SUPREME Court judge Justice Inyang Okoro has accused transport minister Rotimi Amaechi as being the one responsible for his arrest over corruption charges for having the audacity to rule against the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidates in three states.
Justice Okoro is one of the seven judges who have been arrested in connection with corruption within the Nigerian judiciary and faces being charged top court soon. In a four-page letter to the chief justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Justice Okoro said that he strongly believed that Mr Amaechi had a hand in his travails because the Supreme Court ruled against the APC governorship candidates in Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers states.
He also said that during the raid on his house in Abuja which started around 9pm on October 7 and ended at about 1am on October 8, the sums of $38,800 and N3.5m were recovered in his residence. Justice Okoro pointed out that the sums of money recovered during the search of his home by were the balance of his unspent estacode for the past three years.
On the involvement of Mr Amaechi in his ordeals, the justice said both the minister and the APC’s governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State in the 2015 poll, Umana Umana, made attempts to use him to influence the decision of the Supreme Court on the election cases. He said both men at different times paid him visits in their bid to influence the apex court’s decisions.
Justice Okoro said during Mr Amaechi’s visit, the former Rivers State governor said President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC wanted him to help in influencing the Supreme Court to deliver judgments in favour of the party. He added that Mr Amaechi claimed to have sponsored Mr Umana’s election and as such could not afford not to win the case that was to later come before the apex court.
Reacting, Mr Amaechi described the allegation by the judge as a figment of his imagination, He denied the allegation that he approached the judge for a favourable judgment.
A spokesman for the minister said: “This accusation from Justice Okoro against Amaechi is a figment of his imagination, concocted to obfuscate and politicise the real issues for his arrest and the Department of State Security investigation of allegations of corruption against him. The claims by Justice Okoro against Amaechi are blatant lies, bereft of any iota of truth or even logic.
"Amaechi did not and has never approached Justice Okoro in respect of the cases Okoro mentioned or any other case. This is a cheap attempt, albeit political move to drag the name of Amaechi into something he knows nothing about."
Calling on Justice Okoro to face his issues and leave Mr Amaechi out of it, he added that the judge will be hearing from their lawyers soon. In his letter, Justice Okoro also alleged that Mr Umana promised to be paying him millions of naira if he cooperated.
Comments
Post a Comment