S’court didn’t bar Aondoakaa from holding public office, says aide

The campaign organisation of Mike Aondoakaa, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the supreme court did not bar him from holding public office.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Terngu Obed, director of media in Aondoakaa’s campaign organisation, said the claim is being peddled by people who are afraid of the “fast-rising support base” of the former justice minister.

Aondoakaa is a governorship aspirant in Benue state.

According to Obed, the supreme court has established that the SAN did not abuse his office when he was a minister.

Quoting a portion of the supreme court ruling, Obed said: “His Lordship, Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, JSC went further to hold in the aforesaid Judgment at Page 23 thereof, specifically on the issue of Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN holding public Office that;

“Indeed, the issue of qualification for holding the office of the 2nd Respondent or any other public office does not arise.

“This, certainly, when they read this in the judgments they realized that their efforts and evil thoughts have been put to shame.

“However, it is important to draw attention to the provisions of the constitution and the Code of Conduct as reproduced above by the Supreme Court in its judgment in the said APPEAL NO. SC.939/2015 to the effect that the period of ten years has long elapsed since the 1st day of June, 2010 when the Judgment of the trial Court in the suit giving rise to APPEAL NO. SC.939/2015: MICHAEL K. AONDOAKAA, SAN vs. HON. EMMANUEL B. OBOT & 1 OR was delivered by the trial court.

“Furthermore, the allegations that Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN used his public office to commit an unlawful act in pursuit of private and personal interest, upon which Judgment was obtained in the Original suit that gave rise to APPEAL NO. SC.939/2015: MICHAEL K. AONDOAKAA, SAN vs. HON. EMMANUEL B. OBOT & 1 OR has been discovered to be fraudulent and fabricated falsehood, as information received under the Freedom of Information Act from the Ministry of Justice of the Federation has clearly established that the payments in respect of the said Utan Brama case were made in the year 2006 by Chief Bayo Ojo, SAN, the predecessor in office to Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN, well before Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN became the Attorney General of the Federation in July, 2007.

“Moreso, no payment was made in respect to the Utan Brama case during the tenure of Chief Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, SAN as Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and M.K. Aondoakaa and Co. Private Law Firm never represented the Utan Brama Victims at any time.

“It is pertinent to note that, nobody can hide the truth, it can only be delayed, and that people like the APC Frontiers Group and their cohorts must have now buried their faces in shame.”

Obed said those who are interested in contesting the Benue All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket with Aondoakaa should get ready to meet him at the party’s primary election.