On Sunday, the Ebonyi State Government stated that it has no intention of bribing the election petition tribunal judges in order to pervert the course of justice and gain undue favour from them.
The state government made this known through the Commissioner of Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, in response to an allegation made by Paschal Oluchukwu, president of the Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in Diaspora (AEISCID).
Recall that Oluchukwu accused the Ebonyi State Government, led by Governor Francis Nwifuru, of attempting to hijack the course of justice by attempting to bribe judges with one billion naira deducted from the local government area allocation in order to obtain a favourable verdict from the tribunal.
Okpor warned Oluchukwu to desist from being used by desperate politicians who were rejected by the citizens of the state during the last governorship election in the state.
He noted that Governor Nwifuru has no reason to panic over the outcome of the cases in the election tribunal since he was overwhelmingly voted into office alongside other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the good people of Ebonyi State.
According to him, Ebonyi State has “never planned to bribe, either directly or by proxy, any member of the judiciary or its representative to bend the course of justice.”
Okpor noted further that Gov Nwifuru is aware that the tribunal is comprised of judges of integrity and impeccable character who can never stoop so low as to demand or accept any form of financial gratification from anyone or a group of people.
“Our unshakable confidence in the Nigerian judicial system is not in doubt,” he stressed.