was poisoned because he refused to be compromised. As yet, there is no cast-iron evidence that Omolabi was a victim of poisoning, even though that suspicion is strong in the Osun State capital.

The evidence of close affinity between the judges and Kalejaiye, constant communication and marked attention the judges are giving the lawyer, will make the party now feel vindicated. In a petition dated 29 February 2008 addressed to the president of the Court of Appeal, the party had called for the disbandment of the tribunal which it described as "having no redeeming features".

It also described the tribunal as "completely compromised as its conduct and rulings have shown". In the petition signed by the party’s National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, the party accused the tribunal of deliberate and premeditated decisions, showing obvious bias in favour of the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party. It noted that as far as the tribunal members are concerned, the admissibility of public documents depended on whether they would benefit PDP candidates or not.

The party particularly complained about the conduct of the only female member of the panel, Justice Joy Akpughunum, whom it accused of openly gesticulating either by frowning her face or smiling animatedly "depending on whether the point in issue appears favourable to the respondents (PDP)". Akpughunum was also accused of exerting undue influence on the chairman, dictating to him what to write or what not to write. Last November, when the INEC counsel was cross-examining one of the petitioners’ witnesses and asked a question which exposed INEC and the respondents, Akpughunum was said to have dropped her pen and described it as a stupid question.

To halt the perceived injustice being meted by the tribunal, the petitioners asked for the reconstitution of a new tribunal consisting of judges of integrity and competence "who take more seriously the judicial oath they have solemnly taken to dispense justice without fear or favour, affection or ill-will". The petition was sent to the Chief Justice of the Federation, National Judicial Council and the Nigerian Bar Association. So far, no action has been taken on the petition.

The Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal walked into a swirl of controversy when on 18 February 2008, it refused to accept the result of forensic examination with which Aregbesola had sought to prove that the gubernatorial election in the state was characterised by vote rigging and other electoral malpractices and that he won a majority of the lawful votes. He brought in a foreign forensic expert, Adrian Forty, a Briton, to conduct the tests. The forensic report on Osun State showed that ballot papers meant for Ondo State found their way into Osun State . It also revealed that 41 percent of the 224,695 votes analysed (out of a total of 426,669 INEC credited to Oyinlola) were fraudulently obtained. Forensic examination detected that 113,311 of Oyinlola’s votes analysed from 10 local government areas were from illegal ballot boxes not supplied by INEC, as listed in Form EC40C/EC25. This implies that they are alien to Osun State as far as the gubernatorial election was concerned.

Again, 88,092 of Oyinlola’s votes were from split ballot booklets, meaning they were ballots illegally used outside their allocated booths in the 10 LGAs analysed. Similarly, 117,439 of Oyinlola’s votes were detected to be products of ballot stuffing in the 10 LGAs analysed. Analysts believe that had the Naron-led tribunal allowed Adrian Forty to testify after his forensic examination of the ballots, the tribunal would have had no choice but to declare Aregbesola winner of the election.

"We made the point that the only scientifically acceptable method by which we can prove the allegation of rigging made against Oyinlola and INEC is through the use of biometric or forensic technology, but the tribunal held on to technicalities which the Supreme Court had warned should not be the premise for ruling on election petitions," Ajibola Bashiru, Aregbesola’s lawyer contended.

According to Adrian Forty, "the magnitude of evidence gathered, in my opinion, conclusively proves that an operation of systematic multiple voting had been conducted on a huge scale across the state of Osun," noting that out of 124,695 ballot papers examined by him, 93,088 were with multiple votes, just as stuffing of ballot papers occurred in 509 polling units. Many Nigerians condemned the ruling of the Osun tribunal, especially when the second election petitions panel in the same state voted to accept the result of the forensic test as they concern the House of Assembly polls. Wole Ayoola, a Lagos-based lawyer said the events taking place in the First Osun Election Petitions Tribunal show that moral midgets still abound in the Nigerian judiciary, despite recent gains made by that arm of government.

