Ebonyi State Government has berated a group known as Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora.( AEISCID’) which accused it of planning to give N1bn bribe to the judges and members of elections petition tribunal to hijack the cause of justice on the petitions brought before the tribunal by aggrieved candidates of various political parties during the just concluded 2023 general elections in the state.
At a press briefing in Abakaliki, the state capital, the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor.
The government accused opposition politicians in the state of hiring AEISCID’ to be doing their bids and laying libelous statements against the Judges of the tribunal and the entire Nigerian judiciary to score cheap political points.
Okpor said “The attention of the Ebonyi State government has been drawn to a fictitious guerrilla media outfit singlehandedly operated by one Paschal Oluchukwu who resides in the UAE.
“It is a well-known fact that the chairman of Ebonyi people living in Kuwait, Luke Anike, and his secretary, Onyedikachi Kingdom among others had in a letter dated 08/06/2023 distanced themselves and their members from any of the self-serving and attention-seeking scribal somersaults by Paschal and his pet project christened ‘Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora., AEISCID’.
“This clearly shows that Oluchukwu is not serving the interest of any group of Ebonyi people living anywhere in the world.
“Paschal who prides himself as an activist under the umbrella of the discredited body, in his diatribes, alleged that the Ebonyi State government is planning to bribe the tribunal judges to pervert the course of justice and effusively obtain undue favour from them.
“It is unfortunate that politicians who were rejected by the Ebonyi people during the last general elections could hire a man who was not in Ebonyi State during the elections to make libelous statements against the Judges of the tribunal and the entire Nigerian judiciary just to score cheap political points.
“The government of Ebonyi State respects the judiciary and its Lordships. Our unshakable confidence in the Nigerian judicial system is not in doubt. The governor 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 APC by the good people of Ebonyi State. Governor Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru is aware that the tribunal judges are men of integrity and impeccable character who can never stoop so low as to demand or accept any form of financial inducement from anyone or a group of people.
“Ebonyi State government under the leadership of our God-fearing governor, His Excellency, Rt Hon Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru has never planned to bribe, either directly or by proxy any member of the judiciary or its representative to bend the course of justice.
“The majority of Ebonyi people made APC their choice and massively voted for over 90% of the candidates of APC in the just concluded general elections. Therefore, it’s needless to go through the backdoor to seek help from anyone against the hammer of justice”.
