Bribery Allegation: APC Threatens To Jail Justice Okoro

The party in a statement by State APC Chairman, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanyaa accused Justice Okoro of wild and baseless allegation in his letter to the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Okoro was arrested by the Department of State Service (DSS) for alleged corruption after which he petitioned the NJC alleging that it was because he refused to pervert the course of justice in the election petitions of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states that informed his ordeal in the hands of the DSS.

The party noted that while the judgement in the Rivers State governorship election dispute was given by the Supreme Court on January 27, 2015, Justice Inyang Okoro in his letter to the NJC claimed that Rt. Hon. Amaechi tried to bribe him on February 1, 2015 to influence a ruling made four days earlier and nine months to alert the public about the alleged bribery attempt!

“One does not need a soothsayer to see that Justice Okoro is very confused and thinks that by mentioning the name of Amaechi in his letter, he would deceive Nigerians and play down the gravity of his sins and crimes against Rivers State people and Nigeria as a whole,” Rivers APC said.

Continuing, the statement said: “If we may ask Justice Okoro, why should Amaechi or anybody attempt to bribe him for an election upturned by both the Tribunal and the Appeal Court? An election widely condemned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the international community and both local and foreign observers who monitored the shambolic exercise in the course of which over 200 of our members were slaughtered like chicken just to install Chief Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in power at all cost?”

The party drew Justice Okoro’s attention to the provisions of the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000, which makes failure to report bribery or a bribery attempt a crime that attracts both a fine and a jail term. Below are the relevant provisions of the said Act:
(23)-(1) Any public officer to whom any gratification is given, promised, or offered, in contravention of any provision of this Act, shall report such gift, promise or offer together with the name, if known, of the person who gave, promised or offered such gratification to him to the nearest officer of the commission or police officer.|

(2) Any person from whom gratification has been solicited or obtained, or from whom an attempt has been made to obtain such gratification, in contravention of any provision of this Act, shall, at the earliest opportunity thereafter, report such soliciting or obtaining, or attempt to obtain the gratification together with the name, if known, or a true and full description of the person who solicited, or obtained, or attempted to obtain the gratification from him, to the nearest officer of the commission or police officer.

(3) Any person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand naira or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both fine and imprisonment.

“For failing to report the fictional bribery attempt by Amaechi, Justice Okoro has committed an offence that attracts up to two years imprisonment. We are hereby giving him one week to retract his worthless and satanic letter and apologise to Amaechi or we may be forced to set in motion a machinery to invoke the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Act 2000,” Rivers APC said.