But how will the First Osun State Tribunal come out of the present scandal? In an interview with TheNEWS last week, Justice Anthony Aniagolu said by communing with the lawyer representing one side in a case before it, the Naron-led tribunal was risking God’s wrath. "It is not done. If you are called a judge, you are representing God. How can you be communing with one side when you are supposed to be an arbiter at the centre. You are insulting God if you are taking side in a case and God will not accept that," he warned. He recalled that as a judge serving in Calabar, he convicted an Igbo man who attempted to compromise him over a case.

Erudite scholar and social critic, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN) described it as something that should not happen. "For a judge to be holding private or secret negotiation with a party on a matter before him without giving the other party the opportunity to partake in the discussion is regarded as a capital offence against fair hearing. Under the 1999 Constitution, such a development will render the entire proceedings a nullity… Whenever this happens it prejudices the proceedings. It breeds corruption and skewed judgment. If a whisper of such discussion becomes public knowledge, even if judgment has been entered, if the aggrieved party goes to the Court of Appeal, the appellate court will nullify the judgment and order a retrial," he explained.

Sagay stressed that even if a lawyer is writing to a court on anything, "you must notify the other party. You can’t write on a matter that concerns the court." And he is convinced that the National Judicial Council will do justice to this case and others as it has done in the past. "As the tribunals wind up, we shall hear of judges who have been dismissed because there is evidence that some of them took bribes in some of these tribunals. These judges are so shameless that they strike out every case on technical grounds against one side. NJC is monitoring them," he declared.


Legal practitioners spoken to said lawyers who behave the way Kalejaiye has behaved with judges of the Osun tribunal may be suspended for some years or have their names permanently struck off the roll of legal practitioners. But, in the meantime, Nigerians can only wait patiently to see how this judicial aberration and pure manifestation of partisanship in the First Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal will be handled.
•Culled from The News

Lmao; The judge will be reprimanded soon.

The revelation is just mind blowing, no wonder it is taking them nearly two years to settle a single case, making outright biased statement all the while. I believe they heard about this revelation is coming out and quickly wanted to announce their judgement by next Tuesday just like that out of the blue. This afternoon, the newspaper has challenged the lawyer and the judges to sue them if their story is not true but they kept mute. Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!

hopefully the njc will address the situation but im not holding my breath, the petitioner in the ogun state tribunial called for dissolution because the tribunial were being biased and up till now his plea has not been granted

lucabrasi:

hopefully the njc will address the situation but im not holding my breath, the petitioner in the ogun state tribunial called for dissolution because the tribunial were being biased and up till now his plea has not been granted

Totally agreed with you, they should call everything to a halt immediatly, suspend the judges and lawyer, pending an outcome of a full investigation but knowing Nigeria, just like you said, no matter how weighty this issue is, they will sweep it under the carpet as awlays. In a decent society, this will be the talk of every discussions but not Nigeria.

And to think dat it was d judge that started trying to talk with oyinlolas lawyer rather than d opposite shows the level of moral decay pervading our judiciary,

I believe the njc must thoroughly investigate and apportion blame to the guilty a.s.a.p because if these allegations are true, there is no way the issue of bias can be waved aside in there final judgement next week

forget investigation, this is what happen all the time. Past investigations lead nowhere.

Even the president, with a pending court ruling,would not hesitate to pervert the course of justice. He already set the ball rolling by manipulatiing the appointment of a supreme court judge.

bilymuse:

forget investigation, this is what happen all the time. Past investigations lead nowhere.

Even the president, with a pending court ruling,would not hesitate to pervert the course of justice. He already set the ball rolling by manipulatiing the appointment of a supreme court judge.

Another good point, but I am glad that the NBA has written to the appropriate people. I think the CJ should stop the proceeding immediatly, the reation of the accused people said it all. If this allegation is finally confirmed, whatever left of Nigeria is finished. This is worst than even looting of the treasury, if a judge is biased, takes side or even take bribe, what else is left of moral fibre of a dieing nation?

In as much as this is detestable, it is always easy to make wild allegations in Nigeria to whip public sentiments. The onus lies on the petitioner to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt that the judge has been corrupted by Oyinlola's lawyer.

