US Classified Documents Reveal How Obasanjo, Afe Babalola Allegedly Bribed 5 Judges with N30 Million
U.S. Documents Reveal How Afe Babalola Bribed 5 Judges with $1.125 million.
U.S. Documents Reveal Afe Babalola’s Alleged Bribery of Judges for Adamawa Governorship Judgment Revelations from a leaked U.S. government cable have exposed that senior lawyer Afe Babalola allegedly spent at least $1.125 million to bribe five judges at the Court of Appeal in the early 2000s to secure a favorable judgment for his client, then Adamawa Governor Boni Haruna.
According to classified U.S. intelligence published by global transparency group Wikileaks, Mr. Babalola bribed a panel of five appellate judges, led by Justice Pius Olayiwola Aderemi, with $225,000 each to reinstate Mr. Haruna after an election petitions tribunal had sacked him on grounds of electoral malpractice.
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The document cited a senior lawyer’s account of how he accompanied Mr. Babalola to deliver tens of millions of naira to appellate jurists to secure their preferred ruling.
Mr. Babalola, 95, had a reputation for winning his cases during his practicing years, making him highly sought after by prominent figures, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, governors, and other high-profile citizens.
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A lawyer on Mr. Babalola’s team told the U.S. government that the senior advocate won the controversial case with cash and that he was among those who carried N30 million in untraceable banknotes to bribe the justices at Mr. Babalola’s behest.
U.S. diplomats were alarmed by the significant disparity between the tribunal ruling that nullified Mr. Haruna’s victory and the Court of Appeal’s decision that restored him to office.
The foreign cable stated, “The verdicts of the appeals court and the election tribunal differed so significantly on their findings of the relevant facts that they beg the question of whether one verdict or the other may have been ‘influenced’ by outside parties.”
The witness stated that buying judgments “was the normal procedure” for such important cases, confirming the diplomats’ suspicions that the verdict reinstating Mr. Haruna’s gubernatorial victory cost N30 million.
The leaked U.S. government cable stated, “According to an attorney for Haruna, the outcome was ensured in typical Nigerian fashion: with cash. The attorney, who works for Presidential attorney Afe Babalola, said that when President Obasanjo sent Babalola to take over the appeal, he also sent cash to be used for the appeal.”
Mr. Haruna was among the first governors to be charged with corruption by the anti-corruption commission, EFCC, after leaving office in 2008. Mr. Babalola did not return comments to shed light on the content of the classified U.S. cable.
The Wikileaks documents have shattered hopes that Mr. Babalola might have had to defend himself against corruption allegations raised by rights lawyer Dele Farotimi, who, in his book, accused the senior advocate of buying verdicts with cash rather than merit-based arguments.
Not only did Mr. Babalola deploy the police to brutalize and arrest Mr. Farotimi on December 3 over a defamation allegation, but the rights lawyer was also transported from Lagos to Ekiti—where the nonagenarian wields significant influence—on a five-hour road trip.
Nigerians were incensed that Mr. Babalola would resort to crude tactics to crack down on his younger colleague over an allegation of corruption, a civil matter that could be litigated and resolved in court.
The nonagenarian has strongly denied the corruption allegations and insisted he will not back down until he clears his name.
Mr. Babalola’s supporters are asking Mr. Farotimi to apologize to the elder statesman, retract the allegations, and allow sleeping dogs to lie.
However, Mr. Farotimi’s supporters said they hoped the rights lawyer would not dignify such a request, given the brutalization he has so far suffered.
The controversy surrounding the book, which initially saw low sales after its release in July, has made it a bestseller on Amazon within three days of its author’s incarceration as curious Nigerians besieged the site with orders to read the damning accusations of corruption leveled against Mr. Babalola.
The book has also sold out in popular stores like Tinu-Ade Bookshop in Ibadan and VIC Bookstore in Abuja, where Nigerians have flocked to purchase it.
The author’s supporters planned to stage protests across several locations in Abuja, Lagos, Ekiti, and King’s College London, which received a £10 million donation from Mr. Babalola in 2023.
The demonstrations aim to draw attention to the precarious state of freedom in Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu’s watch.
