The Ebonyi Government has denied the allegations that it set aside the sum of N1 billion to bribe the election tribunal in favour of candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi, Jude Okpor, while addressing newsmen in Abakaliki on Monday noted that the allegation was baseless, unfounded and unfortunate.
He said that it is unfortunate that politicians who were rejected by the Ebonyi people in the last general elections could hire a man who was not in the State during the polls to make libelous statements against the judges of the tribunal and the entire Nigerian judiciary just to score cheap political points.
Okpor stated that it is clear that Oluchukwu has not considered Nigeria’s integrity before the international community while struggling to tickle the egos of his paymasters.
According to him, the Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, has unshakable confidence in the Nigerian judiciary and has no reason to panic over the outcome of the cases before the tribunal.
“The government of Ebonyi State respects the judiciary and its lordships. Our unshakable confidence in the Nigerian judicial system is not in doubt,” Okpor said.
“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.”
Okpor explained that Governor 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,” he said.
