From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC), has cautioned the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) led) Kano State government against dragging the name of the Chairman of the National and State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Flora Ngozi Azinge, to disrepute due to its apparent dismal defence performance at the tribunal.
The APC said the deliberate attempt by the Kano state government to malign the tribunal chairman for fear of what could possibly be the final judgement, by creating a fictitious story and quoting her out of context, amounts to disrespect for the judge and the judiciary in general.
A statement issued by the immediate past Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs and spokesperson for Gawuna/Gari Campaign Council, Malam Muhammad Garba and made available to newsmen in Abuja, stated that when Justice Azinge made the revelation on the alleged attempt to bribe a member of the tribunal by a senior lawyer, she never named any particular party, but just to denigrate the APC, the NNPP government referred to the APC as the bribe giver.
Garba further accused the Kano state government of preempting the possible unreveling the actual bribe giver by the tribunal and therefore wanted to malign the judge.
“The made up story, which is contained in a statement issued by the state commissioner for Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, further indicated that the government is trying to vilify the tribunal before the judgement so that it draws sympathy from unsuspecting public in the event it is defeated.
“To also further confirm how perplexed they are, they filed an appeal while the tribunal is still holding it’s proceedings. Their action will not stop the election petition tribunal from going on with it’s sittings until it delivers final judgement,” he appealed in the statement.
Garba also stated that even with an apparent sign of victory on its side, the APC has not and will never offer any bribe to anyone involved in the case considering that it has presented facts and figures to prosecute the matter before the tribunal.
He observed that while the APC had presented all it’s witnesses during the proceedings of the tribunal who have been successfully cross examined, the NNPP government, he added, failed to present any tangible witness to depend it’s case.
The former Commissioner also averred that the action of the Kano state government was nothing but gimmickry and an attempt to also desparage the APC.
While reaffirming it’s commitment to patiently continue seeking legal redress in the case, the APC, he noted, is confident it will eventually reclaim it’s stolen mandate.