The Sordidness of Femi Falana

One of Nigeria’s top lawyers Femi Falana’s sordidness exposed by his role in the Fela Kuti 1993 murder trial and the Bola Tinubu 1999 perjury and forgery litigation

Femi Falana a legend in Nigerian law circles and among the South western Lagos elite is nothing but a shyster masquerading as a human rights crusader. The harsh conclusion was reached after examining two consequential cases that gave him fame, money and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) title.

Starting with Wikipedia, the entries on him are so sparse with no heading of legal career compared to the luminous late Gani Fawehinmi a legal giant, whom Falana is not worthy to tie his shoe laces. Take note of that name Gani Fawehinmi because its like comparing oranges and apples when you put the two men together.

Femi Falana right and Bola Tinubu in 2022

Little is known about when Falana started his legal career, but it really took off in 1993 when he got the late Afrobeat star Fela Anikulapo Kuti to escape the hangman. Fela had been charged with murder after the police recovered a dead body from his Ikeja mansion known as Kalakuta. The victim was said to have been beaten to death on Fela orders. Charged to the Lagos High Court, Dr Beko Ransome Kuti the younger brother of Fela engaged the services of an hitherto unknown lawyer called Femi Falana. Apparently Fela’s former lawyer Kanmi Ishola Osubu had been disengaged after the musician lost his currency trafficking case in 1984. Released in 1986 two years short of serving a five year jail term Fela had no legal issues until January 1993.

According to eyewitness account in the book “The Ikoyi Prison Narratives” Fela actually ordered his bodyguards to flog an employee for embezzling a sum of money while he watched. Unfortunately the man died in Fela’s house. When messages was sent to get Beko who is a medical doctor, Beko said an ambulance will come and retrieve the body in the night after he was told the employee was dead.

So if the police had not been tipped off the body would have been buried in a secret grave.

L-R Femi Falana, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Beko Ransome Kuti

Falana having seen that forensic and autopsic reports could send his client Fela Anikulapo Kuti, himself a supposedly human right activist to the gallows, conspired with Beko to bribe the police not to co-operate with the prosecution.

Nobody know the amount involved but it is alleged that the bribe ran into millions of Naira with Falana taking his percentage and giving the police their cut. As trial began the police did not show up and the judge struck out the case. Falana then rose to national prominence.

If Falana was not self seeking he would have declined to represent the famous musician and let the court appoint a lawyer to defend Fela. Gani Fawehinmi and Kanmi Ishola Osobu law chambers had already said no.

Now at the same time a hitherto unknown politician called Bola Tinubu had emerged as a senator in Lagos and Nigeria was preparing to hold presidential elections that year. Beko had invited Falana to join the Committee of Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) and the Campaign for Democracy (CD) as member so he could burnish his credentials as a human rights lawyer- the golden ticket to fame and money.

The military junta annulled the presidential elections and the Lagos activists geared up to battle the military in order to save Nigerian democracy. The apparent winner of the election was Moshood Abiola who Fela had accused of being a thief in his album “ITT”.

Following the annulment and the establishment of an interim national government that will oversee new elections, breakdown of law and order in the south west led to a military take over just as the judge struck out Fela’s murder charge. The leading activists in Lagos were now in one camp fighting to restore democracy with its principles of human rights. Falana, Fawehinmi, Beko Ransome Kuti and Bola Tinubu were now in one camp only to fall out after democracy was restored in 1998 after the death of the military dictator Sani Abacha.

Bola Tinubu who had fled into exile after Abiola was imprisoned returned to Nigeria. The military regime had promised a return to military rule by 1999. A new constitution had already been written ready to launch the Fourth Republic. Tinubu emerged as governor under the banner of the Alliance of Democracy which was reportedly formed to shore up the stake of the Yoruba people in the Nigerian federation following the annulment of the 1993 presidential election which Abiola a Yoruba was said to have won.

Newspaper reports of September 1999 really brought out the sordid character of Falana. Tinubu was reported have been involved in allegations of forgery of certificates. An Abuja newspaper alleged that Tinubu did not attend the University of Chicago and Government College Ibadan as he (Tinubu) claimed in his INEC form. The newspaper also alleged that Tinubu was born in 1952 instead of the 1954 which he filled in his form.

