SAN FRANCISCO, February 21, (THEWILL) – A witness in the corruption trial of Justice Adeniyi Ademola has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari gave the embattled Judge N500,000 while his certificate controversy was pending before the Federal High Court judge.
It would be recalled that some persons had filed a suit challenging the candidacy of Buhari prior to the 2015 presidential election, claiming that the President had no secondary school certificate as required by law.
The witness, a lead investigator with the Department of State Service, DSS, Mr. Babatunde Adepoju, said the money was given through Buhari’s former lawyer, Kola Awodeyin, however pointed out that he does not consider the money a bribe.
Adepoju testified as the sixteenth prosecution witness, PW- 16, in the ongoing trial of Justice Ademola, his wife, Olabowale, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joe Agi, by the federal government for alleged corruption and gratification.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday, Adepoju while being cross-examined by Agi’s lawyer, Jeph Njikonye, told the court that the security agency uncovered that Awodeyin also gave the accused Judge N500, 000 as gift which was handed to Ademola during the wedding of his daughter.
The DSS operative said the issue came to the limelight during interrogation of the 3rd defendant, Agi, SAN, which took place on two separate dates, December 13 and 23, 2016.
He revealed that Agi told him that as at the time Awodeyin gave the gift to Justice Ademola, the suit seeking to sack President Buhari from office over his alleged none possession of requisite educational qualifications, was still pending before the judge but added that the DSS did not investigate Agi’s claim.
Asked if President Buhari was bribing the judge to win the case against him by presenting a wedding gift to the judge in charge of the case, Adepoju said: “No my lord. In my opinion, it would be speculative to say the gift by President Buhari’s lawyer was a bribe to Justice Ademola. It is not a bribe.”
