That is the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice under the Obasanjo administration between 1999 and 2003, Chief Kanu Agabi SAN. Chief Agabi took over from Mr. Joseph Daudu SAN as Saraki’s lead counsel in the case of alleged false asset declaration when the Tribunal resumed sitting on March 11, 2015 after the Supreme Court on February 5 dismissed the objection to the jurisdiction of the tribunal raised by the defence team. When the trial commenced last September, there was always tripartite adversarial relationship between the bench, prosecution and defence. On almost every issue, no matter how simple it is, there would be bitter contest. This created the impression on the ordinary people present in court that the prosecution and the bench were in alliance against the defence. However, since Agabi came in, he had stamped his personality in restricting the division, differences and disagreements to only issues of law and facts of the matter. Speaking as slowly as he walks, the former Attorney General of the Federation had brought to bear his experience, maturity, respect and dignity on the case even when both sides remain vehement, virulent and entrenched in their arguments on points of law, legal authorities and procedure without being antagonistic to each other. With this development, the two parties are now able to carry each other along. In a long while since the case resumed on March 11, both the prosecution and defence are able to hold consultation and agree on the next adjourned date. They then persuaded the Tribunal chairman to agree with them. However, the agreement did not just come without the two sides first presenting different proposed dates. Agabi is sometimes able to douse the tension on most occasions by cracking jokes or throwing banters at the bench and the prosecution. With that style, he gives the people in the Tribunal the occasion to laugh and be carried along with the arguments on the point of law being canvassed. For example, when he announced that he had 80 lawyers in his team, he joked that the defence team is in the majority and that if the decision on the case were to be put to vote, they would simply win. While also reading out the names of the Senior Advocates and other lawyers in the team, he advised that the Chairman of the tribunal, Mr Danladi Umar, need not take down the names again since the list had been submitted to him. However, when the Mr Umar then said the counsel should skip the ritual of reading the names, he said “My lord, what about giving them the benefit of bowing before you and getting their names announced as part of the team,” the tribunal chairman agreed with him because it is an essential privilege for most of the young lawyers in the team. At some times, Agabi will reiterate the importance of the case to the country as he often said the entire country is watching and waiting to see how the case will go. “My Lord, it is necessary for us to put every point on record because this case is peculiar. I am under suspicion; Rotimi Jacobs (the senior advocate who leads the prosecution team) is under suspicion. My Lord, I dare not call your name, you are also under suspicion,” he said. In another instance, he reminded the court that everybody is equal under the law and that his client who is Nigeria’s number three citizen “ is a good man.” The people burst into laughter. He has a way of changing the pitch and tone of his voice to accentuate and suit the point he is trying to make. There are occasions when the Tribunal and the prosecution tried to put him on the spot. In one instance, the tribunal chairman, Mr Umar and Jacob reminded him that as a former AGF who had utilised the provision of Sections 150 and 174 of the constitution to institute charges, even in the Tribunal, he could not be arguing that the AGF had no powers to institute a case in the Tribunal. Agabi countered that the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) is a special court and that only the CCB could refer cases to the CCT. He said if he had instituted cases at the tribunal as AG it should be seen as one of his mistakes and that it was left for the defence team to point out this to the appropriate court. “I am not infallible. I made mistakes. That was one of my mistakes. In fact, when I was AGF, a woman accosted me somewhere and said you are the worst AGF. I said thank you and moved on,” he told the Tribunal. He was so dramatic about that submission that every body in the court could not help it but laugh. Agabi seems to be an expert in what lawyers call ‘romancing’ the bench and the opposition. For example, when Jacob protested to the court that he had been under intense media attack aimed at intimidating and suppressing him, he shot back by saying “Rotimi, I have said it that you are intelligent, courageous and strong. God who gave you the courage, intelligence and strength knows that you will need them to survive situations like this”. The senior lawyer once told the court that he does not have the same strength and speed as the prosecutor because “I am 69 and in few months time, I will be 70”. This he dropped while seeking for more time to enable the Tribunal give him more time for the prosecution to reply to his motion while he also respond to the reply. He is also a very persuasive speaker. Once he wanted the Tribunal to allow him move the motion challenging the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and he said “My Lord, even if my motion is frivolous, useless and lacks substance, it is still part of our law that I should be allowed to move it and your Lordship should rule on it. That is justice”. The man can also throw punches when they will help his case. For example, when he was closing his case during the last case, he reminded the court that “My Lord, these are politicians. They fight on the streets and one beat the other. And they rush to the Tribunal, hoping to use the tribunal to settle scores, to achieve what they cannot achieve on the streets”. It was a statement that did not go down with Jacob as he jumped up immediately to object to the statement. Unfortunately, his objection was drowned in the cacophony of the laughter by the audience. For Agabi, who also won the case for Mr. Darius Ishaku, Governor of Taraba State in his titanic case against Hajiya Aisha Alhassan on the last governorship election, the Saraki case may present to him one of the greatest tests of his about four decades of legal practice. •Quassim writes from Abuja.]]>