Former Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode has raised alarm over perceived plot to implicate the Acting Chief Judge of Nigeria’s Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho.
Fani-Kayode raised the alarm in a statement he personally signed and released to newsmen on Wednesday.
In the statement, the former Aviation Minister said that one “fake lawyer” by name “Lanre Amu” wrote a petition purportedly on his behalf against Justice Tsoho.
Fani-Kayode said in the statement titled: “Re: Fake petition against Justice John Tsoho, the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court” that the fake report and false story were concocted by agents of destruction.
He said: “The fake story purportedly reflects the contents of a fake petition which was supposedly written by a fake lawyer (who I have never met or spoken to by the name of Lanre Amu) on my behalf against Justice John Tsoho, the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
“The petition, the story and the resort are false in their entirety and I hereby denounce them and those that concocted them in the strongest terms.
“They did not originate from me and I did not mandate anyone to write such an absurd, damaging and defamatory story and neither did I write any petition against Justice John Tsoho.”
In his words, “I will not hesitate to exercise my lawful and legitimate rights in a court of law in order to protect my name and reputation”.
For purposes of emphasis and clarity, he said:
- I have not written any petition against Justice John Tsoho, the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, to the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption or any other Committee or agency.
- I have not authorised or directed any lawyer to write any petition against Justice John Tsoho, the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, to the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption or any other Committee or agency.
- I do not know, have never heard of and have never spoken to Mr. Lanre Amu who is allegedly the author of the petition and who falsely claims to be acting on my behalf. The claims in the petition and the attachments that were sent with it are fake and false.
- Mr. Lanre Amu, if such a person truly exists, is a liar, a merchant of deceit, a bearer of falsehood, a degenerate malefactor and a criminal who is working for some evil forces that appear to be hell bent on using my name to effect their evil agenda.
- I have no knowledge of who these people are but I have directed my lawyer, Mr. Ahmed Raji SAN, to write to Professor Itse Sagay and his Committee to inform them that no such petition emanated from me or any of my agents.
- I have also asked them to report this matter to the appropriate security and intelligence agencies to investigate and to bring those behind this dangerous, damaging, criminal and libellous course of action to justice.
Recall that there were rumours that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Tanko Muhammad declined to swear-in Justice Tsoho as Acting CJ-FHC, Nigeria, on July 26, 2019.
According to reports, Justice Muhammad failed to swear him in the morning of that day because President Muhammadu Buhari was said to have refused to clear him for swearing-in as the Acting CJ.
After much delay however, Justice Tsoho was later sworn-in same day.