Fawehinmi gripped by conscience presented a seven day ultimatum to Tinubu; give up your governorship ambition or come clean on the forgery and perjury charges. Beko also gave a 7 day ultimatum and also said Fawehinmi was in no position to issue an ultimatum while Falana said he would defend Tinubu if need be.

Another lawyer Festus Keyamo who is currently the minister of aviation in the current Tinubu administration said under the 1999 Constitution Tinubu enjoyed a total immunity against all acts that he might have committed in the past while in office. The only option, according to Keyamo, was for the State Assembly to institute a committee to probe the allegations, and if found to be true, start impeachment proceedings.

Gani Fawehinmi

Falana attended a meeting at the Ikeja GRA residence of Tinubu with the state attorney-general Yemi Osibajo who later became vice-president of Nigeria and but failed in his presidential ambition and other members of Tinubu’s inner circle to deal with Fawehinmi’s threat.

 “Tinubu has been our client for a long time and the chambers is duty-bound to defend him. The only thing is that we may not charge any professional fees since this is a political issue.” a lawyer Olikanma
Hart Kasoki working for Falana chamber said at the time.

A Lagos State House of Assembly probe panel cleared Governor Tinubu of alleged perjury and falsification of records. Falana said he was happy he defended Tinubu and had not deserted the governor. Fawehinmi in a press conference blasting the Lagos panel report said “the facts and issues cannot support the bizarre conclusion reached by the ad hoc committee and the immoral acceptance of the report by the General House of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

“The offences committed by Tinubu are impeachable offences. They amount to gross misconduct. Offences under Sections 191 and 192 of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State are punishable with ten-(10) years imprisonment. They constitute felony.”

Continuing, he said, “criminal offences committed by Tinubu are not statute barred. They are still live, they are still extant. When Tinubu appeared before the committee on Thursday, September 23, 1999
he was the chief executive of the state. He was the governor.”

“He was being quizzed about the facts of the offences. All the events that happened on that Thursday happened whilst he was still the chief executive. If he admitted to the crimes that will amount to gross
misconduct. If he denied the offences committed, that will still amount to gross misconduct. And if his denial is debunked or found to be false as a result of investigation conducted while he is still chief executive, that denial will still amount to gross misconduct.

“Therefore, Tinubu can be impeached under Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution. Fawehinmi made available purported copies of Gov. Bola Tinubu’s INEC electoral form where he declared that he attended University of Chicago from 1972-76 and Chicago State University from 1977-1979. He also produced a photocopy of an affidavit in respect of lost certificates sworn to by the governor in which he
reiterated that he attended both universities, on the dates as recorded in the INEC form.

According to Fawehinmi, “the Tinubu scandal has not ended. The ad hoc committee has opened a pandora box. As a matter of fact, the Tinubu saga has just effectively begun.”

Falana on his part; “If Buhari went to Abuja to say Abacha forever and some people were driven into exile
because of the future of Nigeria, when such people are in trouble we have a right to defend them.”

Femi Falana

“What type of morality do they talk about and whose morality? Is it the morality of the bougeoises or the morality of our people? Didn’t some of us say the transition programme was useless and that
people should not vote? When we are now defending the standard set by those who formulated the programme, please let us be a bit consistent.”

“As I said before, I am happy when Tinubu took my advice to go to the committee and admit where errors had been made and let Lagosians decide his fate. That is the height of morality in legal practice. We are talking about democracy. We must be part of the democratic process.”

He then took a swipe at Fawehinmi. “It is not possible in Nigeria today to declare the election of any governor or president null and void, adding that “not even a card carrying member of a party or an electorate has the right to institute legal proceedings in court against the governor, his deputy, the vice
president and the president, not to talk of somebody who did not believe in the transition programme.”

“Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution which gives the governor complete immunity from prosecution, the only person or group of persons that can sue him are those who contested the election with him.” Falana said at the time. Any  persons who claim to have evidence against Tinubu will have to wait till 2003 A.D. to be able to sue him.”

Tinubu went on to win re-election in 2003. The sordid lawyer is said to have collected 30 pieces of silver from Tinubu to contest the governorship election of Ekiti state in 2007 which he lost. Fawehinmi died in 2009.

Now look at Nigeria today and tell me if you are not angry with what Falana did 25 years ago. In case you missed it the celebrated human rights lawyer was inadvertently named in an audio recording implicating him in a $9k cash for pardon scandal recently.

Akowe writes from Lagos