The National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Muiz Banire, SAN, has debunked a report suggesting that he bribed Justice Teeser Agbadu- Fishim of the National Industrial Court with N500,000.
In a statement issued yesterday by the Senior Advocate, Banire said he was never arrested or invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), adding that, he visited the commission’s office after he read about the allegation against him on the social media.
While admitting transferring a gift of N500,000 to a hard-up former colleague in the academia in 2013, Banire, however, said: “The occasion of the gift was purely customary for the purpose of assisting in the burial of his deceased mother.”
The statement read: “My attention has been drawn to the publication in several newspapers of Saturday November 5, 2016 suggesting that I was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in connection with an allegation that I bribed a judge with the sum of N500,000.
“I must say that while sensationalism may occasion a newsworthy item, it behoves the victim of same to educate the public on the actual development.
“It must, therefore, be understood that I was never arrested or invited by the EFCC, but having read the allegation on the social media, I wrote a letter dated October 29, 2016 to the EFCC notifying that I would be visiting the Commission on Tuesday November 1, 2016 to assist in its investigation of the matter.”
Banire stated further that upon his voluntary visit to the anti-graft agency, he was able to clarify to the commission that he did not give any bribe of the sum of N500,000 or any other amount to any judge at any time whatsoever.
Banire said he told the agency that: “The person to whom I gave a gift of N500,000 in 2013 was a former colleague in the academia, a fellow lawyer whom I now understand to be a judge with whom I had lost physical contact for more than 17 years, save for a telephone conversation about probably three years ago when he solicited for my financial assistance towards his mother’s burial.
“I had not physically seen the said judge in the past 17 years or more until Thursday, the 3rd day of November, 2016 at the EFCC premises. “I have never appeared before the said judge either as a lawyer or as a litigant; I have never taken any benefit from the said recipient of my generosity and have never expected any benefit in return.
“I must say this kind of assistance is not peculiar to this old colleague but that which is the nature of my usual disposition to all colleagues, associations, students, clubs, religious bodies and humanity in general.”
While expressing his strong support for the anticorruption campaign, the former commissioner in Lagos State, said: “I will never descend into the insanity of offering bribe to pervert the course of justice. “It is my strong conviction that the just shall live by faith and this passing phase shall soon give way to the triumph of the uncompromising truth. This development rather strengthens my resolve to continue to uphold my ideals and principles.”
Well said sir. The anti-corruption war in the Judiciary should not be trivialized into this kind of innocuous relationship with a Judge. Judges are human beings too and can accept gifts in their hour of need from friends with no strings attached especially when they do not have cases pending or being conducted before them. The obvious cases of corruption of Judges abound in multitudes all over and it will do the anti-corruption effort well if attention and manpower are directed at those areas than trivial and inconsequential matters like this.