It is popularly said that you cannot be the judge of your
own case. But in Nigeria under the current regime being led by President
Buhari, anybody who opposes the whims and caprices of the APC and Buhari in
particular is automatically tagged as corrupt, while members of his cabinet are
all seen as saints, even those who had corruption cases before he became
president were freed simply because they are in his circle.
In a bid to scuttle justice and equity in exhibiting the ‘holier
than thou’ attitude, the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),
Rivers State chapter has given Justice Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court seven
days to withdraw the bribery allegation he made against former governor of
Rivers State and now Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, or be
prepared to go to imprison for mocking the Corrupt Practices And Other Related
Offenses Act 2000.
Justice Okoro, who is one of those under scrutiny by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for corruption, had affirmed
that Amaechi particularly went to him and solicited that the governorship bid
case from Rivers State be delivered in favour of the APC.
In any case, Amaechi denied the charge, saying the judge
composed the case with a specific end goal to politicize the issue of his arrest.
Nonetheless, in swift reaction, the state section of the APC
asked why Amaechi or anyone endeavour to reward Justice Okoro for a race
upturned by both the Tribunal and the Appeal Court?
The Chairman of the state Chapter of the APC, Davis Ibiamu
Ikanya, in an announcement upbraided Justice Okoro over his charge as contained
in his letter to the National Judicial Council, NJC.
As indicated by Ikanya, “One does not need a soothsayer to
see that Justice Okoro is very confused and thinks that by mentioning the name
of Amaechi in his letter, he would deceive Nigerians and play down the gravity
of his sins and crimes against Rivers State people and Nigeria as a whole.
“If we may ask Justice Okoro, why should Amaechi or anybody
attempt to bribe him for an election upturned by both the Tribunal and the
Appeal Court? An election widely condemned by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), the international community and both local and
foreign observers who monitored the shambolic exercise in the course of which
over 200 of our members were slaughtered like chicken just to install Chief
Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in power at all cost?”
Thus, the APC threatening to invoke relevant sections of the
law establishing Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offenses Act 2000, which
makes inability to report any form of bribery or a attempted bribery an offence
that draws in both a fine and a prison term.
“For failing to report the fictional bribery attempt by
Amaechi, Justice Okoro has committed an offence that attracts up to two years
imprisonment. We are hereby giving him one week to retract his worthless and
satanic letter and apologise to Amaechi or we may be forced to set in motion a
machinery to invoke the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000,”
the party said.
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