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Lawyer says Fayose’s comment linking Aisha Buhari to Halliburton scandal correct, justified

By Muyiwa Adeyemi, Head South West Bureau
14 July 2016   |   2:55 am
Counsel to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has replied the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, insisting that “Mrs. Aisha Buhari” was indeed mentioned in the Halliburton scandal.
Fayose

Fayose

Counsel to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has replied the wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, insisting that “Mrs. Aisha Buhari” was indeed mentioned in the Halliburton scandal.

In a letter dated July 8, 2016, Ozekhome claimed that the statement made regarding the alleged involvement of the Mrs. Aisha Buhari in the Halliburton scandal was “correct and justified in law, having regards to a court judgment convicting one Mr. William Jefferson for bribery in the Halliburton case.”

Counsel to the President’s wife, Mary Ekpere & Co, had written a letter dated June 22, 2016 to Fayose demanding a retraction of the governor’s statement that the First Lady was involved in the Halliburton scandal, threatening legal action if the retraction was not made within five days.

Ozekhome’s letter reads: “Our client has referred to us your letter dated 22nd June, 2016, on alleged defamation of the character of your client, Her Excellency, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, the wife of Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, with firm instructions to reply to and reject same in its entirety.

“Our client states and reaffirms categorically that the statement he made as regards the involvement of Mrs. Aisha Buhari, the wife of President Buhari, in the Halliburton scandal, is correct and justified in law; having regards to a court judgement convicting one Mr. William Jefferson for bribery in the Halliburton case.

“Therein, the name of the President’s wife featured conspicuously. At page 22 of the said judgment delivered by the United State District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, USA, in criminal No 1: 07CR209, the said Mr. William Jefferson was sentenced at 9.00 am on November 13, 2009, by Mark D, Lytle. Your client, Mrs. Aisha Buhari was specifically mentioned in the judgment.

“The judge referred to Exhibits 36-87 in the following words, for clarification; ‘See also Government Exhibits 36-87 (6/26/02 $170,000 wire transfer from account in Nigeria in the name of Aisha Buhari to an account in the name of The ANJ Group, LLC, identifying ‘William Jefferson’ as Beneficiary)… Given the age of the defendant, the severity of the sentence calculated by the Probation Office, the defendant’s frequent travel overseas and unexplained wire transfers from overseas locations to financial accounts used by the defendant, the defendant cannot rebut the presumption at sentencing that he is a risk of flight.

“The said Williams Jefferson is currently serving a jail term in the U.S.A. and to the best of our client’s knowledge, this judgment has not been challenged, or set aside by any Appellate court of law anywhere in the world.

“The statement of His Excellency, our client, is therefore correct and justified, same having been factually premised on an existing court judgment above referred to.”

4 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    If Nigeria were the UK or the USA or any of the advanced democracies of the world, Mr. President, Mr. Mohammadu Buhari, would have stepped down and gone to clear his name. The other day Mr. President congratulated Mr. David Cameron for his courageous and bold action in stepping down in stepping down as UK’s prime minister after losing the Brexit referendum. I am of the opinion, considering the facts that, Mr. President has not been able to produce his secondary school certificate and the current scandal involving his wife, Mr.President should step down. He should do this as a mark of honour and integrity as it will help in strengthening our democracy. He should also go and clear his name.

  • Author’s gravatar

    THIS IS THE PAGE 22 OF THE JUDGMENT REFERRED TO BY FAYOSE’S LAWYER; THE
    AISHA BUHARI CITED IN THIS JUDGMENT DOES NOT DESCRIBE HER AS THE WIFE OF
    PMB!
    NO DOUBT FAYOSE AND HIS LAWYER WILL SURELY END UP IN JAIL!!!!!!.

    PAGE 22 OF THE SAID JUDGMENT;

    “means necessary to sustain any flight from custody in spite of his recent bankruptcy filing.
    During the investigation of his numerous bribe schemes, law enforcement agents learned of
    several wire transfers from offshore territories into U.S. financial accounts that were either
    controlled by the defendant or whose proceeds were made available for his benefit.
    See
    Donald
    C. Semesky, Jr., Tr. at 104 – 116;
    see also
    Government Exhibits 36-87 (6/26/02 $170,000 wire
    transfer from account in Nigeria in the name of Aisha Buhari to an account in the name of The
    ANJ Group, LLC, identifying “William Jefferson” as
    Beneficiary), Government Exhibits 36-90
    and 36-91 (11/28/03 $50,000 wire transfer from account in British Virgin Islands in the name of
    Dawson Creek Traders to an account in the name of Jefferson Interests, Inc.). Law enforcement
    agents were unable to substantially confirm the source of these wire transactions and have not
    ruled out the possibility that the defendant controls nominee companies or financial accounts in
    foreign jurisdictions. The possibility that the defendant had set up a nominee company and
    account in Nigeria was also supported by the trial testimony of Dumebi Kachikwu, an executive
    with NDTV and co-conspirator of the defendant.
    See
    Kachikwu Tr. at 41-43. Kachikwu
    testified at trial about a discussion he had
    with Congressman Jefferson, wherein the defendant
    asked Kachikwu to form a company in Nigeria to receive the agreed to and expected payment of
    bribes from NDTV that the defendant had solicited.
    Id
    .
    Given the age of the defendant, the severity of the sentence calculated by the Probation
    Office, the defendant’s frequent travel overs
    eas and unexplained wire transfers from overseas
    locations to financial accounts used by the defendant, the defendant cannot rebut the
    presumption at sentencing that he is a risk of flight”. Case 1:07-cr-00209-TSE Document 598 Filed 11/06/2009 Page 22 of 2

  • Author’s gravatar

    BESIDES, THE GOVERNMENT HAS ALSO AUTHENTICALLY EXONERATED THE FIRST LADY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA. BECAREFUL, SO YOU DON’T JOIN FAYOSE & HIS LAWYER IN JAIL; THAT IS A SURE BANKER!!!!

  • Author’s gravatar

    BESIDES, THE GOVERNMENT OF THE USA HAS ALSO AUTHENTICALLY EXONERATED THE FIRST LADY
    OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA. BECAREFUL, SO YOU DON’T JOIN FAYOSE
    & HIS LAWYER IN JAIL; THAT IS A SURE BANKER!!!!