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BY YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE
In the history of election petition in Nigeria, Chief Mike Ikenna Ahamba, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has a special place. He was the lead counsel to now-defunct ANPP and its candidate in the 2007 presidential election, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, who almost made the history of unseating an incumbent, through the instrumentality of law.
Brilliantly canvassing his case at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, laced with anecdotes deeply-rooted in his Igbo ethnic tradition and culture, Ahamba won many admirers while the proceedings lasted and succeeded in getting three out of the seven justices of the apex court, who tried his appeal, to agree with him. He narrowly missed making his famous client; president. before he became one, eight years later.
Not one to always crave the spotlight, despite seeking political offices a couple of times, Ahamba will remain in history book as the lawyer who got closest, till date, to getting electoral justice for his client against the powers-that-be. Sadly, he and his famous client, parted ways over the politics of the defunct CPC, but the history they made together, stands till today. The alum of University of Maiduguri decided to stay on the side of today’s President when it wasn’t popular to so do. A Silk of more than 30 years, he is a household name as far as the country’s legal matters are concerned.
Chief Ahamba’s professional experience spans a vast area of adjudicative and procedural laws. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), among others. He was appointed a notary public in 1991 and SAN on July 20, 1992. His first work experience was as a legal trainee in Kano after which he worked with Legal Resources Consortium in Imo state from 1986 to 1988, before he established Mike Ahamba & Associates in 1989.
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