Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have been fingered in a sinister plot to robe the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a bribery scandal.
According to the state APC, the leaders of the PDP were plotting to pay huge sums of money into the bacnk account of one of the tribunal judges and implicate the progressives through needless petitions.
The Nation reports that the secretary of APC’s Media and Publicity Committee in the state, Godstime Orlukwu, who made this revelation in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, noted that the PDP is trying all it can to ensure that its victory at the March 28 gubernatorial election in the state stands.
Dakuku Peterside of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Nyesom Wike, are not smiling at each other.
This is coming on the heels of the series of petitions filed by the governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers, Dr Dakuku Adol Peterside, alongside most candidates of the party for the state and National Assemblies, where it called for an investigation into what they referred to as ‘massively-rigged’ March 28 and April 11 polls.
And while also accusing officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working with the PDP and Wike to frustrate its petitions before the tribunal, the APC said: “The APC has just uncovered another desperate arrangement by the PDP to put a cog in the wheel of justice in the ongoing governorship/legislative tribunal cases in Abuja. At a meeting they held in Port Harcourt, the PDP leaders perfected moves to pay a huge sum of money into the account of one of the tribunal judges hearing the Rivers State petitions.
“This might not have been a strange occurrence, since the PDP leaders would not imagine that every Nigerian is up for sale. The plan is to make the payment in the name of a chieftain of the APC and then write a petition to the National Judicial Council, (NJC) and the unsuspecting public.
“The aim of the sinister move is to cast aspersion on the integrity of the members of the tribunals hearing the Rivers State petitions, and raise doubts in the minds of Nigerians and especially Rivers people.”
The party also bragged that since the members have good cases before the tribunal, they have no reason to coerce, blackmail or corrupt the process to get justice.
“We wish to reiterate that the APC and its candidates will not be party to any plot or ploy to compromise any judge, as we believe wholly in the rule of law and in the sanctity of the judiciary.
“We are confident that justice will prevail and we have repeatedly said that we would pursue our matters legally and without recourse to illegality or self-help of any kind. We have never been and will never be party to any untoward act, even in the face of outright provocations and deliberate denial of our rights.
“We have remained steadfast in our pursuit of justice and trust that God and the will of Rivers people will see us through. Eternal vigilance remains the price of freedom.”
Recall that the state governor had his appeal dismissed by the court and was also seen recently, kneeling before a popular prophet in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
