APC Gives Justice Okoro 7 Days To Withdraw Bribery Allegation Against Amaechi Or…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has given Justice Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court one week to withdraw the bribery allegation he made against Minister of Transportation, Chief Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, or be ready to go to jail for contravening the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000.
The demand is contained in a statement issued today, Thursday in Port Harcourt, by the State APC Chairman, Chief (Dr.) Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.
Davies berated Justice Okoro for his wild and baseless allegation as contained in his letter to the National Judicial Council (NJC), following his recent arrest by the Department of State Service (DSS) for alleged corruption.
The party boss said that while the judgment 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 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.
“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?”
Davies 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.”
The party chairman commended the DSS for taking the bold step to bring corrupt judges to justice even as he asked the NJC not only to assist the Federal Government in this fight against crimes against the nation but to also overturn the injustices meted to the various states and organs by these agents of darkness in the Judiciary. [myad]
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has drew the attention of police to the going-on in some uncompleted buildings that dot the capital city in their fight to rid the city of criminals.
President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with distinguished businesswoman, banker, economist and accountant, Otunba Ayora Bola Kuforiji Olubi, saying that Gid has been kind to her.
A new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Nigeria as Africa’s biggest economy, in spite of its current challenges.
An Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police in Charge of Zone 11, comprising Oyo, Osun and Ondo states, Mr. Dan Bature, has asked men and officers of the Force who cannot resist corruption and bribe taking to tender their resignation before they are caught.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the recently concluded Edo state governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has formally filed a petition before the Edo State election petitions tribunal in Benin, challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Godwin Obaseki as winner of the September 28 2016 poll.
Trump Is Not Running Against Hillary Clinton But Against Our Democracy, By Jamelle Bouie
After the first presidential debate, the Republican Party nominee called for monitoring and intimidation at polling places in cities like Philadelphia and Cleveland. During the second, Trump announced his plan to investigate Clinton using the power of the presidency, and promised to put her in jail for unnamed crimes against the state. He later turned that into a bona fide campaign slogan: “Lock her up.”
For the last week, he’s decried the entire election process as “rigged”—a shadowy conspiracy meant to deny him a victory at the ballot box. And at the final presidential debate at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas, Donald Trump refused to commit to conceding the election, should he lose on Nov. 8.
“I will look at it at the time. I’m not looking at anything now. I’ll look at it at the time,” said Trump after moderator Chris Wallace asked if he would honor the election results. Wallace pressed the question a second time.
There is a tradition in this country, in fact one of the prides of this country is the peaceful transition of power, and that no matter how hard-fought a campaign is, that at the end of the campaign that the loser concedes to the winner. Not saying that you’re necessarily going to be the loser or the winner. But that the loser concedes to the winner, and that the country comes together in part for the good of the country. Are you saying you’re not prepared now to commit to that principle?
Again, Trump refused to commit. “I’ll tell you at the time,” he said, “I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”
Clinton called this “horrifying.” “We’ve been around for 240 years,” she said. “We’ve had free and fair elections. We’ve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them. And that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election.”
She’s right. In 1800, Federalist president John Adams lost to Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republicans, following a painful and contentious contest. And rather than fight or challenge the results, Adams handed his rival the reins of power, the first peaceful transition of power in a democracy and a milestone in the history of the modern world. The act of conceding, in other words, is vital to the functioning of democracy. It confers legitimacy on the winner of an election, giving him or her a chance to govern. To refuse to concede, to deny that legitimacy, is to undermine our democratic foundations.
Surrogates for Trump have tried to defend his comments, citing then–Vice President Al Gore’s conduct following the 2000 election. But Gore didn’t challenge the process; he let it move forward. As ordered by state law, Florida had to do a recount. That recount was then stopped by the Supreme Court. At that point, Gore conceded the election, gracefully and without public hesitation.
In presidential elections at least, there’s simply no precedent for what Trump is promising. The slave South may have seceded from the Union following the 1860 election, but neither of Abraham Lincoln’s opponents denied his legitimacy as the duly-elected leader for the United States. It is world-historic in the worst possible way.
Donald Trump’s role in spreading “birtherism” helped turn a fringe belief into an almost permanent fixture of American politics. Thanks to Trump, large numbers of self-identified Republicans would say—for more than five years—that President Obama was born on foreign soil, that he was a Muslim whose presidency was illegitimate. And the seed that Trump planted with birtherism would eventually grow into something sturdy enough to support his bid for the White House. Likewise, Trump’s constant claim that the race is rigged—that voter fraud is endemic and harmful to the Republican Party—has helped create a world where 73 percent of Republicans say they believe the election could be stolen from Trump.
What happens if, on Nov. 8, Trump loses and then refuses to concede? What happens if he attacks Clinton’s legitimacy and insists, as he did at Wednesday’s debate, that she “should never have been allowed to run for the presidency?”
Any suggestion that this doesn’t matter gives short shrift to the rage that could flare in the wake of a Trump defeat, given the paranoia and conspiracy-mongering that dominates the Trump campaign. It’s possible that, on Nov. 9, authorities have to deal with anti-Clinton protests and demonstrations, all based on the idea that she stole the election from its rightful winner. It’s possible that, in those areas where Trump wants his voters to monitor the polls, we’ll see violence and intimidation, as angry and desperate supporters try to “protect” the vote. And it’s possible that two years into Hillary Clinton’s presidency, large numbers of Republicans—maybe even a majority—will believe that she wasn’t actually elected. That the game was rigged in her favor.
In her response to Trump’s refusal to commit to conceding, Hillary Clinton made a key observation about his behavior:
Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him. The FBI conducted a yearlong investigation into my emails. They concluded there was no case. He said the FBI was rigged. He lost the Iowa caucus. He lost the Wisconsin primary. He said the Republican primary was rigged against him. Then Trump University gets sued for fraud and racketeering. He claims the court system and the federal judge is rigged against him. There was even a time when he didn’t get an Emmy for his TV program three years in a row and he started tweeting that the Emmys were rigged.
We’re at a point in this country where the fabric of our society could unravel more than it already has. But not because of a war or a depression: no, we might see disorder and violence because Donald Trump—the businessman turned reality TV star turned nativist politician—is unable to admit failure. Unable to say that he lost. [myad]