How Afe Babalola Allegedly Bribed 5 Judges with N30 Million, US Classified Documents Reveal

US documents have revealed that eminent lawyer, Afe Babalola, once bribed five Nigerian judges with $1.125 million (about N30 million). 
The judges of the Court of Appeal, were reportedly bribed for a favourable judgement in the case of Adamawa Governorship election involving Boniface Haruna of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the early 2000s.
Revelations from a leaked U.S. government cable revealed that senior lawyer Afe Babalola allegedly spent at least $1.125 million to bribe five judges at the Appellate Court to secure a favorable judgment for his client, then Adamawa Governor Haruna.
According to the classified U.S. intelligence published by global transparency group Wikileaks, Mr. Babalola bribed a panel of the 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.
The document recounted how a senior lawyer’s spoke about how he accompanied Babalola to deliver tens of millions of naira to appellate jurists to secure the favourable court ruling for then Governor Haruna.
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.
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 US cable further noted that, “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.
 “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.
(Credit: abuse@ejesgist.ng).