Aregbesola should not stop at the media hype but should also take a step further by filing a petition at the NBA, NJC, Police and EFCC.

according to yesterdays news,the ac and aregbesola has petitioned the njc and made a written application for the tribunial to disqualify themselves

Good to hear.

The fact remains that Aregbeshola (AC) won the April 14 2007 in osun state, infarct without the forensic expect intervention,

If the justice are not bias, all the video clip and lot that AC tender is enough to convince and declare him winner of the gubernatorial election

I watch the video clip and i can tell every body that Oyinlola and the PDP chieftain in that state suppose to be in prison by now.

I don’t know how Aregbeshola got those video clips. They are more than enough evidence to declare him the winner of that poll if the judge are not compromise

The man really go extra mile to proof is case.

MBI show The video clip of how PDP manipulate the election in osun state last week Sunday I think 7pm, am not sure if they will show it this Sunday again but i watch it there last week Sunday and it is so bad that people that commit such atrocity are still moving around the city.

PDP are top print the ballot paper for them self. with the help of INEC official and police. It all shows in the video clip, I don’t know how AC got this fact

gbola h:

MBI show The video clip of how PDP manipulate the election in osun state last week Sunday I think 7pm, am not sure if they will show it this Sunday again but i watch it there last week Sunday and it is so bad that people that commit such atrocity are still moving around the city.

PDP are top print the ballot paper for them self. with the help of INEC official and police. It all shows in the video clip, I don’t know how AC got this fact

i wonder why there cant be a sort of reference library in nigeria where they can keep footages like this,if the station also had an online video sharing portal we could all go there and view it,for us that dont get mbi here

I knew there is something fishy when the said tribunal refused to accept forensic evidence of a well known and reknowned expert in that field, even Oyiniola own forensic expert damned him and the judges refused it too and they also refused to accept the mentioned video clips. This afternoon on AIT, accused lawyer was asked if he will take up the newspaper's challenge and sue them and his reply was that he has no time for people like that or waste his time.

What an excuse!!!
And then the a junior lawyer in his chamber came out and claimed that one of the judges phone belongs to him, but when asked that one of the text record shows that he was physically present with the accused lawyer, unless he sent text to people he was talking to, face to face and he stuttered and said no comment. Knowing Nigeria, the big Ogas must have told him to claim that the phone belongs to him.

if the dude has the credo why not let him do his thing.@least he's making the network richer.but that tguy his really weird

Please can anybody give us update on osun election tribunal issue, is the tribunal sitting today to delivered judgment despite the allegation against them or not

the judicial councill are turning a blind eye at least for now and one of them without revealing his name or identity said theres nothing they can do about the justice naron led tribunial making a pronouncement today,the man said theres always the appellate court if he wants to seek redress and the next njc meeting is in september and by then the judgement would have been distributed to them and they ll know what to do,but really i think he s talking out of his rear end

It is incredible to know that THE NEWS gave out the judges but how long this will last is the question. A lot of people will have pride to lose which either way the results comes out to be.This is not just a allegation but career threating one for that matter for the parties involved be it the judges,lawyer-Kalejaye,Oyinlola and Aregbesola because theirs is no smoke without fire.
The tribunal is given his verdict today and is on going right now.

As at now, the Corrupt Judges of Osun state Election Petition tribunal are delivering their fake judgement.

The judges just delivered there judgment now and Oyinlola as won the case

All the judges at the Osun state election tribunal should go to jail,they have declared their corrupted result.

What a surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is really sad! Someone said even juju no longer work in Nigeria and this revelation also means that even the judiciary arm of govt no longer work in Nigeria. What a shame!

ayomifull:

This is really sad! Someone said even juju no longer work in Nigeria and this revelation also means that even the judiciary arm of govt no longer work in Nigeria. What a shame!

id it ever work before?? The Judicial Justice in Nigeria has always gone to the highest bidder. Dosent matter if you are right or wrong. God help Nigeria.

Finally, Kalejaiye is disbarred. We are making progress in Nigeria. It's an irony though that Aregbesola and Oyinlola are now in the same political party.