APC, NNPP trade blames over attempts to bribe election tribunal

• NBA asks Justice Azinge to unmask corrupt lawyers
All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) against interference in the election petition tribunal in Kano State.

But the NNPP-led state government expressed worry over the allegation of corrupt practice raised by Justice Flora Azinge of the tribunal against unnamed legal practitioners in the state.

In the midst of the blame game, a body of lawyers in the state has requested the unmasking of the bribe-givers.

Spokesperson for APC’s Gawuna/Gari Campaign Council, Muhammad Garba, frowned on the alleged attempt by the Governor Abba Yusuf-led administration to drag the name of the Chairman, National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, Hon. Justice Flora Azinge, in the mud.

APC said an attempt by the state government to malign the tribunal chairman with a fictitious story and quoting her out of context, amounted to disrespect for the judge and the judiciary in general.

He noted that the state government was also preempting the possible unravelling of the actual bribe-giver by the tribunal and, therefore, wanted to malign the judge.

Garba also said the story, which is contained in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information, Baba Dantiye, further indicated that the government was trying to vilify the tribunal before the judgment, to draw sympathy from the unsuspecting public in the event of its defeat.

Garba, an erstwhile commissioner in the state, said to also further confirm NNPP’s confusion, it filed an appeal while the tribunal was still sitting, adding that the action will not stop the election petition tribunal from going on with its sittings until it delivers final judgment.

He stated that even with an apparent sign of victory on its side, the APC had not and would never bribe anyone involved in the case, considering that it presented facts and figures to prosecute the matter before the tribunal.

Justice Azinge, currently leading tribunal, had alleged that some senior lawyers in the state offered a judicial staff of the panel N10 million gift, in an attempt to corrupt the administration of justice.

Reacting to the development, Dantiye said the ugly development was a pointer that strong forces, “who are well-known for their corrupt attitude,” were working tirelessly to scuttle the hard-earned mandate of Kano people.

He said: “The state government views the incident with great concern, as there is a strong rumour that some strong forces within the APC, whose eyes are on Kano Election Petition Tribunal, are bent on repeating what they did in 2019. They are all out to use whatever means to sway justice as was done previously.

“No doubt, all eyes are on the former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, whose ascension to the APC national chairmanship, was opposed by senior and founding members of the party and indeed majority of Nigerians because of alleged corruption.”

The state government, in a statement by the commissioner, viewed the development as a litmus test for the administration of President Bola Tinubu to show Nigerians the commitment to fighting corruption and defending democratic principles.

MEANWHILE, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has written to the tribunal demanding proper identity of those lawyers attempting to corrupt the system.

Chairman of NBA in Kano, Sagir Gezawa, contended that unmasking the individuals would help NBA to purge itself of general abuse.

He said: “On the above background, we wish to request the tribunal to furnish us with further details and particulars of the said lawyer(s) because we want to purge ourselves of such characters in our midst.

“It is a collective and collaborative fight that cannot be fought with blanket rhetoric. Hence, the NBA is sanitising the judicial system as a collective and collaborative fight that must be fought headlong.”