I Have No Regrets Being Al-Mustapha’s Lawyer at Oputa Panel

Pilots and airmen always have the best moments of their lives when they are in the skies. That is where they claim worries are buried in the clouds. In the family of Senator Ibn Bala Na’Allah, the Deputy Senate Leader, who is from Kebbi State, all but the

I don’t think there is anything extraordinary about representing AlMustapha. I have handled some very exciting and sensitive cases even before that of Mustapha but because those people were not public figures, it did not attract the kind of media exposure that one suffered. From the beginning, I told Mustapha that it was not going to be easy but that justice would prevail at the end of the day only to tell the truth about what happened

Senator Ibn Bala N’Allah does not claim to know himself more than he does and he readily acknowledges this. “Honestly, I don’t know myself more than I know myself. I am from the Wasagu Ruling House in Kebbi State and grew up in several places with my brother in the police. He kept moving from one place to another. My primary school was in Sam Gomo Primary School. I had my secondary school education at Government Secondary School in Zuru,” he stated.

To him, growing up was fun. He did not grow up with his parents. He was sent to live with his uncle, Mohammed Musa Sakaba; because in those days, some parents never believed that you could be the best living with them. That was where the man called Ibn was moulded until he gained admission into higher institution.

“When I got admission to study History in school, I rejected it but went to Sokoto State College of Arts and Science before proceeding to Ahmadu Bello University in 1982. I was in the same class with Damian Dodo, Adoke Mohammed and others. We studied under a very intelligent criminal law professor, Amanqua, a Ghanaian. I obtained my Bachelor of Law in 1985 before proceeding to the Law School in Lagos and was called to the bar in 1986. For my NYSC, I was posted to the Nigerian Army cantonment in Obinze, Imo State, where I was the legal adviser. I went back to Sokoto and was thereafter appointed as the state counsel when the present Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states were one. I rose to the position of senior magistrate and acting chief magistrate. I left to join the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. It will also interest you that I trained at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT), Zaria, and South Africa. I am a qualified pilot,” the senator stated with measured pride.

Law Practice and Lawmaking

In 1992, Senator Na’Allah left public service to practice law.

“I lived in Lagos and had my office then in 111 Tokunboh Street, Lagos, before moving to Eti-Osa House. Law is very interesting and what I am doing today at the National Assembly is part of law if I am to say. I was first elected into the National Assembly in 2003. I was there till 2011. I was there again in 2015, elected by the good people of Kebbi South to represent them in the Senate,” he recalled.

Senator Na’Allah won’t shy away from discussing the politics of the Senate. He was the one who replaced Ali Ndume as senate leader.

He said about the political dynamic that threw Ndume out and brought him in, “Whatever you see as coming from the Senate must be as a result of politics. For whatever reasons like I said, it is the decision of the Senate if they want to change the leadership. I was not even aware of the plan to change leadership as it happened in my absence. In a democracy, and in parliament, the majority decision must always be respected by whoever is a member of that parliament. I was not in the country (when signatures were collected and Ndume was removed); and I was not privy to the information. We are very close friends. We are like a family. Maybe because senators have realised the fact that I am so close to him, they therefore kept me in the dark. That is why I told you that the politics of the Senate is determined by the minute, not even by the day.”

What happened after the change of fortunes between Na’Allah and Ndume?

The senator said, “We were in the House of Representatives together but he came to the Senate in 2011 before me. Everybody knew us as very close friends. His father sees me as his son. The father will prefer he gives me an assignment rather than giving it to Ali Ndume, just to tell you how close we are. But you see, in life, I have learnt to accept what I have no control over. We are all here by providence. What is important is that the decision is binding on us all.” Why I Represented Major Hamza Al-

Mustapha

Senator Na’Allah believes a lawyer must attend to a client the moment he is approached unless there are other compelling reasons against it. According to him, those reasons must not necessarily be personal but professional; maybe conflict of interest.

He said, “I don’t think there is anything extraordinary about representing Al-Mustapha. I have handled some very exciting and sensitive cases even before that of Mustapha but because those people were not public figures, it did not attract the kind of media exposure that one suffered. From the beginning, I told Mustapha that it was not going to be easy but that justice would prevail at the end of the day only to tell the truth about what happened. As a lawyer, I had a job to do and I was fully briefed and I did my best to fulfill the obligation that I owed my client as far as that Oputa panel was concerned. And there was the subsequent trial of Mustapha by the Lagos State Government when the present Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, was the state’s attorney general. But overall, I will tell you that I felt so happy and it was an opportunity for me to know this country very well and to know certain things that I believed were impossible and which became clearly possible with that matter. I was the main conductor of the case. I have been vindicated.” The ‘Reluctant’ Politician…