Bribery Scandal: Revelations emerge how Govs were imposed on EDO, OSUN states, Buhari saves face, set to drop AMAECHI, OGBONAYA, others

PARIS, OCTOBER 23, 2016: (DGW) Reports filtering in say relationship between Buhari and top members of his cabinet, particularly the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology and other  indicted in the bribery and allegation scandal has suddenly gone sour as President Muhammadu Buhari is set to discharge them from his cabinet , a move he will be making anytime now to save himself of an imminent humiliation because of the weighty allegation against them by two Supreme Court judges.

This is on the heels of the barrage of calls made by well-meaning and prominent Nigerians such as  Constitutional lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa; factional leader of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike, Prof. Saint Gbilekaa and others, on President Buhari to remove without delay the Minister of Transport, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, and his Science and Technology Counterpart, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, to enable them defend themselves owing to the serious nature of the allegations against them. 

Also in the report, some of the seven judges who were arrested and indicted for corruption have, in a swift denial, complained of witch-hunting, victimization adding that the evidence tendered by the DSS  were in fact planted in their apartments.

Recall Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court in his statement to the NJC alleged that Rotimi in an attempt to pervert the course of justice asked him to nullify Gov. Fayose's election in in Ekiti State and order a fresh election in  favour of his friend, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

In a similar vein,  Justice Inyang Okoro also alleged that Amaechi made an attempt to bribe him  against the duly elected Governors of  Rivers, Abia and Akwa Ibom states while Dr. Ogbonaya also allegedly asked Justice Ngwuta to influence the outcome of  Governorship Election Appeal for Ebonyi State in favour of the Labour Party candidate who he said has agreed to decamp to the ruling all Progressives' Congress.

However, the duo of  Amaechi and Onu have both  denied the allegations describing it as “pure fiction, a dubious diversionary tale concocted to muddle the very serious issues of his (Ngwuta’s) arrest and investigations by the DSS.''

As a result of these weighty allegations,  President Buhari has been asked without delay to drop the two  ministers  and Constitutional lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, also  said the current development was a fallout of the belief that even while in the opposition, the APC manipulated the judiciary to secure victory in many states, especially in the South.

“Governors Rauf Aregbesola, Adams Oshiomhole and Kayode Fayemi were imposed on Osun, Edo and Ekiti states respectively by the courts, and not through the ballots,” he said.

He stated that APC romance with the judiciary  has   as a matter of fact been going on over the years  which has now boomeranged because the party could no longer have its way.

He added that APC is , in fact , ''an agglomeration of propagandists and political opportunists who took Nigerians for granted and took advantage of PDP’s poor performance to hoodwink Nigerians to vote for them” 

“I believe that the judges could not have cooked up the allegations against Amaechi and Onu, especially since the former is gradually becoming the Mr. Fix it of this administration. My submission, therefore,  is that if the indicted judges are to step aside, the indicted ministers should also step aside,” he said.

The NJC, should be allowed to remove them, not the APC, not the DSS and definitely not Amaechi.” Uwazuruike  said the allegations against the ministers are weighty and the said ministers “should step aside for thorough investigation,” in order not to make a mockery of the anti-corruption war and the ‘Change Begins with Me’ programme.

“If you look at the Justice Ngwuta’s allegation, he was very pointed, telling the Chief Justice of the Federation: ‘My Lord, may I recall one morning when I pleaded not to be on the Panel of Rivers Governorship Appeal? My Lord, you said I was already on the panel and asked me why I made that request to be excluded.

When I explained what transpired the previous night, Your Lordship said Amaechi had also attempted to influence other justices,’ that means that the CJN was aware of the issue right from the beginning.

“Amaechi and the Chief of Staff to the President, who has been named in one or two cases of corruption, should be asked to step aside and thorough investigations carried out on this matter,” Uwazuruike said. He added, “This battle is against the independence of the judiciary. Since 1999, there had been attempts to deal with the judiciary.

The then President Olusegun Obasanjo tried it and you remember that there was a time the Supreme Court was burgled. That is the point I am making.” Gbilekaa said the President needs to show greater seriousness with the war on corruption by ensuring that prominent members of the APC accused of corruption are probed.

“He should also probe other non-PDP members. People have mentioned Rotimi Amaechi, his Minister of Transportation; Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing and several other names.

''Of course, people who say the Buhari’s anti-corruption war is lopsided are quite right; we are not blind; we have eyes and we are seeing. So, as Nigerians, we know what is happening, it is one sided. Corruption should not be a party alphabet,” he said.