Election Petition Tribunal: Fact emerges on claims that Obasanjo hired Russian Lawyer ‘Natalia Veselnitskaya’ for Peter Obi

Ahead of the commencement of the sitting of the presidential election tribunal, several social media posts, several social media posts recently claimed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo flew in a Russian-based lawyer to reclaim the mandate of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi.

"Obasanjo flies in World-Class Russian lawyer “Natalia Veselnitskaya” to defend Peter Obi ahead of Monday’s Presidential court case,” one of the tweets read.

“According to reports, she is the most dangerous lawyer in the whole world with an unbeatable record” the tweet from the user @SpecialConvenant added.

Another Twitter user, @Classycrystale1, claimed Natalia Veselnitskaya is a close associate of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

The tweet reads: “She has never lost a case before. She is the special adviser to President “Putin” and was the same lawyer woman that defeated America in a court case against heavy sanctions on Russia. According to reports, she doesn’t believe in adjournment, she stands for you once in court”.

Reacting, the media aide to ex-President Obasanjo, Kehinde Akinyemi, said that Obasanjo neither employed nor invited the service of a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya to reclaim Peter Obi’s mandate, according to The ICIR.

He noted that there is a need for Nigerians to question the credibility and authenticity of the report.

“It is a rumour that is unconfirmed, and it has got nothing to do with Obasanjo. Also, it is not from a credible medium,” Akinyemi stated.

He noted that there is a need for Nigerians to question the credibility and authenticity of the report.

“It is a rumour that is unconfirmed, and it has got nothing to do with Obasanjo. Also, it is not from a credible medium,” Akinyemi stated.

Further findings show that no credible media platform published the claim