Her Excellency, Hajia Aisha Buhari, wife of the president of Nigeria and Gov. Ayodele Peter Fayose bitter war has taken a fresh dimension. For linking her to the Halliburton bribery scandal in America, Her Excellency has dragged the governor to court for damaging her reputation.
In the ex-parte motion, filed July 20, 2016, Aisha Buhari prayed the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, to grant her reliefs to issue writ of summons against Mr. Fayose and his media advisers, Idowu Adelusi and Lere Olayinka. Olukayode Adeniyi, the presiding judge, granted all reliefs sought by Mrs. Buhari, including an order of substituted service. Mary Ekpere, counsel to Mrs. Buhari, prayed the court for the lawsuit to be served on Gov. Fayose and his two aides.
Her Excellency’s lawyer had earlier written to Gov. Fayose to withdraw his damaging statements about her but the governor’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome replied thus: “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.”
“The said Williams Jefferson is currently serving a jail term in the USA 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.”
“Your attention is also hereby drawn to Section 308 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered, on the immunity enjoyed by our client from civil or criminal proceedings for the period that he occupies the office of the governor of Ekiti State. You may therefore advise your client to wait until after 16th October, 2018, when our client’s tenure expires. When that happens, we shall join issues with your client in a competent court of law, in the event that your client does not have a change of heart.”