Mary Odili Again!

Justice Mary Odili, the ever-beautiful wife of one of Nigeria’s most enigmatic political figures, Sir Peter Odili continues to glaze across the polity with an enchanting prettiness even at 71.

However, her beauty has not translated into a charm that would gratify the majority of the populace. Her marriage to one of Nigeria’s most controversial political actors has severally beclouded honest assessment of her independent and sometimes honest contributions to national discourse.

That was exactly what played out penultimate Friday at a colloquium to mark the 25th anniversary of the elevation of renowned jurist, JK Gadzama to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.

At that ceremony, she called for caution from the public over scepticism on the capacity of the judiciary to deliver justice on the issues facing the election tribunals.

“There seems to be moves to throw the nation into chaos or conflagration. This may be brought about by some individuals and groups who fanning the embers of hatred, bigotry, and tribalism fail to see the possible outcome of the utterances without caution that are being thrown around,” Mrs Odili, said.

She further added insult to injury when she praised Chief Wole Olanikpekun, the APC’s senior counsel in the Presidential Election Court who was present at the occasion. She hailed his mastery of electoral disputes and skills in tribunal litigation which she said regularly wins him his cases.

Mrs Odili spoke in her capacity as a retired Jurist of the Supreme Court who if not on account of age would probably have still been on course to become the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Unlike her husband who was denied the head of the executive arm of the country in a PDP coup in 2007, her inability to become the head of the nation’s judiciary was mainly on account of age as she was forced to retire at the age of 70 a year ago.

Her comments at the Justice Gadzama colloquium were immediately seized upon by some political actors to infer that she had offered herself as an instrument to compromise the judiciary in the bid to win judgment for President Bola Tinubu.

Indeed, there are reasons why Mrs Odili is always held in suspicion by some political actors. In fact, until now, some had always suspected her of being a PDP judge.

Her lead role in the Supreme Court panel that ushered the reversal of the victory of David Lyon in the Bayelsa Governorship election about four years ago is a point in reference. Some saw her as playing the script of the PDP in denying the APC a leeway into the South-South that was once her husband’s political foothold.

However, this time around her elocution of Chief Wole Olanipekun, the APC counsel at the PEPC profiled her as an APC jurist and raised concern among some other political actors, notably Labour Party.

Replying to the storm, Labour Party in a statement said:

“We note also, the needless lavish showering of praises on the legal counsels of both APC and Bola Ahmed Tinubu by the retired Justice when the gathering was not theirs.

“We find this extremely undignified of a renowned jurist who rose to the peak of her career in the country’s Apex court and who as the Chairperson of the body of benchers, should be at the forefront of defending the virtuousness of the courts.”

The claim among some in the polity was that Mrs Odili saw what was going to happen and went on a plea that the opposition should not bring down the roof after the judgment of the PEPC.

Her critics, however, failed to point out that the occasion where the comments were made was in honour of the distinguished lawyer, Gadzama who some have also whispered to be a PDP lawyer.

Whatever, Justice Mary Odili was held as a suspect in the case against President Bola Tinubu at the PEPC for at least two reasons. One was the common solidarity between her husband and Tinubu who were in the class of 1999 governors.

Also related to that is the new respect that the Odili family gets in Rivers State after the forced exile during the Rotimi Amaechi years courtesy of Nyesom Wike.

It was Wike who recalled the Odilis from forced exile in Abuja following the domestic political clash between Odili and their erstwhile political son, Rotimi Amaechi. Wike was made chairman of Obio Akpor LGA during the Odili years reportedly through the goodwill of Senator John Azuta Mbata.

Now, with Wike doing everything to uphold Tinubu some infer that he could have tapped on the Odilis to help.

Your correspondent finds it doubtful that Mrs Odili was projecting the interest of the APC at the Gadzama colloquium. Her warning undoubtedly arose from her position as chairperson of the Body of Benchers and was directed at lawyers and other litigants involved in various election petitions across the polity.

It is a pity that Justice Mary Odili has continued to be profiled under the positive and negative images painted of her husband despite her personal distinctions in life.

Though she was born with a silver spoon, being the daughter of a London-based lawyer in the fifties, she wrote her name in gold having passed her Secondary School Certificate exams with Grade A6.

She subsequently got admitted to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka to study law where she was toasted by a medical student, Peter Odili in the same university while they were in the middle of their education.

Since then, the two have become an item to the extent that even before marriage the then Mary Nzenwa prayed her NYSC posting to Benin where Peter was based in the early eighties.

One of the sweetest things about Justice Mary and Sir Peter Odili, whatever people may say of their politics, is the bond of romance that continues to tie them as it was in their days at UNN.

In our clime where politicians are known for their foul sexual displays and violations of their marriage vows, the Odilis, your correspondent was told years ago, are an exception. That honesty and charm that Mary used in tying Peter is perhaps what has helped him to survive the ache that could have broken the heart of any man through the treacheries and turbulence that Peter faced after the ‘coup’ that denied him the presidency in 2007. Your correspondent prays and hopes he has not learnt bad things since his political retirement.

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