The Attorney General of the Federation-designate Lateef Fagbemi attended the Abia State governorship election tribunal hearing in Umuahia, which has alarmed the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Abia State.
The opposition party said Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, who has previously had Senate clearance, is a member of Governor Alex Otti’s legal team in a statement made by Abraham Amah, Vice Chairman Abia North.
Before being named AGF, according to the Abia PDP, Fagbemi represented Alex Otti and the Labour Party in the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate Okey Ahiwe, which contested Otti’s election victory in the Abia 2023 governorship.
“Mr. Fagbemi’s presence in court yesterday was inconsiderate and as a senior lawyer, he ought to have known that having been nominated, screened and designated as the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, he should no longer show up in court for cases in which he has private interests as in the case of Alex Otti and the Labor Party.”
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” His presence in the tribunal yesterday as a personal lawyer to a private litigant shows a grave and dangerous misunderstanding of the importance of the exalted position he is to occupy and casts doubts about his understanding of the weight and significance of that office.”
The opposition group claimed that the Labour Party, which is in power in Abia State, was using frantic measures and pointless obstructive resolutions to put off the “pronouncement of justice.”
The new Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, was criticized by the Abia PDP for allegedly exhibiting favoritism.
In response to the PDP’s alarm, however, a top-ranking member of the Labour Party from Ohafia, Kalu Udensi, claimed that the umbrella party was anticipating defeat in the tribunal case and felt the need to raise a false alarm in order to preserve its face.
He cautioned the PDP against extorting Leteef Fagbemi, the new attorney general.