Buruji Kashamu is wanted by the US || The PDP chieftain says he is not guilty

by Godwin Akanfe

In reaction to claims made by the United States concerning his involvement in the smuggling of drugs, a chieftain of the Peoples democratic Party (PDP), in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, has accused the US of judiciary of racism.

The Chieftain, alongside 14 others were in 1998 charged by a federal grand jury for their alleged involvement in an international conspiracy to smuggle heroin into the US. Although Kashamu denied allegations and fled the US to the United Kingdom, before he returned to Nigeria, the US judiciary has since been trying to extradite him for a trial.

In 2009, Kashamu, who is a major campaigner for President Jonathan in the South West, through a local counsel in the U.S, filed that allegations held against him be quashed, on the ground that an English court had found him not guilty, but the Court of Appeal in the US on September 15 dismissed an appeal filed by the accused seeking to quash his indictment.

The court upheld an earlier ruling, in May, by a U.S. District Court which equally dismissed the motion filed by Mr. Kashamu, a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“I wish to provide an update to Nigerians on my efforts to obtain justice within the U.S. judicial system in regard to the false indictment made against me in the U.S. Courts, which the British courts have cleared me from unequivocally.

“As many may recall I had to take the battle to the U.S. authorities in their own country because, despite the British judgement and the defeats they have suffered in their attempts to place a false accusation on me they have neither attempted to extradite me again nor withdrawn the charges,” Kashamu said, Thursday, in his first reaction to the appellate court’s decision.

“In that application to dismiss the indictment I requested that the findings and Conclusions of District Judge Tim Workman of the Bow Street Magistrates Court in London, be given collateral estoppel status by the U.S. court and his findings and conclusions be made conclusive on the issue of whether or not I was a party to the alleged crime,” said Mr. Kashamu.

Charles Norgle of the U.S. District Court, in his decision, last May, had held that Mr. Kashamu had done everything within his power, including document forgery as well as political pressure, to frustrate his trial in the U.S.

“Kashamu’s actions in the London extradition proceeding created a paper and testimonial trail that his brother, and not himself, was the defendant charged in the instant case,” Judge Norgle had said in his 17-page ruling.

“Kashamu’s ability to manipulate Nigerian officials, or at least his ability to create forged documents, was also apparent from the proceedings.

This manoeuvring, and the wall of protection Kashamu built around himself, made it clear that efforts to extradite Kashamu from Nigeria would be futile.

“It was testimony and evidence produced by the Nigerian government which led to Kashamu’s release in England. Furthermore, Kashamu’s status as a political figure in Nigeria and his relationship with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan likewise suggest that an extradition attempt would have been futile,” the judge had added.

It was the Judge Norgle’s ruling that Mr. Kashamu had gone to the U.S. Court of Appeal to challenge. The appellate court’s decision, last Monday, upheld that of the lower court.

“If he wants to fight the charges, he has only to fly from Lagos to Chicago; there are loads of reasonably priced flights….,” said Judge Posner.

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