• As Appeal Court reserves judgment in Ondo’s Jegede’s case

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said he was protected by Boko Haram suspects during his four-day detention at Kuje Prison.

Fani-Kayode said this in an article titled, ‘Head bloodied but not bowed and the ascension of President-Elect Donald Trump’ on Wednesday.

The ex-minister said he spent over two weeks in the underground cell of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission without being interrogated.

He said he was then transferred to Kuje Prison where he was kept in a cell along with jailed terrorists.

Fani-Kayode said, “At Kuje, I was kept in the terrorist wing of the prison which was built by the British government specifically for convicts and suspects. There were 47 of them in the facility and I was with them throughout. These were tough, disciplined, hardened, surprisingly well-educated and intimidating men.

“This was a frightful place and those that were locked up there were very dangerous and frightful people yet thankfully the Lord went ahead of me.

“The single cells, though small, were clean, well-ventilated, dry and very neat. The inmates were surprisingly very kind and friendly towards me and turned out to be my best friends and bodyguards whenever I toured the other parts of the prison.

“Most of those men were not Boko Haram killers but had been falsely accused, tortured and just dumped into prison and I felt nothing but pain and sorrow when I heard their stories.”

Fani-Kayode said during his time at the prison, he met with the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention for over a year.

He said they spoke for about three hours and they were protected by inmates during the meeting.

The ex-minister added, “When I went to visit the great and brilliant freedom fighter, Nnamdi Kanu, who is the leader of IPOB and easily the most courageous,  powerful and credible Igbo leader in Nigeria today in his cell, we had a very instructive and long discussion.

“I had never met Nnamdi before and I was amazed at his depth of knowledge, his immense courage and his deep convictions. There is no doubt in my mind that that man is going places and in him the Igbo have an Ojukwu and a Nnamdi Azikiwe all rolled into one.  He is destined for greatness.

“My Boko Haram friends accompanied me to that meeting, drew a 10-man security cordon around me when we entered the general area of the prison and waited outside as Nnamdi and I spoke for almost three hours.”

While congratulating the United States President-elect, Donald Trump, the ex-minister said the incoming US leader would help to curb President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged Islamic agenda.

He said Trump would team up with Russian President, Vladmir Putin; and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Nethanyahu, to curb terrorism worldwide.

Fani-Kayode said, “Those that came to power last year on the mantle of Islamic domination, religious intolerance and racial discrimination and that espoused the most hideous form of ethnic bigotry and religious fanaticism certainly have a lot of soul-searching to do because their friends in the Obama White House are on their way out and their darling Hilary is not coming in to replace him.

“I assure you that President Donald Trump, who I have known and studied closely for many years, will literally give them hell.  Not only will he resist their constant and gross violations of human rights and civil liberties, he will also bring them to justice for their regular use of genocide against religious and ethnic minorities in our country.”

In the meantime, a three-man Court of Appeal special panel constituted to hear the appeals on the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has reserved judgment in the appeal by the party’s substituted candidate Eyitayo Jegede (SAN).

The panel, led by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, told parties yesterday that they would be informed of the judgment day.

Jegede appealed the October 14, 2016 ruling of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to substitute Jegede with Jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State.

Justice Saulawa’s anouncement elicited complaints from the respondents, comprising states executives of the PDP in the Southwest (loyal to the Ali Modu Sheriff leadership of the party), led by Biyi Poroye, factional Chairman PDP, Ondo State.

Their lawyer argued that Jegede’s lawyer was allowed to adopt the appellant’s brief when the respondents were yet to file their brief as required and to allow the court hear from both sides.

Respondents’ lawyer Beluolisa Nwofor (SAN) argued that the court could not hear the substantive appeal in view of the pending appeal at the Supreme Court.

He told the Appeal Court panel that his clients had appealed its earlier ruling granting leave to Jegede to appeal and that they had also filed a motion for stay of proceedings before the Supreme Court.

Nwofor, who tendered certified true copies of the record of appeal and motion for stay of proceedings, urged the court to abide by the long held tradition of deferring to a higher court once an appeal is entered and record of appeal compiled.

He argued that since their appeal was entered at the Supreme Court and a motion for stay of proceedings also pending before the apex court, the appellate panel had lost jurisdiction to proceed with Jegede’s appeal.

“We have asked this court to hands off and await the Supreme Court’s decision on our motion for stay of proceedings. This court has lost the jurisdiction to proceed with this appeal. It should await the decision of the Supreme Court.

The appellant’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), faulted Nwofor’s argument and urged the court to proceed to hear his cleint’s appeal.

He argued that, for his client, time was of the essence because by the new provision of the Electoral Act, a person, who did not participate in all process of an election cannot challenge its outcome.

Justice Saulawa overruled Nwofor, noting that the court had, on November 10, 2016 granted an accelerated hearing in the case, abridged the time within which parties are to file their processes and a departure from the rules.

Shortly after the judge spoke, Olanipekun adopted his client’s appellant’s brief and urged the court to allow the appeal.

Nwofor, who expressed surprise at the development, said his clients had been shut out. He said the court failed to abide by tradition where appeals are entered.

As Justice Saulawa announced the reservation of judgment, supporters of Jimoh Ibrahim and Sheriff, who occupied a section of the court, began to grumble.

The court also adjourned till noon today to enable Poroye and other respondents in the appeal by Senators Ahmed Makarfi and Ben Obi file their respondents’ briefs.

Makarfi and Obi are appealing the June 29 judgment of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja recognising the Sheriff-led National Executive Council of the PDP as the party’s authentic leadership.

The court, in two separate rulings yesterday, refused applications by Ibrahim to be made a party in both appeals.

Punch with additional report from Nation