The All Progressives Congress has warned the New Nigeria People’s Party-led government in Kano State to desist from embarrassing the Chairman of the National and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, Justice Flora Azinge, following allegation that attempts were being made to bribe the tribunal judges.
Justice Azinge had, in the open court on Tuesday, raised the alarm that some lawyers were attempting to offer bribes to the tribunal judges.
The judge said “money is flying,” adding that “it’s being rumoured that a staff collected N10m.”
In reaction to the revelation by the tribunal chairman, the Kano State government in a statement called on security agencies to dig deep into the allegation and bring the ‘strong forces who are well-known for their corrupt attitude’ to book.
The state raised the alarm that some “strong forces who are well-known for their corrupt attitude are working tirelessly to scuttle the hard-earned mandate of the people of Kano State.”
The statement, signed by state Commissioner for Information, Baba Dantiye, further said the NNPP government viewed the incident as a litmus test for the present administration to ensure that the case was thoroughly investigated and the culprits prosecuted.
“The anti-corruption agencies are equally expected to swing into action, especially when this type of allegation was made in an open court by a respected judge,” he said.
But in reaction, the Chief of Staff to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, Mallam Muhammad Garba, said the statement by the NNPP-led Kano State government was a subtle attempt to denigrate the APC and the court.
Garba said, “ The Kano State government is pre-empting the possible revealing of the bribe giver by the tribunal and, therefore, wants to malign the judges. The statement issued by the state commissioner for Information, Baba Dantiye, indicates that the government is trying to vilify the tribunal before the judgment so that it can draw sympathy from the unsuspecting public in the event it is defeated.
“With an apparent sign of victory on its side, the APC has not and will never offer any bribe to anyone involved in the case considering that it has presented facts and figures to prosecute the matter before the tribunal.”
