Buhari, APC planning to bribe Senators, PDP alleges

Nigeria’s opposition People’s Democratic Party Sunday alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress and President Muhammadu Buhari are making moves to bribe senators to gain protection from sanctions over “constitutional breaches and gross misconduct.”

PDP’s spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan in a statement on Sunday said “the PDP have been informed of how the Buhari Presidency has been unsettled following national and international outcry over his constitutional breaches, particularly the assault on the judiciary in his attempt to forcefully remove the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and impose a pliable CJN to do his bidding.”

Buhari on Friday suspended Onnoghen and simultaneously swore-in an acting CJN, Ibrahim Mohammed.

Buhari explained that the decision to suspend Justice Onnoghen was at the request of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over allegations that he failed to declare his assets.

The suspension sparked mixed reactions from individuals and groups within and outside the country.

This has also prompted the National Assembly, who had adjourned plenary till February 19, to call for an emergency sitting on Tuesday.

Ologbondiyan said the move by the lawmakers has “distressed Buhari” and that the president is seeking “to corrupt and undermine the Senate”.

“The PDP has been made aware of how money has been moved from the coffers of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to bribe the APC senators, as well as how each APC senator has been offered huge sums of money in foreign currency to engage in heckling during the session, particularly when the matter is raised,” Ologbondiyan said.

“However, the PDP wants the APC senators to note that the issue at hand is not partisan; it is not even about Justice Walter Onnoghen, but about nationhood, as well as the protection of our democracy and constitution from despotism,” he added.