TheCable

How does the anecdotal reference in the well-reasoned judgment of the election petition tribunal that Governor Ademola Adeleke “can’t go lo lo lo” to “Buga won” and frolic on fraudulent result invalidate the tribunal’s judgement?

Most of our celebrated judges and respected Justices of Appeal and Supreme Court such as Justices Kayode Esho, Chukwudi Oputa, Anthony Aniagolu, Ignatius Acholonu and Mohammed Uwais, etc, that have been called — at various times — the Cicero of the bench quoted Socrates, Aristotle, Shakespeare, statesmen and religious figures in their judgements.

Would it have mattered to those sulking about “Buga Won” in the Osun election petition tribunal’s judgement if the lead judgement had quoted T.S Eliot, Thomas Hardy, William Wordsworth or Bob Marley? I guess the complaint is because the lead judgement referenced a local pop star since we don’t really value our own.

The point remains that quoting Kizz Daniel does not in any way invalidate the discrepancy between the number of genuinely accredited voters and votes cast, which the tribunal relied on to make its judgement.

In the past and in many decided court cases too, references and allusions have been made in the use of proverbs, poems, quotable quotes of sages and philosophers, axioms, and idiomatic expressions outside pure legalese to further strengthen and or reinforce the points in lead and minority judgements.

For me, I think the lead judgment delivered by Justice T.A Kume only used ‘buga won” in a hyperbolic sense to mean Governor Adeleke celebrated a ‘stolen victory’ too early and again to contextualise the epicurean persona of the dancing governor within the prevailing social milieu and pop culture.