Sunday Igboho’s Lawyer Makes U-turn, Apologizes To Prof. Banji Akintoye

Pelumi Olajengbesi, the Abuja based-lawyer hired by Ilana Omo Oodua, the umbrella body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, has phoned the leader of the Movement, Professor Banji Akintoye, to apologise for his social media outburst of December 31, 2021.

Olajengbesi had condemned Akintoye on his Facebook timeline over the latter’s statement that Ilana Omo Oodua would use the instrumentalities of local and international laws to prevent the Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections from holding in 2022.

However, the lawyer has apologised to the renowned scholar.

Confirming the development to Vanguard, Akintoye’s Communications Manager, Maxwell Adeleye, added that many prominent Yoruba leaders also phoned Professor Akintoye to apologise on behalf of Olajengbesi.

He said: “Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi called Professor Banji Akintoye this morning, January 3, 2022, to apologise and Baba Akintoye has graciously forgiven him. He has instructed that all the Yoruba Nation Self-Determination Movements all over the world should forgive him.

“Olajengbesi is a Yoruba man. We are proud of his achievements. He defended the Igboho 12 diligently and our grouse was his interference with Prof. Akintoye’s address. We felt there’s no justification for his vituperations against us on social media, but we are happy that reason has prevailed and Mr Olajengbesi has deemed it fit to apologise.

“Olajengbesi and the leadership of Ilana Omo Oodua will meet virtually tomorrow. We shall never antagonise any Yoruba man, even if the person, for the reason of lack of conviction, is not in support of our advocacy for self-determination. Olajengbesi’s ambition in the Nigerian system is his legitimate right.

“To show that Olajengbesi has truly been forgiven, we have decided to allow him to continue in his defence of the Ighoho charged for terrorism by the Nigerian Government. We want to believe he will be loyal to the ethics of his profession henceforth.”

Olajengbesi was counsel to Ilana Oodua, not Igboho, Alliyu clarifies

Meanwhile, Yomi Alliyu, SAN, the legal counsel to Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, yesterday, stated that Olajengbesi, who recently announced his resignation from Igboho’s legal team, was never the lawyer to Igboho, but the counsel to Ilana Oodua.

Alliyu, in a statement, stated that he instructed Olajengbesi to secure the release of the 12 people arrested in Igboho’s house and never involved him in Igboho’s matter as he has a limited brief.

He said Olajengbesi was at no time, counsel to Adeyemo, but rather Ilana Oodua that paid him for services he rendered to them.

“Whether he could turn around to condemn the arrowhead of those who paid him depends on his conscience. He knows I turned down their wish to pay me for professional services to Sunday Igboho,” he said.

Alliyu, who explained that his “attention has been directed by Sunday Adeyemo himself to the online statement of Pelumi Olajengbesi that he has resigned from the legal team of Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Igboho Oosa,” appealed to members of the public to disregard whatever Olajengbesi or Mr Koiki stated to have purportedly emanated from Sunday Adeyemo as they lack the vires to do so.

“However, why Pelumi could say anything for the 12; and that will be after clearance from me which he has not taken in recent times, he has no right to say anything on behalf of Chief Sunday Adeyemo since he is not his counsel, without infringing on the rules of professional conduct.”

“No good counsel does that. Koiki on his part can say whatever he likes on behalf of his Ilana Oodua group but not for Chief Sunday Adeyemo. Each of them should be held personally liable for their utterances,” Alliyu emphasised.

Vanguard