APC, NNPP Trade Tackles over Alleged Move to Bribe Tribunal

Ahmad Sorondinki in Kano

The ruling New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kano State, yesterday, engaged in war of words with the All Progressives Congress (APC) over alleged attempt by an unnamed Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to bribe a member of the tribunal to sway Justice in favour of their client.

Earlier, Kano State Government, expressed dismay over the allegation made by the Chairman of Kano National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, Hon. Justice Flora Ngozi Azinge, that there was an attempt to bribe a member of the tribunal with money in order to sway Justice in favour of his client.
In a press statement, the Commissioner for Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, said, the state government viewed the allegation with a great concern.

“There is a strong rumour going round that some strong forces within the APC whose eyes are on Kano Election Petition Tribunals are bent on repeating what they did in 2019. They are all out to use whatever means to sway justice as was done previously.
“It is an open secret that these 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.”

He also called on the anti-corruption agencies to swing into action by carrying out a thorough investigation into the matter especially, when this type of allegation was made in an open court by a respected judge.
In its response, the APC warned the NNPP government against dragging Azinge’s name into disrepute because of its apparent dismal defence performance at the tribunal.

The APC, in a statement by a former commissioner in the immediate past administration, Muhammad Garba, described as a deliberate attempt by the Kano State government to malign the tribunal chairman for fear of what could be possibly the final judgement.

He said the allegations were made to create a fictitious story and quote her out of context, amounting to disrespect for the judge and the judiciary in general.
According to Garba, when Hon. Justice Azinge made the revelation on the alleged attempt to bribe a member of the tribunal by a senior lawyer, she never named any particular party, but just to denigrate the APC, the NNPP government referred to the APC as the bribe giver.

He noted further that the Kano State Government was also preempting the possible unveiling of the actual bribe giver by the tribunal and therefore wanted to malign the judge.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Sagir Gezawa, said the Nigerian Bar Association, has already  written a letter to the Secretary of the EPT to expose the lawyers or lawyers attempting to bribe the Judges.

He said he could not write directly to her Lordship, or to the Judge except through the EPT Secretary, saying, the Secretary would bring to the notice of the judge, the bribery allegations.