• Appeal may hurt party’s electoral fortunes in Kano
Six months after Major Hamza Al-Mustapha’s acquittal on July 12, 2013, the Lagos State Government has finally filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal judgment that set the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late General Sani Abacha and others free of the murder of Kudirat Abiola.
But as the race towards 2015 picks up, critical stakeholders with in the All Progressives Congress (APC) are said to be unhappy with the state’s move and have vowed to pressurise it to drop the case “in order not to rock the delicate alliances within the APC,” THISDAY investigations have revealed.
Last Tuesday, Lagos State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, filed an application seeking the leave of the Supreme Court to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Lagos out of time.
With the appeal, Mustapha’s fate hangs in the balance, as the apex court may either uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal discharging him or may set aside the judgment and uphold the high court judgment, which sentenced him to death by hanging. It may also order a re-trial.
Similarly, another appeal was also filed against the decision of the Court of Appeal freeing Lateef Shofolahan, the aide of the late Kudirat who was also sentenced to death by the high court. Copies of the applications were obtained by THISDAY.
An affidavit of support deposed to by an Assistant Chief State Counsel at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Obafemi Adamson, gave explanations for the delay in filing the appeal.
He said: “The Appellant/Applicant had needed 30 days to file the application for leave to appeal on account of challenges it encountered in assembling and consulting the core members of the various teams that had worked on the case since its inception at the trial court in 2003, including three attorneys-general, two solicitors-general and two directors of public prosecution, most of whom are no longer with the Lagos State Ministry of Justice and are extremely busy with conflicting schedules.”
He said although the application for leave to appeal was filed at the Court of Appeal within 30 days of the date of the decision of the Court of Appeal, the state was forced to withdraw the application on November 29, 2013, the date for the hearing of the application because the time prescribed to obtain leave had lapsed and the Court of Appeal no longer had the jurisdiction to entertain the application.
In the proposed Notice of Appeal, Lagos challenged the decision of the Court of Appeal on six grounds.
The state questioned the correctness of the Court of Appeal’s decision on the materiality or otherwise of the alleged contradictions in the testimony of Prosecution Witnesses 2 and 3 and the failure of the Court of Appeal to act on undisturbed factual findings of the trial court.
The state also said: “The proposed grounds of the appeal raised arguable legal and factual issues challenging the validity and correctness of the decision of the Court of Appeal particularly on the question of whether there is any direct or circumstantial evidence establishing the guilt of Al-Mustapha in the murder of the deceased, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.”
The state was said to argue the appeal once its application for leave to appeal and for extension of time to appeal were granted. It said that the interest of substantial justice and equity demanded that state be allowed to appeal against the judgment of the court of appeal.
It further said Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan would not be prejudiced if the state was allowed to appeal the court of appeal judgment.
However, authoritative sources within the APC who preferred anonymity have revealed to THISDAY that the “leaders of APC in the South-west are uninterested in the appeal in the light of new political realities that have seen the merger of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) into APC, but more importantly the defection of five PDP governors to APC.”
The defecting governors are: Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Sokoto), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
The sources further revealed that the leaders of APC are keen to win some key states in the North in the 2015 presidential election of which Kano State, which has the largest voting population in the North, is very strategic to the party.
“The decision to oppose the Kudirat murder appeal at the Supreme Court could alienate Kano voters who may be upset about the decision by Lagos to continue with the appeal against Al-Mustapha’s acquittal,” one source explained.
Al-Mustapha, who originally hails from Yobe State but grew up in Kano and has adopted the state as his home state, is immensely popular in Kano but loathed in the South-west where Kudirat hailed from.
Irrespective of his acquittal of Kudirat’s murder, many people especially from the South-west region believe he ordered her assassination to silence the potent force that she had become during the battle for the release of her husband, Chief MKO Abiola, from detention and actualisation of the June 12 mandate.
Besides, continuing the appeal will not only put Kwankwaso in an awkward position, it could also seriously weaken his standing in the state.
Kwankwaso had enthusiastically hailed Al-Mustapha’s acquittal and subsequent release. The governor even organised a grand reception for him to the consternation of many, during which he described him as “a hero who was unjustly treated.”
As a result, one source further revealed that “the party leadership is looking at the numbers. Al-Mustapha practically brought Kano to a stand still when he was released. He is immensely popular with the ordinary people.
“You saw the crowd that received him. No party worth its salt would want to offend such a massive crowd and alienate them in an election. So what APC is doing is to be very practical in its calculations.
“Kano, as you know, is the state with the largest voting population in the North. So winning Kano during both the governorship and presidential election is not only significant, it will help consolidate the party as a national party with a mandate and not mandate by defection.
“Don’t forget we also now have Rivers State. If we get these two states with a large voting population, then PDP is in trouble.”
He revealed further that going on with the appeal at the Supreme Court would seriously undermine Kwankwaso’s stature and influence in the state, having publicly praised Al-Mustapha as a hero.
“It can turn the people against him and the party. We don’t want any of that. Kano is too strategic to APC to lose. Yes a precious life was lost but the man has been cleared,” he explained.
On why the state government waited for the time to lapse before seeking leave of the Court of Appeal to appeal its judgment, Ipaye explained that the case involved several judges and counsels, adding that they just managed to review the judgment and develop the grounds for appeal.
“It was a long drawn-out case involving several judges and counsel. We just managed to review the judgment, developed the grounds of appeal and file the application for leave within the 30 days allowed, but hearing and disposal of the application was another matter, as we had to wait for our turn to be called upon,” he said.
Explaining further, Ipaye said the state government could have filed automatically the day of the Court of Appeal judgment, or soon after the judgment, “but that is not our style. We are not appealing just because we didn’t like the judgment or some people wanted an appeal.
“We had to be convinced that there were reasonable and arguable grounds of appeal. The decision to appeal was based on a very intensive and extensive review of the judgment.”
On allegations that the state government was foot dragging because of political considerations, Ipaye dismissed this, saying it had nothing to do with political considerations.
“It had nothing to do with politics. As you might imagine, the records are very, very voluminous and several copies were required to be presented for filing with the application. I have now signed off on them and they should even be in Abuja by now. I will just confirm that,” he said.
Also, in his brief but measured response to the alleged pressure brought to bear on him by the APC and the state government, Lagos lawyer and human rights activist cum politician, Festus Keyamo stated: “The Al-Mustapha case is very sensitive, it is important that the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement on it.”
Source: Thisday
